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DOI: 10.1177/1741143213499252
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2014 42: 226 originally published online 1 Educational Management Administration & Leadership
Sefika Mertkan
In search of leadership: what happened to management?

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Article
In search of leadership: what
happened to management?
Sefika Mertkan
Abstract
Significant changes have taken place in the governance of education systems around the world.
Shifts in education policy have led to a focus towards reform through leadership development and
away from school management analysis. This shift in policy from management to leadership has
fostered a large number of academic studies presenting a universal and decontextualised leadership
discourse, which dominates the field of education research to the detriment of issues of school
management and head teachers capacity to manage schools. This paper examines the domain of
headship in the context of North Cyprus. Through the perspectives of head teachers and policy
makers, it demonstrates that within the North Cyprus context, leadership, as defined in the
dominant discourse, is not yet possible, and management is both difficult and sometimes
inadequate. Findings suggest that there is a strong relationship between school leadership and
management practices. The context within which head teachers operate influences their leadership
and management practices and capacity development.
Keywords
Educational leadership, school leadership, head teachers, international development, educational
policy
Introduction
Over two decades ago, Cuban distinguished leadership from management, linking leadership to
change and management to maintenance of present operations; he emphasised that different
settings and times call for varied responses (Cuban 1988: xx). To put it differently, the context
within which [leaders] lead makes a difference to how they lead (Lumby et al., 2009: 164). A
recent shift in education policy in many countries with advanced economies towards decentra-
lisation, marketisation and performativity have restructured school leadership and recultured the
work of school leaders through various mechanisms. This shift in the focus of reform has created a
relentless preoccupation with educational reform through leadership development and led to
declined official interest in school management. Scholars have paid unparalleled attention to the
new work of school leaders, to the detriment of management concerns and headteachers capacity
Corresponding author:
Sefika Mertkan, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Mersin 10 Turkey. Cyprus.
Email: sm331@cantab.net
Educational Management
Administration & Leadership
2014, Vol. 42(2) 226242
The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/1741143213499252
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to manage schools. Consequently, leadership has become a dominant discourse in the field, with
the vast majority of literature in the field of school management and administration addressing the
issue of leadership and neglecting the issue of management.
These studies present, almost exclusively, a universal and decontextualised discourse of educa-
tional leadership, which presents leadership as a combination of inspiration, vision and the ability
to manage competing tensions while building organisational capacity and leadership capacity in
others. Educational leadership accounts from the periphery, small in number, occupy a marginal
space within the field and have little or no impact on leadership theories, while different, distinct
or dissenting perspectives on educational leadership and management remain impotent in the face
of the dominant paradigm. In the big tent (Donmoyer, 1999) of educational leadership and man-
agement, many models have been constructed, but diversity of perspective remains elusive. This
can be a serious obstacle to educational effectiveness and school reform in traditional communities
with developing economies, where the recent shift in education policy has not yet made its mark.
This dominant focus on leadership ignores the importance of context and does not address
contextual dysfunctionalities that may obstruct leadership among school managers in some educa-
tional systems such as South Africa (Bush and Heystek, 2006; Bush et al., 2010; Chisholm et al.,
2005), Slovenia (Trnavcevic and Vaupot, 2009), Ghana (Oduro and MacBeath, 2003), and Greece
(Gkolia and Brundrett, 2008). Additionally, it often overlooks differences in national cultures,
which, as demonstrated primarily by research on corporate leadership and management, signifi-
cantly affect leadership and management practices needed in a particular country and leadership
behaviours that have positive effects (Dickson et al., 2003; Shahin and Wright, 2004; Sidani,
2008).
1
This paper addresses the work of head teachers in the context of North Cyprus and explores the
duties and the responsibilities of head teachers along with the challenges they face. It is in five
parts. First, in order to situate the local within the global, the dominant leadership discourse in the
field of leadership and management is examined. This section is followed by a brief description of
the policy context in North Cyprus. Third, methods of data gathering and analysis are discussed.
Fourth, key themes from the study are presented and critically analysed. Finally, the concluding
section states that the work of head teachers in North Cyprus is burdensome, fully focused on
administrative and management issues and offers limited opportunities to exercise leadership, little
agency for change and limited capacity to improve teaching and learning.
The work of school leaders: a homogenised perspective?
Education reform has been pursued relentlessly in many countries with advanced economies
(Fullan, 2000). Although travelling policies show significant variations in different school systems
(Priestley, 2002), the general trend evident in OECD countries and in Europe has been towards
greater decentralisation of management and marketisation. There is now considerable consensus
that, in contexts where these policies apply, the form of government control has changed to indirect
steering through a culture of performativity with elements of accountability and standardisation
(Ball, 2003; Ball, 2001; Bottery, 2007; Day, 2003; Gronn, 2003b; Priestley, 2002).
Within this framework, school leadership is linked to educational reform, school improvement
and organisational change (Bush, 2008b; Rhodes and Brundrett, 2009) where the work of head
teachers is intensified and diversified to include both organisational capacity, building with ele-
ments of pedagogical leadership and leadership development in others, and business management
with elements of financial management, human resource management and site management
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(Crow, 2007; Gronn, 2003b; Mertkan, 2011). Headship has become extremely complex over the
past two decades in particular and head teachers have been increasingly pressured to deliver more
at a faster pace and to work longer hours. Integral to this new educational landscape is the notion of
headship as greedy work (Gronn, 2003b: 153) with increased workload (Bristow et al., 2007;
French and Daniels, 2007; Southworth, 1995; Thomson, 2008, 2009; Webb et al., 2006). The
growing importance of school leaders and education reform through leadership development in the
changing governance of education systems have made the study of school leadership and school
leaders an unparalleled trend (Slater et al., 2008) characterised by an explosion of leadership
literature (Simkins, 2005: 9).
The role of management in education has been downplayed and management issues ignored,
while the vast majority of the literature in the field addresses and canonises leadership and lead-
ership capacity building to the detriment of head teachers capacity to manage schools (Glatter,
2006). A number of theoretical models are provided. These include transformational leadership
(Leithwood et al., 1999), distributed leadership (Gronn, 2000; Leithwood et al., 2007; J. Spillane,
2006), change leadership (Fullan, 2002), pedagogical leadership (Webb, 2005), and strategic lead-
ership (Davies, 2003). Collectively, these theories are based on an idea of leadership that requires
inspiration, vision, collegiality, non-hierarchical relationships and structures, people centeredness
and the ability to manage many competing tensions successfully while building leadership
capacities in others. Within the dominant leadership game, there is some recognition that manage-
ment is important and inseparable from leadership (Bush et al., 2010; Gunter, 2008; Gunter and
Thomson, 2009) and leadership responsibilities of head teachers do not diminish their managerial
roles (Bush, 2008a; Gronn, 2003a). Head teachers are simultaneously leaders and managers (Hall,
1996) within contexts in which their work takes place, and which constraints, creates possibilities
and offers different frames for leadership and management. Leadership and management functions
are contingent on context and contextual complexity is an important function of leadership and
management (Avolio, 2007).
The dominant educational leadership and management literature, however, not only lacks a
context-oriented approach and fails to take sufficient cognisance of the policies that shape the
environments in which head teachers operate, but also pays inadequate attention to the importance
of management through this fixation on leadership (Spillane, 2009). Decontextualised leadership
solutions present school leaders as operating in a vacuum with the ability, or lack of it, to transform
schools using context-free transformation strategies (Close and Raynor, 2010; Glatter, 2006). This
discussion has been built on studies primarily carried out in countries with advanced economies
where scholars have exerted disproportionate influence on the field of leadership and management,
which has become highly decontextualised with an implicit assumption that it is universal
(Ngcobo and Tikly, 2010; Walker and Dimmock, 2002a). This decontextualised and universal
discourse of leadership fails to address crucial, historically and culturally determined dysfunction-
alities apparent in some educational systems that may obstruct leadership and leadership capacity
development among school leaders. Rather, a universal model of leadership may be an obstacle to
educational effectiveness and school reform in countries where such dysfunctionalities exist.
Turkish Cypriot education system: a brief overview
Very small in size and never densely populated, Cyprus was divided by the green line in 1964
following inter-communal struggles, and into North and South in 1974. Today, North Cyprus is
home to Turkish Cypriots along with many citizens of Turkey, all of whom are governed by the
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Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The TRNC has not been recognised as politically
legitimate, and a range of internationally-imposed social, political and economic embargoes have
been applied to the North (UN Security Council, 1983, 1984). The Turkish Cypriot education sys-
tem has remained highly centralised with an entrenched bureaucracy where major decision-making
powers are concentrated in the Ministry of National Education and Culture (MEC). These powers
include developing, designing and executing policies for syllabi, curricula and textbooks, and
assessment and regulation of all educational organisations under its jurisdiction. Almost all deci-
sions made in schools are subject to the permission given by primary and secondary education
departments.
Teachers and school managers work in favourable circumstances. They are hired permanently
with long holidays and relatively light teaching loads, and they enjoy attractive benefits upon
retirement. The World Bank reports that, in comparison to the OECD average of 186 days of
instruction per year, students in North Cyprus have 155 days of instruction, and the school days
are much shorter which leads to a net teaching time of about 60% of the net teaching time in OECD
countries; net teaching time is about 415 hours per year in comparison to the OECD average of 701
hours (World Bank, 2006a). It is often the case that students supplement their school education
with additional private tutoring after school hours. Hence, unlike many European countries, the
profession is attractive to many school leavers.
Teacher unions also play a prominent role in education governance, unlike in countries such as
England where they have been marginalised (Stevenson, 2007). Unions play key roles in education
policy dialogue and continue to influence the direction of education policies, which sometimes
results in systemic paralysis until agreement is reached. The unions have been particularly
effective in negotiating favourable pay and conditions for their members and derive their strength
from the rate of membership among teachers, almost all of whom belong to unions. Teachers enjoy
salaries of more than three times the average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, whereas the
average teacher salary in OECD countries is about 1.3 times average GDP per capita (World Bank,
2006a). Another striking difference between North Cyprus and most Western countries and
European states is that there is no pressure on schools from policy makers to improve or for school
staff to build capacity. Unlike the general global direction, accountability and autonomy are two
concepts that are not in the lexicon of either policy officers or professionals in North Cyprus.
Research methodology
This paper is drawn from a study of educational reform in North Cyprus with a particular focus on
leadership capacity building. It addresses the duties of head teachers and the challenges these
teachers face, not reform per se. The intent in the present paper is not to generalise, but to capture
multiple perspectives from a wide range of informants within several organisations to deeply
understand what headship means in North Cyprus (Lincoln and Guba, 1986; Patton, 2002; Shen-
ton, 2004). A survey using qualitative measures was carried out with 43 head teachers from pri-
mary and secondary schools while qualitative interviews with 13 head teachers, a teacher union
representative and three officers from the Ministry of Education contribute to the building of a
nuanced picture of the duties and challenges of head teachers in North Cyprus. Policy officers and
union representatives were included in the study to provide perspectives from different points of
view, hence to triangulate data sources so that perspectives from different points of view could be
compared. By means of open-ended survey questions, head teachers were asked to give informa-
tion about their responsibilities and the main challenges they face, while qualitative interviews
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focused on the key themes refined by the survey for deeper investigation. These themes were
recruitment, promotion, mobility and the main responsibilities of head teachers along with the
challenges they face.
Interviews were semi-structured and did not follow a specific set of questions; rather, questions
were formulated following dimensions introduced by participants in the course of the interviews.
Each response was thematically evaluated with respect to its significance to pre-determined
themes, and dynamically to the interaction between the researcher and the respondent (Kvale,
1996). This made it possible to construct data that acknowledged the situated, experiential reali-
ties of each respondent (Holstein and Gubrium, 1995; Miller and Glassner, 2004). Strategies were
employed to ensure that participants expressed their ideas freely and to ensure a high degree of
completeness.
The data was coded and recoded primarily through inductive analysis to find emergent patterns
and themes (Silverman, 1997; Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Coding started with apriori codes of
promotion, duties and challenges which derived from the research questions. Through immersion
in data, a number of sub-categories emerged. These categories were coded using sub-codes
generated through exploration of data, relationships between sub-codes were identified and code
families were generated. In developing codes and sub-codes, data was analysed for convergence
and examined for divergence (Patton, 2002). Factors outlined by Krueger and Casey (2009)
were also considered, such as extensiveness and frequency. Different responses were compared
while closely listening to the data to ensure a high level of congruence between the research
questions and the data, which provided the opportunity to constantly question what more was
needed to be explored. Findings were consistently checked against different perspectives; consis-
tency in patterns of data from people providing perspectives from different points of view was
observed. All data has subsequently been anonymised and, where necessary, contextual informa-
tion such as village and city names has been omitted to protect the identity of the participants.
Findings and discussions
Recruitment, transfer and preparation of head teachers: a game of luck?
Appointments, transfers and promotions of all teachers and managerial staff are controlled by the
Public Services Commission, which consists of five members appointed for six years by the pres-
ident of the state. Until recently, it was common practice to appoint head teachers on the basis of
their teaching experience only and the leadership and management potential of applicants was not
considered at the time of their appointment. Legislation permits teachers with more than ten years
of teaching experience to apply directly to become head teachers while those with relatively less
teaching experience, between seven and ten years, are required to act as deputy head teachers or
department heads before they become eligible to headship. Applicants meeting these conditions
are interviewed by the Public Services Commission with no clear criteria guiding interviews. This
strategy is based on the assumption that teaching provides sufficient experience for school leader-
ship and that the aforementioned generalist approach results in appropriate recruitment, even in
cases when specialist knowledge is required. It is also assumed that the appointment of the Public
Services Commission by the president of the state, a political position, is appropriate. In contrast to
these assumptions, interviews reveal a widespread concern that this procedure is open to political
abuse, often resulting in inequitable recruitment where knowing the right people, rather than
merit, is the dominant principle and covert politicisation through social networks operates. This
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is a deep-rooted problem seriously affecting the public sector capacity, a barrier that policy needs
to address. Cemil, a representative from the largest union in TRNC, shares head teachers
concerns:
Until now, those who have actively supported the political parties were appointed to headship. This is
unjust, and lacks a sense of objectivity. This is an anti-democratic and dictatorial approach. Because
of this procedure, the quality of those chosen to the position has long been questioned. Even those
who were appointed because they were good were criticised since they were viewed as having been
selected to the position because of who they knew or because they supported the political party in
power. (Cemil)
While rewarding political patronage, this method of promotion encourages stability and
continuity while ensuring the loyalty of those who benefit from this system, thus maintaining the
status quo. It benefits teachers and policy makers rather than learners. The first serious challenge to
this procedure came in 2006. New legislation introduced criteria for applicants including a written
examination on educational management, attendance in continuous professional development and
seniority. Cem, from the Ministry of Education, explains the reasons for introducing the new
procedure:
[The reason was] to eradicate favouritism based on close relationships and ensure that head teachers
work more seriously. This was the only reason. In the past promotion depended on Public Services
Commission. Whoever knew someone there, whoever pressed hard was promoted. They did not
consider the applicants qualifications. (Cem)
Nevertheless, leadership and management preparation is still unknown territory in North
Cyprus. Instead, the findings suggest that a procedure based on trial and error operates and head
teachers are tested on the job. This is in stark contrast to the policy now evident in many nations,
which have approached the preparation and development of head teachers more systematically
than was previously the case (although it is still possible to come across national contexts where
leadership preparation and development is underdeveloped (Mertkan, 2011)). When appointed for
the first time, head teachers are designated as a candidate head teacher for a year and those found
successful once their candidacy is reviewed receive a permanent appointment. No evidence has
been found regarding specific criteria used during reviews, while interviews held with head teach-
ers disclosed attention only to trivial administrative tasks. The absence of such specified criteria
raises significant concerns as to the transparency and fairness of this process and makes it prone
to potential abuse. This lack of transparency and consistency may be gleaned from the following
principals testimony:
I was appointed to headship in [year]. They should have inspected me for a year. When I completed a
year in the post, I called the Ministry of Education and Culture to say my definitive appointment should
have been approved. They sent an inspector. He checked my files. I had filed documents relating to
student absenteeism, income and expenditure, things I have done over the year, documents sent from
and to the Ministry. He also talked to the teachers, students and parents. He asked me about the social
activities we had organised for students. We had organised a ball with the Student Council a day before
the inspection and I told him that. He put these in his report and my definitive appointment was
approved a month later. (Esra)
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There is also a pattern where head teachers relocate once they have received definitive appoint-
ment under the Employee Transfer Order. The prime motive for relocation is to move closer to the
district where they live. What is perhaps most striking is that relocation decisions serve personal
aspirations of head teachers only. Unplanned succession with the best interests of head teachers in
mind is a common practice. The following commentary is illustrative:
When I was appointed a head teacher to a school in [village A], I was married with two children. As we
live in [city A], I tried to be appointed to a school in [city A]. But there was no vacancy in [city A] at the
time, so I moved to a school in [village B], which was closer than [village A]. From there, I made a
preference for [city A] and when there was an opening, I came here. (Tokay)
Interviews reveal a pattern where head teachers who make it to the school of their choice or,
most commonly, the district of their choice do not normally leave until they retire. In the absence
of a rigorous evaluation and development culture, which the majority of head teachers emphasise is
the case in North Cyprus, this practice has the potential to result in long-term stagnation. Doruk
from the Ministry of Education confirms that a culture of evaluation does not exist:
There is no mechanism to evaluate what head teachers do or their performance. No one knows what
the head teacher does . . . . If someone sees something wrong and complains to the ministry, the
head teacher is inspected. You know for performance evaluation it is necessary to take the views
of different stakeholders from parents to students. This has not been done yet. We recently started
to mention this. (Doruk)
Head teachers state that such cases are often not realised. There is also a widespread belief
among participating head teachers that it is often not possible to take action. Not only is it the case
that principals do not take action; even if they attempt reforms, they are often stymied, as the
following indicates:
No one can do anything unless there is an embarrassing crime, such as robbery, murder or rape. Unless
there is such crime, it is impossible to move a teacher from one school to another. Success or failure is
not important. (Ilhami)
Consequently, schools are left to sink or swim depending both on their location and whether or
not they attract intrinsically motivated head teachers with energy, enthusiasm and commitment to
improve teaching and learning. Employee transfer is supported and monitored by teacher unions
to prevent favouritism based on close relationships with government officers. A majority of the
participating head teachers share the view that government officers cannot be trusted to be fair
in the absence of such monitoring and, hence, are happy with the role teacher unions play.
Consequently, in the highly politicised system of North Cyprus, where personal relationships with
policy makers are often the key to success, teacher unions take on a de-politicisation role with the
full advocacy of professionals. At a different and deeper level, the unions also contribute to a large
extent to the politicisation of the system.
Main responsibilities of head teachers: blessings in disguise?
As I have suggested, and in contrast to many other countries where school leadership and manage-
ment have experienced radical changes in the last two decades, in North Cyprus the system of
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school leadership and management suffers from long-term stagnation; thus ineffective practices
continue. An example relates to the main responsibilities of head teachers, who operate within
an entrenched bureaucracy with no discretion, autonomy or real power. There is agreement among
participating head teachers regarding their main responsibilities. These can be categorised into
three main areas: fund-raising and fiscal management; managing bureaucracy; and managing
teaching. In Anglo-American literature head teachers are transformed into leaders and vision-
aries; in Cyprus administrative and managerial tasks are emphasised. Very little leadership and
change agency seems to be assigned to headship in North Cyrus. Rather, headship is presented
as an administrative and managerial position concentrated on ensuring that managerial tasks are
completed, bureaucratic communication is maintained and material conditions improve.
Fund-raising and fiscal management
There are three main financial resources for schools: MEC; subsidies provided by parent associa-
tions; and funds raised by schools themselves. MEC meets teachers salaries, but does not provide
much support for other expenditures and does not allocate an operating budget to schools. In the
absence of a budget, the burden of fund-raising to meet other operating expenses falls to head
teachers, who often work in partnership with school parent associations to raise funds. Doruk from
the ministry states:
Schools do not have a budget. They collect money from donations or selling books and confectionery.
Some schools receive income from school canteens and also School Parents Associations organise
activities to collect money for schools . . . . So, the budget is largely the budget of School Parents Asso-
ciation. (Doruk)
Their role confined to fund-raising, schools parent associations do not seem to play a meaning-
ful democratic or participative role beyond that of resource provider. Subsidies made by schools
and school parent associations are often used to improve the school premises and resources and
also to meet the day-to-day management costs. Nevertheless, there is a widespread consensus
among the participants that the need to channel most of their energy into fund-raising is a prime
demotivator and a real challenge that keeps them away from the issues they perceive to be
relatively more important. Participating head teachers underline:
We do not receive financial support from the Ministry. They provide some stationery in the beginning
of the academic year, but nothing else. We need to find sponsors and financial resources to improve
premises. We are doing what the Ministry ought to be doing, but does not. This consumes most of the
head teachers time. (Serkan)
Tarkan, a representative from one of the teacher unions agree with head teachers:
To contribute more productively to education, head teachers need to contribute to educational
activities. This prevents them from doing this. When head teachers try to increase the financial
resources, they neglect what they really need to do to contribute to education. This is one of the
biggest obstacles that does not allow head teachers to be productive at school. (Tarkan)
Schools and school parent associations seem to vary in their fund-raising capacity and
accounts of the impact of contextual factors on their fund-raising capacity are common among
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participating head teachers. Head teachers managing the schools predominantly populated by
children of economic migrants of low socio-economic background state that they are particularly
challenged. This reflects the changing demographic patterns, particularly in the last decade
(Durber, 2004; Hatay, 2005). These migrants often live in neighbourhoods in their own sub-
cultures where their children also attend schools (Mertkan-Ozunlu and Thomson, 2009). In the
face of these socio-economic difficulties, head teachers are forced to learn how to live with the
discomfort of constrained capacity. The majority of them seem to accept their disadvantaged
position rather than work against it.
I have bigger projects, but we do not have a sufficient budget to pay for them. Half of our students are
migrants from Turkey and they come from low socio-economic backgrounds. Their parents are
economic migrants who come here to work. When you force the parents, they pay for the registration,
but do not pay for anything later, do not contribute to fund-raising activities. So, I do not have ambi-
tious projects and objectives. (Esra)
Last year, for example, we launched a campaign to raise money for air conditioning, all of the Turkish
Cypriot parents contributed, we collected money from businesses and we managed to get it done, but
none of our Turkish parents contributed towards the project. Of course, their children also use this with
the others, but we go through the difficulties. (Selda)
It is often the case that in international leadership literature contextual factors and their impact
on school leaders are left untreated, as is the case also with the school effectiveness and school
improvement literatures (Harris et al., 2006). This contextual reductionism is a serious weakness
contextual variables seriously influence what a school is capable of doing (Bowe et al., 1992) and
improvements in the external environment influence more than anything else schools ability to
improve (Harris et al., 2006). Evidence from this study provides further support for the conclusions
made by Bowe et al. (1992). It demonstrates that contextual factors influence head teachers
perceptions of what is feasible while contextual challenges teach them to accept their disadvan-
taged position. Nevertheless, although rare, examples of working creatively around this problem
have been found in instances when head teachers solicit and receive free labour from parents, who
cannot otherwise make any contribution to the school budget. Participating head teachers underline
that the funds schools and school parent associations raise are often not sufficient to meet the cost
of big-ticket investments. In such cases, it is common for them to make proposals to MEC for
contribution towards such investments. The majority of head teachers complain that such requests
are rarely met, even in cases when the promise had long been secured. As the head quoted here
indicates:
Before the launch of the project, we request some contribution from the Ministry . . . They told us to
start the project and promised to make some contribution towards the total cost. We finished the
project, but no contribution has yet been made. I have such a project now. They promised to be respon-
sible for the material cost and we would be responsible for the labour cost. We finished the project, also
paid for the material cost, but they have not yet paid us back. Now, we are in debt and are still waiting to
receive the promised contribution from the Ministry. (Selda)
There is a widespread feeling among participating head teachers that fund-raising should be the
ministrys role and they should be provided with a sensible working budget.
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Managing bureaucracy
Perhaps the most striking elements of the Turkish Cypriot education system are its centralisation
and traditional methods of work. Head teachers need to inform directors of primary and secondary
education located within MEC about everything that takes place in schools. Head teachers lack
autonomy to make decisions without first seeking authorisation from the respective sectoral
directors. This includes communication with external organisations, which needs to be channel-
led through MEC. This is another mechanism for inserting political control into the system. The
dominant political party monitors every event in schools, and retains the power to permit events
reflective of the dominant ideology while refusing those that differ. This is a mechanism for sur-
veillance, but the nature of surveillance that takes place in North Cyprus differs from surveillance
in some OECD countries and member countries of the European Union. Meticulous reporting takes
place through paperwork including monthly reports on school activities, staff absenteeism, teacher
inspection reports, timetables for each semester and improvements made to premises. In addition
to information flowing to the ministry from schools, participating head teachers state that they are
also required to act as a communication channel between the ministry and school staff. The most
common means of informing teachers is through head teachers, who receive announcements from
the ministry to pass on to teachers. In addition, there are some letters concerning the teachers:
We might receive an announcement about English language teaching, for example. You need to
announce this to relevant teachers, take photocopies and get their signatures if necessary. We also
receive letters asking us to choose some teachers and inform the Ministry accordingly. We also receive
letters asking us to identify the teachers who will attend a course or who is interested in taking respon-
sibilities on a specific task. (Kaan)
This results in extensive communication with MEC, on which participating head teachers state
they spend about two hours a day and about which complaints are common. In a context where the
amount of instruction is a real concern, and where teachers and head teachers work relatively less
in comparison to other European Union members (World Bank, 2006a), this is daunting.
Every single day we receive a couple of letters from the Department for Primary Education, Ministry of
Education and Culture or other branches of the government. We read these, plan when to deal with each
and try to reply before the deadline. We completed the first semester and these letters made one and a
half files. We wrote 120 letters, the ones we received are much more. (Erdogan)
What is particularly striking is the lack of data on learning and the quality of teaching. This
provides further evidence that supports the conclusion reached by World Bank that there is only
anecdotal evidence of the quality of education in general (2006b: 85). It has also been found that
traditional methods of communication pen, paper and regular post or porter are used. Head teach-
ers, especially those not located in the capital, describe instances where documents arrive late or are
lost in the post. This is a country where computer literacy is high, and computers have made it into
the majority of the households; in fact in the MEC the ratio of computer to staff is very high.
Management of teaching
By law, head teachers are required to manage teaching and learning (O

gretmenler Yasas, 1985).

However, in the absence of decision-making, autonomy and the power to make educational
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changes, the role of the head teachers with regard to teaching and learning is procedural. Evi-
dence from this study suggests that it is common for head teachers to feel unable to respond
to challenges regarding teaching and learning because the decision-making powers lie with the
government, which they believe has long been moribund because of both its politicised nature
and its lack of capacity. Head teachers list two key challenges: to get teachers to carry out duties
outside their teaching hours and to prevent teachers from frequently taking leave of absence. A
significant number of participating head teachers believe that absenteeism and shirking of
responsibilities are common in schools. The most commonly used strategy seems to be sick
leave, which in some cases is an abuse of the system. Doruk from the Ministry of Education
acknowledges that one of the biggest difficulties head teachers face is to manage teaching and
ensuring that teachers work productively:
One of the biggest problems head teachers can face is to ensure that teachers work and are present at
school. This was expressed many times before. Teachers have some rights given by relevant laws and
regulations. Of course these rights were provided in good faith, but in time teachers started to use these
for their benefit. Consequently, ensuring teachers come to school and work productively is one of the
biggest problems head teachers have. (Doruk)
There are accounts of being powerless to enforce disciplinary action as such problems are too
common and head teachers underline that the only thing they can do in such circumstances is to
inform MEC about these cases. One of the teaching unions in the country also seems to share head
teachers views that they are deprived of any such decision-making powers:
I read the law three or four times. There is only one thing I can do to inform the ministry. I can report
when teachers refuse to carry out their responsibilities, when they come late, and when they are unable
to teach well. I cannot do anything else. (Erol)
Head teachers do not have any power to get things done. When a duty is not carried out, head teachers
cannot get people to do it, they dont have any legal power. They need to share such problems with the
Ministry of Education and Culture. (Tarkan)
Evidence reveals that the problem is not only that head teachers lack decision-making powers to
solve problems, but also that the MEC often fails to enforce a fair disciplinary action when they are
informed about such cases. On the contrary, participating head teachers often observe that the min-
istry is ineffective. Erdogan states:
When you report a teacher who does not come to work properly, pay-roll deductions do not apply. There
isnt a proper reward and punishment system. I amvery sorry to say this, but schools are not regulated and
how well a teacher or administrator performs is left to their conscience. Good teachers and good admin-
istrators perform well, but bad ones also survive in the system. There is no one to stop this. (Erdogan)
Turkay from the ministry seems to be aware of the problem. He states:
I know a lot of schools, which were found unsuccessful but no action was taken about them. Even
though it was reported on inspection reports and other reports that some administrators had serious
weaknesses, nothing happened. (Turkay)
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There is widespread consensus that there are two reasons for such practices: the politicised
nature of the ministry and teacher unions misuse of power. It is common to hear participating head
teachers complain that fear of loss of votes hinders MEC from taking appropriate action. In North
Cyprus, the party in power appoints senior staff in the ministry. Hence, decision-making powers
are transferred to the political party in power, which makes the system particularly vulnerable
in the sense that when a party loses its status there are also significant consequences for the
personnel. Hence, it is not surprising when senior staff in the ministry are particularly reluctant
to make any decision that would result in loss of votes in the next election, because that could
potentially cost them their jobs. Head teachers also note that teacher unions often paralyse the
system by prioritising their members benefits over student learning and going on strike when deci-
sions they do not agree with are made. In a system where almost all teachers are union members,
union action can be particularly paralysing as strikes often prove.
If you warn a teacher saying, you are wrong here. I will not pay you until you change your behaviour,
the union immediately comes against you. They argue that you were not being fair to its member. They
might be right or wrong but they have to defend their members because they are their members law-
yers. On the other hand, it is also political. Often votes stand out. They think there will be another
election after about 34 years and I will ask for this persons vote. I need to look good to protect these
votes. Some things continue like this. It was like this at least until today. (Aylin)
The union stands in the forefront and they always intervene. The Ministry is also not effective when it
comes to this . . . Teachers have not received any disciplinary action about this. Neither the Ministry
nor the head teachers have much power to punish bad practice because of the unions. The union exists
to protect teachers rights but I think they have gone too far. Instead of protecting teachers rights, they
try to reduce the teaching hours while increasing the salaries. The less teachers teach, the better. Teach-
ers want to teach less and earn more and because they know the union thinks the same, they turn to the
union when they are in trouble. (Esra)
In a system where head teachers are deprived of any decision-making power, these deficiencies
can become paralysing. In addition, it has been found that head teachers also lack capacity to use
the limited power they have. Accounts of lack of awareness of instructional problems were not
uncommon. It is rare for head teachers to observe classes and base their judgement on evidence.
Instead, head teachers seem to base their decisions on observation outside the classroom, the reac-
tions of the pupils and parents, and looking at the level of students when head teachers cover for
absent staff.
The head teacher completes the employee reports . . . To be frank, we dont complete our section
scientifically either because I usually observe teachers outside the classroom. I can assess their motiva-
tion, but no one knows what they teach in class, how well they teach, whether they use effective
pedagogical strategies. No one knows. (Ozgur)
Of course, the most important way of assessing teachers is observation. Most of the time, we are with
the teachers and we see how a teacher behaves towards students, parents, and their colleagues. Such an
observation . . . To tell the truth, I have not yet observed a class. I have not observed any classes, but
you know news about problems travel. When you are outside your office, you can understand how
someone teaches. Second, I always say students and parents are the biggest inspectors. By looking
at the reactions of students and parents, you can understand what kind of a teacher someone is, but
I have not done any classroom observations before. (Aylin)
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With the exception of two head teachers, the participants did not mention doing regular
observations and using the information gathered to support pedagogical development. No other
methodof supportingteachers toimprove pedagogywas mentioned. Inaddition, onlyone headteacher
has stated that regular student assessment takes place in the school. Hence, evidence suggests that head
teachers spend relatively less time on management of teaching and learning and lack a school wide
system for improving pedagogy through evaluation and effective monitoring of teaching.
Managers have to deal with challenges arising from highly politicised, low-capacity policy fields,
weak infrastructure, demotivated teachers and, in some cases, undesirable socio-economic conditions
of students, all of which factors further weaken their already limited capacity to improve teaching
and learning. This suggests that head teachers seldom have opportunity to initiate pedagogical
improvement. The absence of systematic assessment of learning might further imply that pedagogi-
cal problems, learning and assessment are generally not on head teachers radar. Instead, head teach-
ers tend to associate school improvement with the improvement of the premises and equipment,
rather than pedagogical development. Where international leadership literature focuses on teaching
and learning, head teachers time in North Cyprus is consumed by routine administrative activities,
and few head teachers use the limited scope they have to improve teaching and learning.
Conclusion
This article investigated the work of head teachers in North Cyprus, summarising how they are pre-
pared for and recruited to headship, how they manage their duties and responsibilities, as well as how
they face the challenges in their roles. The majority of participants consider that head teacher recruit-
ment is inequitable, marred by covert politicisation through social networks rather than based on qua-
lification and merit. Their work is burdensome, fully focused on administrative and management
issues with limited opportunities to exercise leadership, very little agency for change, and limited
capacity to improve teaching and learning. Their work is not learning-centred; rather, it is concen-
trated on fund-raising and fiscal management, managing bureaucracy and managing teaching.
In carrying out their work, head teachers underline facing challenges arising from low-capacity,
highly politicised policy fields, demotivated teachers and weak infrastructure. Often coupled with
undesirable socio-economic conditions of students and uncontrolled migration, these challenges often
paralyse the system and force head teachers to manage with tied hands and seriously weaken their
already limited capacity to improve teaching and learning and to exercise leadership functions. This
paper shows that declining interest in school management, coupled with the decontextualised and uni-
versalistic discourse of leadership, canbe a serious barrier toeducational effectiveness andeducational
reform, particularly in traditionalistic countries where it is not yet possible for school managers to
become leaders and carry out leadership functions. It demonstrates that there is a need to re-
examine the implications of the declining interest in school management and fixation on leadership.
Funding
This researchreceivedno specific grant fromanyfunding agencyinthe public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Note
1. This cross-cultural dimension is not further explored in this paper because the paper is not about how
leadership manifests itself in different cultures because of cultural differences, but about contexts and
contextual dysfunctionalities that may hinder leadership and leadership development.
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Author biography
Sefika Mertkan is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education, Eastern Mediterranean
University. She is the assistant editor of the International Journal of Leadership in Education.
Previously, Sefika worked at the University of Cambridge. Her primary research interests are
in educational change, educational policy, educational leadership, school improvement and
qualitative research methods.
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