Abstract:
Media reports and studies have drawn attention to various components of a principal's work - long hours, increased expectations of parents, the complexity of the job, pressure of increased accountability- that have made it unattractive for teachers who might otherwise be interested in educational leadership. Also influential in the decline in interest in school principalship, and barely reported, is the detrimental effect of the selection process on the numbers of teachers applying for principal positions. Research in South Australia and Victoria shows the extent to which merit selection processes have become formulaic and how some principal aspirants, unable or unwilling to fit into the models, fail to advance in systems that favour certain applicants. It is not only the prospect of 'sleepless nights, heart attacks, and sudden death accountabilities' that has reduced the numbers of people applying for top educational administration positions but frustration with a selection process that seems to have lost merit.