Aplicación de los indicadores cualitativos

Mentoring and networking are both considered as part of the support required by principals. According to Kram and Isabella (1985), there are two categories that could be linked to the role of mentors; career development roles, and psycho-social roles. While career development roles are more related to growth and development of protégés within the organisation, psycho-social roles are more directed towards interpersonal aspects including protégés’ competency and self-image. In the previous section on leadership development, while studies such as those of Youngs and Cardno (2015) and Westhuizen and Vuuren (2007) emphasised the importance of support in leadership development, Ng and Szeto (2016) on the other hand highlighted the role of peer networking and school visits in relation to leadership development. It is apparent from their study that the emphasis is not on leadership development per se, but the findings show that leadership development has a close connection to networking. Arguably, mentoring is another term which is close to the explanation of

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networking as networking creates opportunities for mentoring to take place. Due to this claim, it is worth mentioning that in the following parts of the explanation, the terms mentoring and networking will be used interchangeably as and when appropriate. Participants in the Ng and Szeto study (2016) opined that the best way to learn about school leadership is through peer networking and school visits. Networking is viewed by the participant NAPs in the study as providing them with an opportunity to learn and share things related to leadership along with practical experiences. Ng and Szeto further elaborate that participants in the study always look forward to their mentors’ support as mentors are able to provide advice regarding school management. Given the evidence that networking is helpful for the principals, some NAPs even suggested including ‘shadowing’ learning activities such as school meetings, meeting with parents and students, as well as delivery of speech during assembly as part of mentor- mentee support.

In order to motivate principals in building networking into their practice, Westhuizen and Vuuren (2007) in his study emphasises the importance of broadening the support not only within the school area but also with the community outside the school. The findings of the study suggest that building positive relationships, i.e. networking, with parents could be in the form of providing guidance on educational matters. Even though leading the community is not the main role of principals, networking between principals and parents is important as it is one way of harnessing the involvement of the community. To value the involvement of the community is arguably more important in a highly collectivist society, as collectivist culture emphasises the needs of a group or a community rather than those of the individual. As such, it is valuable for the principals to identify what their school climate is like and whose involvement works better for their school.

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Lumby (2011) discussed networking a different way, emphasised the role of educational leaders in giving special attention to managing external relations. According to Lumby, managing relations is considered as part of marketing in education. Lumby further added that marketing in education is a strategic process towards understanding the wants and needs of learners and wider stakeholder groups, as well as building relationships and resources to meet such requirements. Hence, developing external relations may involve working with parents to improve learning. To improve students’ achievement, Lumby said it is crucial for the principals to work with parents. The relationship between school and parents would bring about the sense of ownership that could be a deterrent on the part of students for acts such as vandalism, theft and violence. Since there is no clear explanation of whether the participants in Lumby’s study consist of men and/or women principals, whether women principals play a better role as compared to men principals in building the relationship of their school with others is not considered. Besides, it is also argued that it is essential for principals to know the interests of parents so that they would feel more interested in joining in with the school’s activities.

From the Islamic perspective on leadership, Hamzah et al. (2016) asserted that making important decisions should not be assigned to a single person. According to Hamzah et al., it should include getting feedback from the team members through respectful and friendly interaction. Making decision is one of the roles for principals to play in exercising leadership. Even though the Hamzah et al. study is not conceptualised as a study on networking, it could be argued that decision making by considering feedback from team members could be claimed as a significant aspect of building networking. The Hamzah et al. study fits therefore within the literature review of this study as to make decisions based on others’ feedback will not happen without

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the presence of networking. In other words, for the principals to make decisions which are based on others’ opinions and feedback, it is arguable that building networking should be one of the criteria in the leadership of principals.

On a similar note to Hamzah et al., there is a basic attribute suggested by Mir (2010) which is called mutual consultation. With reference to Islamic leadership, Mir states that when leaders need to make decisions, they should not make decisions alone, but rather consult others to get others’ opinion. Decisions will only be made after taking into consideration advice from others as well as critically examining all viewpoints and evidence. This condition is called ‘syura’ or council; the word is taken from the Arabic language and means to show consent or approval. To consider collective wisdom in making decisions clearly shows that leadership according to Islam should not depend on leaders alone; instead, others’ involvement and support is highly considered. Mir emphasised that the practice of ‘syura’ prevents leaders from over using their positional authority when making decisions. Instead, Mir attests that the mutual consultation of making decisions strengthens the spirit of collectivism, shared responsibility, and a team building spirit. In this case therefore it is claimed that networking serves as a basis of strengthening these attributes. Furthermore, it could be argued that, if leadership to be exercised according to the Islamic teaching in Islamic countries like Malaysia, there is no way out for principals from building networking as a way of practicing ‘syura’ as well as to adhere to the Islamic leadership. As claimed earlier on, when networking takes place there could be mentoring happening at the same time. It is possible for networking to happen without individuals acting as superior to others, and it could be claimed that leading a school is sometimes more effective when having someone as a mentor. Mentors as found in the study conducted by Moorosi (2012) in South Africa could include former principals, district

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officials, retired principals or retired district officials, and neighbouring principals as well as mentors-as-lecturers. Moorosi’s reason for conducting the study is due to the

prevalent unclear understanding of effective mentoring and the significance of similarity and diversity in mentoring relationship. According to Moorosi, even though mentoring is not yet considered as part of formal school leadership induction programme or leadership development, the South African government classified mentoring as a distinguished pilot leadership development programme for school principals. Given the assumption that the relationship in mentoring is influenced by a variety of factors, the study focuses on diversity of gender and race in mentoring. Other than that, the study also found that mentoring occurs both formal and informally, in which informal mentoring is found to impact more on the relationship between mentor and mentee. The context of the South African society that contributes towards the effectiveness of informal mentoring as the society could be regarded as collectivist in nature.

In another study conducted in South Africa, the respondents who held managerial role prior to their appointment into senior leadership roles admit that they are better at coping with leading people as compared to those without the prior experience in other leadership roles (Westhuizen & Vuuren, 2007). The study shows that the school’s activity is always linked to the community, and due to this the principals are expected to play a role in interacting with the community in which the school is situated. One of the findings of the study is that at a certain point, the community show better acceptance to the principals once they know them well. Due to this perception, the respondents in Westhuizen and Vuuren study proposed that out of the many facets of building networking, to communicate with the wider society and community is one the most important aspects need to be developed. Hence, it could also be argued that

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building networking in school leadership signifies the notion that principals should not only connect people but connecting with them in a closer sense such as through a nurturing relationship, sharing information and pooling resources. It is justifiable to suggest that achieving the real meaning of connecting with people through networking could pave the way to other school achievements. Bush (2008) suggests that networking is important in all facets of leadership development, and he regards networking as having great power toward learning and performance. This is supported by Kiggundu and Moorosi (2012) who opined that networking positively affected pupils’ learning.

In sum, the leadership of principals in highly collectivist societies arguably requires more mentoring and networking as acting out of relationship is more valued than doing things alone.

From an in-depth review of the previous studies, it could be concluded that to lead the schools is a complex task for principals. However, complexity does not mean that the tasks are impossible to execute. There are times when what is required is a shift in the role of the principals.