Current factors affecting principals in the secondary schools of Saudi Arabia

Fifty principals of public high schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were interviewed to identify problems their schools face, initiatives that would address the problems, and barriers to the identification of problems and implementation of solutions. They rated the importance of 4 problems identified by the Saudi Ministry of Education as critical disturbances to public education in the Kingdom. Levels of agreement for the principals with the Ministry assertions were remarkably low. Only one of the problems, old-fashioned pedagogy, was supported as extremely important by more than half of the respondents (26 of 50). Principals added an extensive list of critical problems. These problems emerged as the primary focus of the principals and of the research. According to the principals, problems need to be addressed on the bases of their primary operational contexts: (a) the schools themselves; (b) institutions of teacher preparation and higher learning; or (c) the Ministry of Education.; The principals identified possible solutions to the problems, and a variety of barriers to those solutions. In essence, problems identified by the Ministry were viewed as surface problems or manifestations of deeper causal factors the principals came to perceive. The principals revealed probing and fairly unified observation and analysis of the educational process and identified changes needed to establish a more effective, attentive educational system. One of the important features of the principals' observation was the fact that they did not see problems, initiatives, and barriers as separate entities. Although positioned to lead their organizations to meaningful achievement, principals felt they were restricted from doing so. They revealed that the primary problems in education are tied to the centralized bureaucratic operation of the Ministry and the lack of any authority or decision-making power on the part of the principals. Systems analysis of the situation revealed by the respondents was presented, offering a multi-faceted approach to reorganization of education in Saudi Arabia.