Not because they are poor educators.
Sometimes, it is because we ask them to become something they were never properly prepared to be.
David Chan was once an inspiring teacher in Indonesia. He progressed from classroom teacher to head of department, then academic director, and eventually principal of a new international school.
On paper, it looked like a natural career progression.
But becoming a principal changed the job completely.
David was no longer responsible only for teaching and learning. He now had to think about budgets, financial decisions, staffing, strategic planning and the day-to-day operation of an entire school.
So here is the uncomfortable question:
Are we preparing great educators to become great school leaders?
The Principal’s Job Is Bigger Than Teaching
Being an excellent teacher does not automatically prepare someone to run an entire school.
A principal needs to understand teaching and learning. However, they also need to make decisions about people, resources, finances, operations, strategy and the long-term direction of the school.
For someone who has spent most of their career in education, this can be a steep learning curve.
David understood pedagogy.
He understood curriculum.
He understood teachers and students.
But when he entered the principal’s office, he suddenly had to make high-stakes decisions in areas where he had much less experience.
That does not make him a bad principal.
It means principal preparation needs to reflect the reality of the job.
Research from the Wallace Foundation has found that principal preparation has not always kept pace with the growing demands placed on school leaders. Its research also highlights the importance of connecting leadership theory with authentic practice, mentoring and ongoing support.
Where Principal Preparation Can Fall Short
Traditional leadership programmes often focus heavily on areas such as instructional leadership, curriculum and school improvement.
These areas matter.
But school leaders also need to understand organisational leadership, change management, people development and, particularly in some school settings, business and financial administration.
In an earlier Wallace Foundation study of school principals, many leaders described their formal preparation as disconnected from the complex realities of the job. Some specifically identified business and financial administration as areas they wished had received greater attention during their preparation.
That creates a problem.
A teacher can spend years becoming highly skilled in education and then step into leadership only to discover that the job requires an entirely different range of competencies.
The solution is not to turn every principal into an MBA graduate.
The solution is to make sure aspiring principals are exposed to the knowledge and experiences they actually need.
The Peter Principle in Education
There is another idea worth considering here: the Peter Principle.
The concept describes a situation where people are promoted because they perform well in their current role until they reach a position where their existing skills no longer fully match the demands of the job.
David’s career illustrates why this can happen.
He was successful as a teacher because he understood teaching.
He was successful as an academic leader because he understood curriculum and pedagogy.
But the principal’s role required something broader.
It required him to combine educational judgement with financial, operational and organisational decision-making.
The issue was not necessarily that David had been promoted.
The issue was assuming that success in one role automatically prepares someone for the next.
So, What Does Better Principal Preparation Look Like?
If we want stronger school leaders, we need to rethink how we prepare them.
1. Develop Business and Financial Literacy
Future principals do not need to become accountants.
However, they should be comfortable understanding budgets, evaluating financial implications and asking the right questions.
Financial literacy can help principals make better decisions about staffing, facilities, resources and long-term planning.
This becomes particularly important in international schools, where leaders may be responsible for complex operations alongside their academic responsibilities.
2. Connect Theory With Real School Leadership
Reading about leadership is useful.
Practising it is better.
High-quality principal preparation programmes increasingly recognise the importance of authentic leadership experiences, supervised practice and mentoring. Research from the Wallace Foundation’s University Principal Preparation Initiative found that redesigned programmes worked to connect coursework with the real work of school leadership.
Aspiring principals should have opportunities to work through real problems.
How do you handle a difficult staffing decision?
How do you lead organisational change?
How do you respond when parents, teachers and senior management have competing expectations?
How do you decide where limited resources should go?
These are not hypothetical questions for a principal.
They are part of the job.
3. Learn From Outside Education
There is also value in looking beyond schools.
Experience in sectors such as hospitality, F&B, FMCG or other service industries can expose future school leaders to different approaches to customer experience, financial management, operations and organisational behaviour.
Cross-sector experience will not automatically make someone a better principal.
But it can broaden their perspective.
Sometimes, the best way to rethink how an organisation works is to spend time seeing how another organisation does it.
4. Build Strong Leadership Teams
Perhaps most importantly, principals should not be expected to know everything.
Schools are complex organisations.
A strong principal can focus on educational leadership while working alongside people with expertise in finance, operations, human resources, marketing and other areas.
This does not reduce the principal’s responsibility.
It strengthens their ability to lead.
The Wallace Foundation has also highlighted the importance of ongoing support and development for principals, rather than treating preparation as something that ends once someone receives a leadership qualification.
Principal Preparation Should Not End on Day One
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is thinking leadership preparation finishes when someone becomes a principal.
It should be the beginning.
New principals need mentoring.
They need professional development.
They need opportunities to reflect on their decisions.
They need people who can challenge their thinking.
And they need access to expertise when they encounter problems they have never faced before.
The evidence around high-quality principal development points towards exactly this kind of continuous learning. Research reviewed by the Wallace Foundation and Learning Policy Institute associates strong principal preparation and professional development with better outcomes for principals, teachers and students.
In other words, becoming a principal should not mean becoming finished.
It should mean becoming a lifelong learner in a new role.
What This Means for Fairview
At Fairview International School, we believe that learning does not stop at the classroom door.
The same principle applies to leadership.
Preparing children for life means developing the knowledge, skills, confidence and values they need beyond school. Preparing educators for leadership requires the same long-term mindset.
Leadership is something that develops through experience, reflection and continuous professional learning.
This is also why professional development matters across the Fairview community.
Strong schools need strong teachers.
They also need leaders who are willing to keep learning, ask difficult questions and work with people who bring different expertise to the table.
We Should Prepare Principals for the Job They Actually Have
David’s story is not really about failure.
It is about preparation.
If we promote excellent educators into leadership roles without giving them the skills, experience and support they need, we should not be surprised when they struggle.
The answer is not to stop teachers from becoming principals.
It is to prepare them properly.
Give them the business knowledge.
Give them practical leadership experience.
Give them mentors.
Give them strong teams.
And give them permission to keep learning.
Because the best principals do not try to do everything themselves.
They know what they know.
They know what they do not know.
And they know who can help.
That is not weakness.
That is leadership.
As Helen Keller famously put it, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Perhaps that is the lesson we should be teaching future principals too.
References
- The Wallace Foundation. Becoming a Leader: Preparing Principals for Today’s Schools.
- The Wallace Foundation. Redesigning University Principal Preparation Programs.
- The Wallace Foundation. Developing Effective Principals: What Kind of Learning Matters?.
- The Wallace Foundation. The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning.
About Dr. Vincent Chian
Dr. Vincent Chian is a senior education leader at Fairview International School and University College Fairview. His work focuses on educational leadership, lifelong learning and developing learning environments that prepare students for life beyond examinations.
