Examining the departmental leadership role in Kuwaiti Public Schools

Abstract

This paper examines the main features of a new school administration system adopted by the Kuwait Ministry of Education since 1992. The new "Developed School Administration" system considers subject head teachers as resident supervisors of their subjects in their schools and has changed their title to "department chair." Among other new responsibilities, the guidelines of the new system advise department chairs to work with teachers for the continuous evaluation and development of the school curriculum. The paper also examined the extent of which department chairs are performing their new duties according to their perceptions as well as their respective teachers' perceptions.