A view from the top : a study on educational leadership in Roman Catholic Church primary and secondary schools in Malta

Abstract

This paper takes a view and discusses the author’s current doctoral research on leadership in Roman Catholic primary and secondary schools in Malta. The study is taking a grounded approach in order to investigate what it is like to be a headteacher in a church-run school, through an exploration of attitudes, behaviours, leadership styles and managerial skills and approaches. The initial phase of the project involved interviews with 10 Roman Catholic school headteachers (5 primary and 5 secondary). On the basis of these interviews a questionnaire that focuses on what have been identified as key issues was constructed. This was then distributed to the headteachers of all Roman Catholic schools in Malta. The final findings of the study should give some privileged insights into the perceptions and experiences of church headteachers, providing information about positive and negative aspects of the job, indicating areas where organisational and / or administrative changes would be helpful and also highlighting areas for headteacher professional development.