Principals changing schools and their career options after principalship: Exploring reasons and options within Malaysian principalship

Abstract

The issue of principals moving or changing schools has emerged and has been debated within the previous literature that investigates why principals move after a few years of principalship. Based on previous findings, various reasons are listed as motives for principals to move from, or remain at, their current schools. However, within Malaysian principalship, little is known about why principals move to a new school and their options after completing/leaving a principalship position. Thus, this article investigates reasons for moving to second schools and options after the principalship position within the Malaysian context of principalship. For that purpose, nine principals, comprising four middle-phase and five senior principals, were interviewed to solicit their reasons for moving and their options after their principalship phase has been completed. Various factors are mentioned by the principals, such as being posted to schools that are at a distance from their home, providing a platform for a novice principal, and assisting schools that have low achievements. In terms of options after a principalship, senior principals spoke of their intention to remain at the same school until their retirement phase arrives. However, interviewed senior principals revealed their intentions of becoming school leadership consultants as a platform to share their wide experiences with novice principals.