The Effects of Reform in Principal Selection on Leadership Behavior of General and Vocational High School Principals in Taiwan

Deregulation has formed the primary core of education reform in Taiwan in the past decade. The principal selection system was one of the specific recommendations in the deregulation of education. The method of designation of senior high school principals has changed from being “appointed” to being “selected.” The issue as to whether selection of principals affects their leadership styles is a subject worthy of examination. This study employs transformational and transactional leaderships as a framework for identifying leadership behavior exhibited by general and vocational high school principals that differed from past behavior and caused by reform in the principal selection system. This study employed interviews to accumulate principals’ viewpoints about the change of principal designation and its effects on their leadership behavior. Questionnaires were used to collect teachers’ perceptions about the changes of principal leadership behavior in the different principal designation method in addition to directly getting the information from principals. The main results of the study indicated that the principal selection system conforms to society’s expectations and democratic basis and appointed principals’ leadership behavior tends to be transactional, while selected principals’ leadership behavior tends to be transformational. Recommendations are made for principals and education authorities.