Principalship in China: Emerging propositions

Since the release of the 2009 and 2012 PISA results, Shanghai has been considered a world giant in education (Tucker, 2011), with countries all over the world engaged in enthusiastic exploration of what they can learn from this 'strong performer and successful reformer' (OECD, 2011). Despite this widespread international interest, however, little is known about the educational changes taking place in mainland China. For example, a search for international journal articles and book chapters specifically on school principalship in China, the focus of the study reported herein, yields just 57 citations over the 16-year span from 1998 to 2013 (e.g. Walker and Qian, in press). Given the paucity of research in this area, the aim of this study was to provide a greater understanding of this important yet underdeveloped topic. Copyright © 2014 Australian Council for Educational Leaders.