Sustainable Leadership in Private International Schools: Lessons from Kuwait

The rapid, global growth of the private international school sector has raised demand for qualified school administrators to lead schools in that sector. Many administrators hired into that sector face particular challenges when coming from public systems in other countries. The question is in what ways do gaps between the training and experience of recruits and the demands of the sector compromise the sustainability of effective leadership in private international schools. There are implications for policy development around training and support for leaders in this sector as, unlike many national public systems, it lacks a supply of specifically trained leaders. This article presents a qualitative study of semi-structured interviews with 17 international school leaders who moved from national public systems abroad to private international schools in Kuwait. The major themes that emerged in those interviews were the challenges faced by leaders in adjusting to differing governance structures, the business and marketing aspects of private international schools, and managing the transience of staff. A number of similar themes have been cited in research on international schools in other world regions, although some expressions of those themes are particular to Kuwait. This article concludes with a discussion of the need to provide sustainable norms for leadership across the international school sector, with training and support to help school leaders transition and work more effectively in the sector.