School of foreign languages directors' views on leadership and management, qualifications for appointment, and continuing professional development needs: A qualitative study in Turkish context

It is apparent that effective leadership is the most crucial factor influencing student success and school improvement following in-class academic activities. It has been emphasized that comprehensive and systematic training for school leaders on their areas of responsibility before their appointment ensures smooth management of all academic and administrative activities and fosters the well-being of all stakeholders. In this context, equipping school leaders with the necessary qualifications, knowledge, and skills to fulfill their duties enables the realization of the institution's future vision and ensures unity, thereby creating a productive and meaningful school culture through active participation of all stakeholders in the educational process. Therefore, the training and qualifications of school leaders, as well as how their continuous professional development needs are met after their appointment, are worth exploring, as they affect the development of the school and the success of the students. In this regard, this study aims to investigate the perceptions of school leaders on management and leadership concepts, the leadership model predominantly used in their institutions, the qualifications required to be appointed as a school leader, the areas in which training should be received before appointment, and how the continuous professional development needs of school leaders should be treated after appointment. A qualitative descriptive research design was used to conduct the current study. A convenience sampling of 17 school leaders serving as foreign language school directors in both state and foundation universities in all seven regions of Türkiye participated in this study. Qualitative data were collected through a questionnaire including open-ended questions, semi-structured e-mail interviews, and a self-assessment sheet. The cyclical model of Creswell's inductive content analysis was used for data analysis. According to the findings of the study, foreign language school directors associated the leadership concept with being an agent of change, fostering a culture of collaboration, creating vision and inspiration, mediation, school improvement, policy-making, quality-oriented and continuous cognitive labor, while they associated the management concept with checking and ensuring policies, paper works and system, quality assurance, mediation, participative approach, and change management. Additionally, it was determined that the participative leadership model is the most preferred leadership model among school leaders in their institutions. The results also indicated that the qualifications required to be appointed as a foreign language school director include an academic background in language education, soft skills such as communication and interpersonal skills, collaboration, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and leadership skills, academic excellence, personality traits, and operational efficiency. Furthermore, according to the research findings, school leaders felt the need for training on their areas of responsibility before their appointment and suggested that instructional leadership, ICT and learning, managing people, communication skills, conflict management, management and administration, law, curriculum, leadership, and strategic planning should be included in the leadership development curriculum program designed in Turkish context. Finally, the research results identified various methods for treating the continuous professional development needs of school leaders after their appointment. These included joining in management-related training, staying informed of recent trends in language education, preparing personalized development programs based on needs analysis, networking, higher management support, mentorship programs, collaborative learning communities, pre- and post-appointment training, succession planning, feedback and evaluation, and action research and reflection. Considering the research process and results, various implications and recommendations were derived for the main stakeholders in language education.