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This case study of school leaders in the Southern Philippines explored principal perspectives on local dynamics that facilitate and impede meaningful educational change. The research indicated that change is a complicated proposition in the region, and that some principals are better or worse equipped to lead depending on a variety of cultural, political and organizational factors. In particular, the research revealed that principals' ability to establish meaningful relationships with both school system and government officials was critical to facilitating positive change. The article concludes by making recommendations for local practitioners in the Philippines.
Despite innovative national policies, public education has had an uneven evolution in the Philippines, in some ways improving rapidly and in others remaining largely the same (Bello, Docena, de Guzman & Malig, 2009). On several occasions, well-intentioned and well-designed national reforms imported from other countries have failed upon implementation (Zulueta & Liwag, 2001). This is due in part to a number of systemic factors: the country's unstable political environment (Constantino, 1975; Gregorio & Gregorio, 1976); pervasive corruption across private and public sectors, particularly in education (Abinales & Amoroso, 2005; Chua, 1999; Reyes, 2009); a lack of adequate resources (Asian Development Bank, 2005); and, cultural and social dynamics that effectively maintain the status quo at the classroom, school and divisional levels (Chua, 1999). These issues notwithstanding, many in the Philippines work toward school and school system improvement. This study investigates the work of one subset of educators, school administrators, in an effort to understand how they leverage their limited agency toward positive educational change, within their buildings, school divisions and local communities (de Guzman, 2006, 2007; de Guzman & Guillermo, 2007).
The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand how school administrators influence educational change in Philippine schools. This article is part of a larger effort to document perspectives currently underrepresented in the literature, so the themes presented in this article are understandably broad and complex. Aside from a few high-quality exceptions (particularly the work of Allan B. de Guzman and his colleagues), the preparation and work of school leaders in the Philippines is largely absent from worldwide research conversations about educational leadership. Our hope is that the perspectives in this article can inform practitioners, re- searchers and policymakers as...