ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Leadership in Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1638252
Core Competencies for School Leaders: Insights from Educational Experts
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sultan Qaboos University College of Education, Muscat, Oman
- 2Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
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This study explores the essential competencies required for effective school leadership in Oman through a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews. Guided by a validated theoretical framework of core competencies for school principals, the research involved 50 experts from the Ministry of Education with specializations in educational supervision and administration. Data collection instruments were reviewed by specialists and pilot-tested to ensure clarity and relevance. The findings revealed a layered understanding of leadership competencies, where experts distinguished between general competencies expected of all school principals, specialized competencies commonly observed among high-performing leaders, and a refined set of critical competencies identified as essential for achieving effective and sustainable school leadership. Among these, ten key domains were emphasized, including instructional leadership, strategic planning, and communication skills. The study highlights noticeable gaps in current leadership practices and emphasizes the urgent need for structured, targeted professional development programs. These findings contribute to both local and international discourse on educational leadership and provide actionable insights for enhancing leadership preparation, school administration, and policy-making in the education sector.
Keywords: school principals, School leadership, core competencies, Leadership, Schools
Received: 30 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Abunaser, Salah El-Din and Al-Fahadi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fathi m Abunaser, Sultan Qaboos University College of Education, Muscat, Oman
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