II. SUIS: The Principal's Job Description

When SUIS hires new principals, the company provides a list of job requirements. I will quickly summarize what it states.

The school leader position is divided into specific sections each with its own set of focuses. They are strategic management, accountability areas, line management of colleagues, school-based additional focuses, personnel management, and additional focuses.

Strategic management
This is the process by which company leaders consolidate to formulate long-term objectives and the types of strategies required to meet them. For SUIS school leaders, strategic management is an all-encompassing responsibility that involves improving the functioning and output of the international stream within their own school as well as input for improving the international stream across all SUIS schools. This division also requires leaders to pay particular attention to areas where cross-stream collaboration can be improved upon. It is also implied that leaders from each school must consolidate regularly to discuss strategies with the director of the international stream and the head of marketing. This is important as setting key meetings is "vital to the long-range effectiveness of the school" (Marshall 18).

Accountability areas
These are the specific areas of operation (primary focuses) the school leader is held responsible for and must plan and execute with little to no intervention from SUIS.

International program accreditation
Standards and Total Quality Management (TQM)
Teaching & learning, homework, and assessment
Classroom evaluation
International school environment & standards
Admissions
Student recruitment strategies
Transition from primary school to secondary
Communication strategies (in-school, XieHe, parents, community)

Line management of colleagues
This lists the chain of command that the school leader is responsible for. It will include any assistant heads as well as admissions staffs. Interestingly, teachers are not listed implying that the school leader can choose to manage them directly or through the head of curriculum.

School-based additional focuses
As the heading implies, the leader is responsible for maintaining the overall mission, ethos, and culture of the school. This includes any kind of advertising, displays, extra curricular activities, and parent liaisons.

Personnel management
This is an offshoot of some of the contents in accountability areas particularly communication strategies. Here the leader is reminded to staff the curriculum, manage western colleagues, maintain contact with HR, handle contracts and job descriptions, and conduct teacher training and appraisals.

Administrative focuses
This is an offshoot of school-based additional focuses and entails more aspects of maintaining the culture of the international stream. Listed are the monthly newsletter, the yearbook, editing and proofreading, admissions-interviewing, student recruitment strategies, and liaisons with the Western community.