Headship preparation in Taiwan: moral obligation or disciplinary power?

With the increasing global interest in preparing school headteachers over the past two decades, educational systems have developed numerous means by which aspiring headteachers are prepared for the role. Reflecting this global trend, local governments in Taiwan have launched a new type of headship preparation approach, namely, the aspiring headteachers’ Administrative Placement (AP) in local education authorities, ostensibly aiming to enhance participants’ policy and administrative capabilities. Drawing on the analytical toolkit provided by Michel Foucault, this study problematizes the operation of the AP scheme and examines how it functions as a regime of discipline and self-discipline. Data collected from three AP schemes in different localities were used to examine the insidious effects of power relations, and findings revealed that the aspiring headteachers were, in effect, being situated into a wide range of disciplinary and dividing practices, through which they became more visible, knowable, and amenable. The study argues that the AP scheme is best understood as a disciplinary technology that shapes aspiring headteachers as self-regulating subjects and renders them as delivery subjects that contribute to securing the local delivery capacity, rather than authentically preparing educative leaders.