The headmaster’s leadership and the quality of education. A study of their characteristics in a multicultural context

Résumé

The leadership of headmasters as a factor contributing to quality education is an issue of vital interest. This study, stemming from the criteria envisaged by the EFQM Excellence Model, presents a questionnaire on leadership in order to analyse the performance of headmasters in relation to policy and strategy, staff, partnerships and resources, processes, and results, including a specific section to evaluate leadership in multicultural contexts. The results show that the headmasters of the Spanish region Ceuta are the most valued in terms of leadership, albeit there are significant differences in variables such as the level of teacher certification and the type and size of the educational centre. Moreover, when considering gender as group variable, female principals achieve better results.