In 2003, Liberia emerged from a violent 14-year civil war which caused widespread
destruction of the nation’s socio-economic and educational infrastructure. Even before the war,
Liberia lacked the necessary programs and policies to effectively train public school principals
and provide them with sustainable ongoing leadership development opportunities and support
throughout their careers. This remains true today. This descriptive qualitative study explores the
perceptions of Liberian public school principals regarding their needs for leadership
development opportunities and for support that would help them to become more effective
school leaders.
Data was collected from two main sources: 1) in-depth, semi-structured interviews with
12 currently active principals in Liberia; and 2) a review of select relevant policy and program
documents. Detailed notes were subsequently analyzed to determine common and independent
themes from across the interviews. A similar analysis was done with the select policy and
program documents, which came from the Liberian government and other organizations working
in the public education domain in Liberia. Data from the two sources was analyzed in
relationship to one another to enhance the analysis.
The findings of the study indicate a real need for professional development for public
school principals, as well as for programs and policies that address their leadership development
needs in post-conflict Liberia.