ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on data collected for a study of leadership of international schools in Malaysia to examine how both the national and the global context are interwoven into the fabric of these institutions. In Malaysia, however, there were several networks that international heads could join, and established principals reached out and supported newcomers. The context of Malaysia – a multi-cultural, predominantly Islamic society with a colonial past that is developing economically – means that debates around schooling are enacted differently from other contexts for international schooling. The chapter describes the degree to which the themes that have dominated the international literature on leadership of international schools resonated with the participants’ responses. There were three different types of factors pertaining to operating in Malaysia that were mentioned by the principals: organisational factors; cultural factors; and contextual factors.
