Multicultural Leadership for Global Citizenship of Principals in International Schools in Bangkok

Abstract

The objectives of this research are 1) to ascertain the profiles of multicultural leadership for global citizenship for principals in international schools in Bangkok 2) to find out the gap between the actual practices and the ideal expectations of principals concerning multicultural leadership for global citizenship in international schools in Bangkok 3) to develop a strategic plan to enhance the multicultural leadership for global citizenship of principals in international schools in Bangkok. A questionnaire constructed by the researcher based on Lynch‘s (1989) educational goals in multicultural education for a global society was used. From the population of 83 principals, simple random sampling was conducted, and questionnaires were sent to 42 principals (50% of the population). 40 questionnaires were returned and used for data analysis. The major findings were as follows: 1) attitudes and values were rated to be the highest in all three dimensions, followed by skills, and then knowledge in the actual practices as well as ideal expectations of multicultural leadership for global citizenship of principals 2) significant gaps were found between the actual practices and ideal expectations of multicultural leadership for global citizenship in all three dimensions, namely knowledge, (-4.53**), skills (-6.10**), and attitudes and values (-5.24**), the highest being the dimension of skills. 3) gender affects multicultural leadership for global citizenship of principals in some subdimensions of attitudes and values. Women rated subdimensions such as encouraging abolition of environmental pollution and facilitating ability to judge history of one‘s own country within the context of world history significantly higher than men. 4) ethnic background affects multicultural leadership for global citizenship of principals in some sub-dimensions of skills
and knowledge. Caucasian principals ranked significantly higher than Oriental principals in skills such as encouraging communication, problem-solving and conflict resolution. Oriental principals ranked significantly higher than Caucasian principals in cultivating an awareness of economic and power motivations in human relationships. Caucasian principals ranked significantly higher than
Indian principals in encouraging understanding of differential impact of technology on people and biosphere. The findings along with extensive documentary research were integrated and developed into a strategic plan,
verified by experts, and proposed to principals, administrators and other educators in various educational settings to further enhance their multicultural leadership for global citizenship.