At blive rektor i gymnasiet

– når arv og arving finder hinanden

Abstract

To become the principal of a high school has traditionally been something highly honorable. An appointment filled with pride, significance, and, like so much else in high school, professionalism. Over the past 20 years, the high school sector has been subjected to a series of reforms that question this appointment process. Primus inter pares, the best among equals, is no longer an automatic principle. Therefore, this article poses the question: Through which mechanisms are principals chosen and choose themselves to become leaders, and what can these mechanisms reveal about the development and stability of high schools? The conclusion is that the traditional mechanism for becoming a principal, primus inter pares, is preserved while also undergoing change. The examined principals emphasize experience within the high school, and they have all been identified by another principal. However, it is no longer solely the narrow professional aspect that determines one's suitability to be primus inter pares. And increasingly, the best among equals is a woman.