Professional school headship and selection processes in the Spanish educational system

Headship access in the Spanish Educative System has followed many different models. Among them, it is worth highlighting two basic processes: on the one hand, those in which the headmaster is elected by the School Council and, on the other hand, those in which the academic achievements of the candidates are valued by a specialized committee. All these headship selection processes were adopted when LOCE (Ley Orgánica de Calidad de la Educación) was implemented in 2002. They are still valid though some modifications have been introduced after LOE´s (Ley Orgánica de Educación) implementation in 2006. After reviewing the development of the processes that took place during the academic year 2006-07, we now turn to analyze those factors related to the professional headship practice. As a consequence, new basic traits are suggested in order to focus on their professional qualification as a fundamental value in those models.