Teachers’ and principals’ accountability: Theoretical background

This chapter begins with conceptualizing perceived accountability in education, focusing on accountability dimensionality and selected accountability audiences and describing the way accountability was measured in the present study. For example, teachers’ accountability to parents would be contingent on the degree to which parents are perceived by teachers as possessing the natural right to receive reports regarding their respective children’s academic achievements and behavior. Hard work would also characterize sound accountability relations, when the teacher or principal strives to comply with regulatory guidelines or follow their inner professional inclinations. Applied to education, teachers’ and principals’ accountability will be shaped by the individualistic or collectivistic culture to which they adhere. Regarding school principals, their accountability, as related to individualism and collectivism, seems to be different than that of teachers. The link between cultural values and accountability was thoroughly conceptualized by M. J. Gelfand et al.