Assessing The Skills Needed for Leaders of Bilingual Schools in Indonesia

This study assessed the need to establish a new educational program called Masters of Bilingual Education Management (MBEM) at the Post Graduate School, State University of Malang (SUM). This study was conducted using a mixed method with surveys and focus group interviews as the data gathering methods. This study involved 89 active university students and 79 teachers/school principals completing the questionnaire about their aspirations for the MBEM graduate attributes. Six teachers/school principals and 8 students joined focused group interviews to share their experiences in bilingual education and their recommendations on the MBEM study program. The findings indicated two key points that should be considered for establishing the MBEM study program. First, the main competencies that are determined to be the graduate attributes are managerial knowledge and skills in the context of bilingual education. Second, a decision should be made whether the new study program will focus on the applied management of bilingual education or the science of management of bilingual education. Overall, the participants showed enthusiasm and interest toward the establishment of MBEM as the graduate will be equipped with the knowledge and skill to manage bilingual education and, thus, ready to be the school principal or program coordinator. The study findings recommend further analysis of the curriculum design resulting from this study for justification. Keywords: management of bilingual education, Indonesia