This paper presents some of the findings and experiences of the research project "Training Titlrd World Educational Administrators - Methods and Materials" which is funded by the Overseas Development Administration (hereafter ODA), UK. The ODA-funded research project originated out of a concern for the severe shortage of appropriate materials for use in the training of third world educational administrators.

One of the critical issues in the professional preparation and development of educational administrators is devising instructional strategies and techniques for integrating theory and research as the basis of infonning situationally relevant practice in the area of educational administration. 

Women in educational administration and other professional leadership roles are noticeable by their scarcity both in the third world and in the industrialized countries. In the former, their low participation often results from the underdevelopment of women's education and hence low availability. In the latter, despite full education and high availability, very few women are to be found in educational and other leadership positions.

It is an irony that educational administration, as a practice, is not at all educational. It teaches nothing to those being administered, except perhaps the strategies for countering control and the devices for manipulating the managers. More significantly, for the purposes of this paper, it teaches us very little about the under-representation of certain groups such as women in the senior management of schools throughout many parts of the world.

The subject of graduate programmes in educational administration in developing countries is a wide one. I have narrowed down the topic to the Commonwealth Caribbean and African Universities. Even in the two regions I was able to find relevant information on universities in the West Indies, Guyana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria. The universities referred to in my paper are relatively young and unknown internationally. To some extent, they may not even be known within the Commonwealth Caribbean and Africa.

Given the current thrust in education across the Caribbean today and considering the strain which is being put on our limited resources to sustain and increase this thrust, it is incumbent on all concerned to strive to ensure that the greatest value accrues to the greatest possible number. The nations of the region cannot afford to commit manpower, money and other resources to education, and yet remain complacent over high degrees of failure or be satisfied with mediocre performances in their schools.

This paper outlines the historical evolution of the post of chief education officer in Caribbean education systems, looks at the demands on office holders over the last several years, and against this background, suggests some of the areas which seem to merit attention in the preparation of senior professional officers/educational administrators in the English-speaking Caribbean in the foreseeable future. 

There is growing interest in the professional development and preparation of educational managers. Previous activities in the Caribbean like the 1982 Jamaica workshop and the 1978 Commonwealth Secretariat Workshop show that this interest is neither spontaneous nor particularly, new. Similarly in Canada, we have had graduate programmes in educational administration, summer workshops, and research projects on the topic for over 20 years.

Governments in the so-called developing countries are increasingly coming to believe in the desirability of preparation or training for adminis­trators, including educational administrators. They have been receiving assistance from international organizations such as UNESCO, the Common­wealth Secretariat, the University Council for Educational Administration, and the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration, in the training of actual and potential administrators in their countries.

The education sector is integrally related and profoundly bound to politics, social stratification, culture and the economy. This is a generalization that could be applied to education wherever it is found. The fulcrum of the interplay of these forces resides finnly in educational administration. Through educational administration these interlocking factors fashion and shape the educational system.