School Leader Education as a Driving Force for Professional Development in Terms of Orientation, Reflection, Exploration, and Interplay

Abstract

School leader education as a qualification requirement is a growing trend and influence has been shown. However, principals have also come to understand and use content from educational programs in widely different ways. There is therefore a need to study how participating principals experience learning differently within one and the same program. This empirical study uses qualitative methods to examine fourteen compulsory school principals’ experiences of how the mandatory Swedish National Principal Training Program contributes to their professional development. The findings show how educational elements can be experienced as contributing to professional development of some principals while being experienced as obstacles for others, depending on becoming active or passive driving forces for participants in terms of orientation, reflection, exploration, and interplay. Applying a theoretical framework made it possible to describe and understand their professional development through education in a nuanced way. In terms of analytical generalisation such knowledge may form the basis for educational development concerning school leader education.

Okul Öncesi Eğitim Kurumlarında Okul Müdürlerinin Öğretimsel Liderlik Rollerinin incelenmesi

“…However, despite this, the study reflects in participant notes that school principals tend to engage more in activities related to the concept of "administrator." Studies emphasizing the need for professional development among school principals (Abbott & McKnight, 2010;Hallinger, 2005;Hallinger & Lee, 2014;Jerdborg, 2023;Niqab, Sharma, Wei & Maulod, 2014) support the findings of this research.…”

“…Bu anlamda, bu çalışmada okul müdürlerinin öğretimsel liderlik rollerini, yönetici davranışlarına tercih ettikleri görülmektedir. Ayrıca okul müdürlerinin mesleki gelişime duyduğu ihtiyacı vurgulayan çalışmalar (Abbott & McKnight, 2010;Hallinger, 2005;Hallinger & Lee, 2014;Jerdborg, 2023;Niqab, Sharma, Wei & Maulod, 2014) bu araştırmayı desteklemektedir.…”