Principals’ experience of a master’s program in school management and leadership

Abstract

This paper presents the findings from research aiming at investigating the attitudesand experience of pre- and compulsory school principals of a master’s program inschool management and leadership at the University of Akureyri, and at exploring theimpact they felt the program had on them and their work.The research question was: What was the principals’ attitudes and experience of theprogram and how they thought it influenced their professional development and capacityas principals?Research has demonstrated that the leadership and leadership behaviour of principalsis crucial for sustained school improvement and students’ achievement. Togetherwith an emphasis on school-based management, these findings have increased theresponsibilities of principals and amplified the pressure on them. The findings havealso led to an increased emphasis on principal preparation programs, both in-serviceand for prospective principals, followed by increased research on their success.In Iceland, the first master´s program in educational management and leadership wasestablished in 1997 at the Iceland University of Education. Since 2000 a similar programhas been offered by The University of Akureyri. Even though a substantial num ber of participants have graduated from both these programs, little research exists ontheir impact and usefulness.Data for the study reported in this paper was gathered through semi-structured individualinterviews and document analysis of their theses. The interviews were conductedwith 14 principals in pre- and compulsory schools, who had completed themaster’s program in school management and leadership at The University of Akureyri.During their studies, the participants were either in-post principals, or became principalsduring or shortly after their completion of the program. The interviews wereconducted in September? October 2014 and lasted 60–70 minutes each.The aim of the interviews was to search for key concepts such as self-confidence,self-awareness, vision, leadership and educational change. The main themes thatemerged were theoretical knowledge and self-confidence, principal behaviour, reflectiveand critical thinking, and practical value and the thesis.The findings demonstrate that completing the programme gave the principals an increasedsense of competence and deepened their understanding of their roles asprincipals. They reported increased self-awareness and assurance, their theoreticalknowledge had grown and they were more reflective and critical. Most of them saidthat the studies had helped hem change their way of practising leadership and increasedtheir leadership capacity. Part of it was that they utilize the human capitalof the school better. Furthermore, they had become better at forming a vision andworking towards school improvement. The principals felt they had gained tools thatthey could use in practice, at the same time as they knew better where to look for suchtools when they were needed.The principals found it easier to speak up and argue for their ideas and visions, bothinside and outside their schools, because they had a stronger theoretical stance andincreased confidence. According to the principals the most practical part of their studieswas their work on their theses. It seemed that during this work they had freedomto research and deepen their understanding of topics of interest, and that they weremore likely to make changes in their schools regarding the subject of their theses.However, some of the principals called for more practical assignments/programs,especially regarding financial and human resource management. The findings alsoshowed that what was considered practical by one principal was regarded as lesspractical by another one. It seemed to depend on the principals’ former experience,their interests and assignments, such as the topic of the thesis, and working situations.These findings are in many ways in line with findings from research from othercountries. They give reason to believe that completing a master’s program such asthe one investigated in this study is important for the principals’ understanding oftheir work and their behaviour in a way that is likely to make a difference for schoolimprovement and to students.