Research on the National School Leadership Training Programme

Today, high expectations are placed on principals to contribute to improving the quality of Swedish schools. School leadership training and education is seen as an important instrument for supporting principals, and as a possible consequence, the National School Leadership Training Programme has become mandatory for newly employed principals.

In a longitudinal interview study, we have followed seven principals and their activities during the three years that they participate in the National School Leadership Training Programme. The aim of this study is to explore what happens to principals and their leadership in relation to their participation in the programme. If you want to read more about this study, there are three publications (see the right-hand column) where we investigate how principals experience the design and content of the training programme as well as the “effects” on principals’ leadership and the organisations they are assigned to lead.

The study was financed by the school leadership training programme at Karlstad University 2017–2019.

Forssten Seiser, A. & Söderström, Å. (2022). The impact of the Swedish national principal training programme on school leaders’ actions: Four case studies. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 7(4), 826–859. https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1120909

Forssten Seiser, A. & Söderström, Å. (2021). Rektorer i utbildning – drivkrafter för ett lärande i samspel. Högre Utbildning, 11(1), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.23865/hu.v11.2947

Forssten Seiser, A. & Söderström. Å. (2021) Rektorers erfarenheter av att ingå i en lärande gemenskap. In Ahlström, B., Berg, G. & Sundh, F (Eds.) Rektorer som professionella yrkesutövare. Studentlitteratur.