Skolledare i grundskolan : en fallstudie av biträdande rektorers möte med skolledning

The issues of the study are: How do the assistant principals face the work as school leaders? Which demands of competence do the new school leaders face? Which needs of competence development exist for new school leaders? In the school studied the organization of the management was changed from one principal and one director of studies to one principal and six assistant principals. All of these were new as school leaders and lacking knowledge as well as experiences in working in school management. The six assistant principals were appointed at the change of management organization. They are half-time teachers and half-time school leaders. Their management work implies responsibility for a work unit and for matters common for the school. The investigation is a qualitative case study. The study is based on diaries, critical incidents and interviews and comprices four terms. The focus of the study is on the assistant principals facing the task as school leaders and their experiences of being school leaders. The assistant principals feel a shortage of knowledge in working as school leaders and emphasize the need of training and ask how it is possible to be appointed as school leaders without adequate training. The experiences and reflections from the daily work together with the wordings of the curriculum create the field of tension where ideas and solutions are discussed and analysed for further development of the school activities. An important part in the leadership is to see, encourage and support the employees and the assistant principals try to do so. But the support must not imply taking the initiative from the teacher and her/his capacity to manage the job or solve problems. A school leader has the opportunity to demonstrate models for conflict solving by his own way of acting. The new school leaders consider it important for leaders in their leadership to have a strategy, a long-term thinking. Having the courage to challenge the teachers´ thinking and by presenting new ways and models for teaching, learning and development of the school means that managing, learning and developing fuse together into a process of change. The results in this study show the need of training for new school leaders before they begin their posts and then continuously within the post. The contents of basic training for new school leaders ought to be concentrated on giving them the tools they need. In their statements the assistant principals have claimed a number of fields important to them in which they need training. It is to be regarded important with a continuous in-service training for school leaders that they get the opportunity to keep track on the research into school and leadership. In order to be effective a leader training programme also ought to be long-term and recurrent