Led to leadership. The National Leadership Education for School Principals in lower and upper secondary schools in Norway; in an international perspective

Abstract

In this report we show that the Norwegian leadership education for school principals has some common characteristics that are relatively typical in terms of the development tendencies of modern school leader education: stronger national control through the establishment of standards and stated goals, a content that emphasizes a close proximity to the school´s core assignments, and modes of work that open for individual development and practice-oriented exercise of leadership. The program is not tied to one single theory of leadership, but draws on empirical research about what leads to effective school leadership more in general. This emphasis is also in accordance with research in the field of school leadership - though the research does not seem to agree much on which theories are best suited with regard to the concrete findings that have been made.