Abstract:

The rapid proliferation of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools has placed school principals in a paradoxical position: they are expected to lead organizational transformation in a technological domain where they themselves are often self-taught newcomers. While a growing body of research examines AI adoption from teacher and student perspectives, the school principal's role as the critical agent bridging personal AI experience and institutional change remains underexplored, particularly in Central and Eastern European contexts.

This qualitative study investigates how K-12 school principals in Lithuania navigate the transition from personal AI use to organizational AI leadership. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine purposively selected principals from diverse school contexts, including public gymnasiums, private schools, and an International Baccalaureate school, with student populations ranging from 350 to over 1,700. The interviews followed a chronological narrative structure, tracing each principal's journey from initial AI encounters through current school-level initiatives. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Findings reveal a dominant three-stage transition trajectory: informal personal experimentation, often triggered through family or social networks; individual professional application for administrative tasks; and an organizational leadership phase, typically catalyzed by a critical incident such as the realization that students had surpassed teachers in AI proficiency. However, the study also identifies a notable deviant case where the trajectory was reversed, with one principal engaging AI exclusively for professional purposes while deliberately avoiding personal use, suggesting that the personal-to-professional pathway is not universal.

Key leadership practices identified include strategic patience, where principals built personal competence before addressing their school communities; leading by personal example, which emerged as the single most effective strategy for encouraging adoption among staff; and peer-driven diffusion, where early-adopter teachers served as more persuasive change agents than top-down directives. Policy-making around AI use was predominantly reactive across most schools, emerging in response to specific incidents rather than proactive planning, though one school had established formal agreements, working groups, and systematic tool evaluation processes.

The study contributes empirical evidence from a Central and Eastern European context to the emerging discourse on AI leadership in education, demonstrating that principals develop AI leadership capacity primarily through lived experience rather than formal preparation.

Keywords:

AI leadership, school principals, artificial intelligence in education, K-12 education, qualitative research, Lithuania.