Abstract:

The role of educational leader becomes more and more difficult in most educational systems around the world. New educational regulations tend to overload them with duties and responsibilities. At the same time, there is a growing interest in developing courses of different type that deliver necessary knowledge and competencies in all different areas of leadership.

It must be argued that in doing so, good knowledge of educational needs of in-service school leaders is crucial. In the presented research, the authors focused on those educational needs of in-service Polish school heads.

The research was carried out in 2016 with the participation of a few hundred school heads from schools of four different types (kindergarten, primary, secondary, upper-secondary). They were asked to name three key aspects of their work that are crucial for the success and quality of leadership in their schools. They were also asked to determine the three most important problems/obstacles that disturb their work and lower the quality of leadership in their schools.

The results are presented with focus on differences in thinking of school leaders form different schools. They are then used for some recommendations for training courses addressed to in-service school leaders.

Keywords:

Educational leadership, leadership training, training needs.