Abstract:

The paper presents the results of the research on the participation of school and kindergarten heads in the various forms of professional development. Professional development is associated with different areas of their activity. In addition to self-education, heads in Poland have the opportunity to participate in many internal and external forms of professional education, such as postgraduate studies, workshops and on-line courses. The study was conducted to diagnose the participation of school and kindergarten heads in the forms of professional development in 2015-2017 and to identify preferred forms of education.

The school and kindergarten heads from the Silesia Voivodeship took part in the study. The research was carried out as part of the "School of competences" project financed from EU funds. The most important conclusions from the study indicate that the school and kindergarten heads in their professional development most often use: participating in internal training, self-education – eg conducting conversations and discussions. On the other hand, among the preferred forms of professional development, they mention participation in workshops and learning through experience.

Keywords:

Professional development, head teachers, educational leadership, educational management.