Abstract:

The current competitive context, as well as the need for accountability in education, highlight the importance of modernisation of educational management by improving the quality of educational practitioners’ performance, aiming at a culture of collective school effectiveness. In this context, a key role is played by the school leaders, who take on multiple roles, alternating between educational visionaries and agents of change when dealing with curriculum experts, evaluation advocates, budget analysts, facilities’ managers, special programme managers and school community builders. Since school managers are one of the main factors for success at a school, they need to receive support to achieve maximum administrative and pedagogical efficiency through investment in targeted professional development/training. The purpose of this article is to provide guidelines for the design of professional development/training programs through an extensive literature review. It is a qualitative review of the concepts, definitions, and approaches about further training and professional development, as they have globally appeared in peer-reviewed journals, government reports, and web pages. As we left no stone unturned in enquiring regarding the meanings, uses, evolution, and applicability of the revealed variables, it is our hope that this study will guide future research and support policy-making in the field.

Keywords:

Continuous professional development, training, school principals, school managers, training needs, professional development policies.