This is our third research paper addressing the question: How does postgraduate study shape participants’ attitudes and perceptions of practice as leaders? The first paper which was presented at ECER in 2012 drew on initial data of one cohort of participants in a bespoke postgraduate degree, the Master’s of School Leadership, offered by the University of Western Australia. The second paper presented at the 2015 ECER follows that cohort over three years of their degree, and compares their emerging understanding of leadership with subsequent cohorts in the same course. This paper picks up the 2015 cohort of participants and compares their understanding of their leadership development with a contemporaneous cohort of Masters level school leaders from the Russian Federation.

Our study emerged from the International Study of Preparation of Principals (ISPP) which began more than ten years ago.  The design of the ISPP has three phases. First, we mapped the provision of principal preparation in each jurisdiction (for example, Karstanje & Webber, 2008; Webber, Mentz,  Scott, Okoko, & Scott, 2014). Secondly, we conducted qualitative case studies of principals of elementary schools in their first three years to find out the challenges they face and the extent to which they felt prepared for the challenges (Cowie & Crawford, 2008; Sherman, 2008; Wildy & Clarke, 2008, 2009a; Wildy, Clarke & Slater, 2007). Our research drew international comparisons of principals’ experiences (Mentz, Webber & van der Walt, 2010; Onguko, Abdalla & Webber, 2008, 2012; Wildy, Clarke & Cardno, 2009). The main outcome of this phase was the conceptualization of the challenges into a framework, or heuristic based on four key constructs: Place; People; System; and Self (Clarke & Wildy, 2011). Using this framework we articulated the epistemological assumptions for both research about, and programs for, principal preparation programs (Clarke & Wildy, 2010, 2012). Thirdly, with ISPP colleagues, we constructed a survey instrument to investigate the extent to which the challenges were faced by novice principals and their perspectives on their preparation to face these challenges (Clarke, Wildy & Styles, 2011; Okoko, Scott & Scott, 2014; Wildy & Clarke, 2009b; Wildy, Clarke, Styles & Beycioglu, 2010).

The ISPP includes researchers from many countries: Australia, South Africa, Canada, China, England, Germany, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Scotland, Tanzania, Turkey, USA. However, this is the first time that a researcher from the Russian Federation has participated in the ISPP. The contribution of our Russian colleague expands our international network and enhances our understanding of the challenges faced by school leaders in their first years of appointment, and their perspectives of their leadership development trajectories. Importantly, the inclusion of our new research partner builds our appreciation of the similarities and differences between our respective school contexts. Both the experiences of novice principals and the contexts in which they work will form part of the paper proposed here. A particular focus of this research is the extent to which the shadow of dependency on a former highly centralised educational authority lingers. We investigate the extent to which that influence impedes the capacity of school leaders to build their relationships with school communities and to shape and share visions to meet the needs of those communities.

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