The aim of this paper is to explore how principals in Icelandic pre-schools and compulsory schools, who completed a master’s program in school management and leadership, experienced the support they got to transfer the knowledge and skills they gained from the program into their practices as principals. The findings presented here are a part of a larger study where principals’ general experience of a master’s program was investigated (Baldursdóttir and Sigurðardóttir, 2016).

It has been demonstrated that the leadership and management of principals’ influence students’ performance and that some ways of leading a school are more effective than others (Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom and Anderson, 2010). School principals who have completed a master’s program in school management and leadership, are also more likely than others to find ways to improve teaching and learning in their schools (Baldursdóttir and Sigurðardóttir, 2016; Gates et al., 2014). However, completing postgraduate programs does not necessarily lead to the intended shift in students’ performance (Hesbol, 2012, Gates et al., 2014). One of possible reasons is a lack of support to principals at the school level to help them transfer knowledge and skills from their programs of study into their own situation in the schools (Hallinger and Jiafang, 2013).

Research shows that principals tend to feel isolated in their work and rely much on their own personal connections and contacts for support but have limited access to organized support and mentoring (Derrington and Campbell, 2015; Magnúsdóttir, 2013; Tewel, 1987). This is likely to increase their stress and the risk of burnout (Klocko and Wells, 2015). Researchers also argue that district authorities have the main responsibility to provide necessary support to principals. Research also indicates that district leader support is most often not sufficient or given in the right way (Bottoms and Fry, 2009; Ikemoto, Taliaferro Fenton and Davis, 2014; Honig, 2012).

Little research has been done in Iceland on what kind of support principals get or need. Existing research indicates that the support is limited, and that district authorities are in general not well prepared to provide the necessary support, possibly with the exception of the biggest districts (Magnúsdóttir, 2013; Sigþórsson, 2013). Baldursdóttir and Sigurðardóttir (2016) research on how helpful principals find a master’s program in school management and leadership gives the impression that the principals do not have access to support to the extent they would need to fully use their knowledge and skills that they acquired in the program. Those findings point in the same direction as the research mentioned above (Hallinger and Jiafang, 2013; Hesbol, 2012, Gates et al., 2014). It is therefore important to investigate further the support principals need to make the necessary changes and explore how principals experience the support and where and to whom they seek it. This leads to the following research questions:

1. How do principals experience the support they get to transfer knowledge and skills from a master’s program into their practises as principals?
2. What are the main available sources of support and what additional support would they like to have? 

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