This is a two-part symposium focussed on educational leadership preparation and development and draws upon research from members of the International School Leadership Development Network. The first part has four papers describing programs and ideas focussed on equity, inclusion and social justice, with the second part having four papers focussed on the future through discussion of exemplary existing programs and future trends. The papers in the symposium will eventually be published in an edited book along with other papers. 

School leadership is a priority in education policy internationally, as it plays the essential role in improving school outcomes by motivating teachers, building teacher capacities, and developing good school climate and conditions (Leithwood, Sun, & Schumacker, 2020). A major finding has been that effective educational leadership is important in enhancing quality and equity in schools (Pont, Nusche & Moorman, 2008; Kemethofer, Helm, & Warwas, 2022). 

Schools in recent times have faced many challenges and there are many challenges ahead such as: the impact of the COVID pandemic; the rise of AI in schools; teacher shortages in many countries; and massive migration driven through refugee crises in many parts of the world. Along with environmental and humanitarian issues, we know that there is major issues to do with school quality and equity (United Nations, 2015). Leadership preparation development is crucial to building qualified and capable leaders for schools who can take responsibility for fostering students who can deal with the challenges of the world in the long run (Harris & Jones, 2020; Lozano, Garcia, & Sandoval, 2023).

In the face of these challenges, we think it is timely to have a futures focused discussion on educational leadership preparation and development. To facilitate this, we have reached out to members of the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN), one of the largest and longest serving international school leadership research networks, and through an interactive development process identified four broad areas of focus that will be covered through 14 papers: 

-       Teacher and middle leader preparation and development.

-       Preparation and development of leadership for equity, inclusion and social justice

-       School, community and university partnerships for leadership preparation and development.

-       Leadership Training Programs for Future Leadership Development

For the two-part symposium at ECER, we have eight groups reporting on their research and writing. 

Part A: School leadership preparation and development for equity, inclusion and social justice

Part B: Future focussed educational leadership preparation and development

This symposium is Part B.

Current studies have identified that there has been insufficient research on effective professional development activities for school leaders (Daniëls, Hondeghem, & Dochy, 2019). In particular, the research on school leadership development is short of exploration of how school leaders can be educated to cope with the challenges raised by changing technology, environment and social dynamics in the next decades. Therefore, this symposium focusses on exploration of leadership training programs and literature that can provide guidance for future educational leadership preparation and development. 

The symposium begins Jami Berry and Karen Bryant who describe a continuous learning leadership development program in the USA that signposts how to ensure these programs are always contemporary and future oriented. Gurr and colleagues then consider the future preparation and development needs to middle and teacher leaders and use some Australian examples to illustrate this. The next two papers focus on current programs that have much to offer in terms of development of future programs. Julie Harvie describes the Scottish headship preparation program, whilst Sylvia Robertson and Michele Morrison describe cases of principal preparation in New Zealand.

Daniëls, E., Hondeghem, A., & Dochy, F. (2019). A review on leadership and leadership development in educational settings. Educational Research Review, 27, 110–125. Harris, A., & Jones, M. (2020). COVID 19 – school leadership in disruptive times, School Leadership & Management, 40(4), pp. 243-247 Kemethofer,D., Helm, C., & Warwas, J. (2022). Does educational leadership enhance instructional quality and student achievement? The case of Austrian primary school leaders. International Journal of Leadership in Education, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1–25. Leithwood, K., Sun, J., & Schumacker, R. (2020). How School Leadership Influences Student Learning: A Test of “The Four Paths Model.” Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(4), 570–599. Pont, B., Nusche, D., & Moorman, H. (2008). Improving school leadership: Vol. 1: Policy and practice. OECDParis United Nations (2015). Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, A/RES/70/1 (NY, NY: United Nations).