The concept of principals’ professional socialisation (e.g., Cruz-Gonzalez et al., 2021; Bøje & Frederiksen, 2021) and professional identity has received increased attention in educational research in recent decades (e.g., Crow, Day & Møller, 2017; Nordholm et al., 2023; Ritacco & Bolivar, 2019; Tubin, 2017). Becoming a school leader, as articulated by Bøje and Frederiksen (2021), often signifies a departure from a prior professional identity, typically that of a teacher. Bush (2018) argues that the principal’s role differs from a teacher's. He discusses three different phases of socialisation: (1) aspiring leaders require professional socialisation in preparing to become a principal; (2) they need to change their identity from teacher to principal – a process of personal socialisation; and (3) they need a period of organisational socialisation, learning to lead in a specific school. In-service preparation programs, such as the Swedish National Principal Training Program (NPTP), commonly serve as a central dimension in the professional socialisation of novice school principals. 

Building a solid professional identity as a principal has proven necessary for successful leadership and positively impacting results (Ritacco & Bolivar, 2019). Other studies have highlighted that a strong identity can be important for principals to navigate complex situations (Saarukka, 2017). There are several studies with arguments for the importance of continuing research on the construction of leadership identity in principals (Cruz-González et al. (2021), focusing on the barriers and crises they encounter. To address this issue internationally and thus improve the quality of schools, leaders with solid professional identities must be nurtured while acknowledging the influence of politics and context. Another study by Crow and Møller (2017) proposes avenues for future research, emphasising that understanding school leaders' identities can contribute to leadership development. Exploring the influence of cultural, historical, and policy factors on identity development provides a robust foundation for creating leadership preparation and development programs that recognise the complex leadership necessary in uncertain times. Building on this perspective, Whiteman et al. (2015) advocate for leadership preparation programs to incorporate the development of critical reflection and dialogue skills as integral components. Engaging in critical reflection through methods like case studies, role plays, and simulations can assist principals in understanding their identities and honing skills to leverage them in building trust.

In Sweden, the mandatory in-service NPTP is offered for the first time when the participant has a position as a principal, preschool principal, or deputy principal (Brauckmann et al., 2020). The program is a 3-year mandatory in-service program with three courses: school law and governance, governing with objectives and results, school leadership and peer mentoring with professional peers during the training (Jerdborg, 2023).

The potential of peer mentoring in groups to develop novice principals’ professionalisation and leadership identity is evident (e.g. Aas & Vavik, 2015; Styf et al., 2020). Aas and Vavik (2015) suggest that leaders develop greater confidence in their leadership role through personal and contextual feedback from other leaders. Their study focuses on how group coaching can contribute to professional development and construct leadership identity. This paper focuses on novice principals’ peer mentoring for professional socialisation while participating in the NPTP. As an integral part of this program, principals discuss professional dilemmas with small groups of peers to support professional socialisation and leadership identity (Styf et al., 2020). This study explores novice principals’ professional socialisation and leadership identity in Sweden while participating in the mandatory NPTP.  Two research questions guide the study:

1. How do novice principals depict peer mentoring as support for professional socialisation from a personal, positional, and professional perspective?
2. How can peer mentoring support professional socialisation and contribute to developing novice principals’ leadership identity?

The theoretical framework used in this study is based on Saarukka’s (2017) theoretical model. Saarukka uses the model to identify the phenomenon and the person in principalship from a professional perspective, focusing on the person, profession, and position: “trying to understand the individual also from a professional perspective and how the individual interprets the context. As school leadership is a social mission, the professional perspective needs to be broadened to include the position” (Saarukka, 2017, s. 35). In this study, Saaruka's model is used to describe and explain how the school leaders’ professional identity can be understood in relation to the educational content peer mentoring that the principals take part in as part of their education in the NPTP. This qualitative interview study used a purposive sampling method to include school leaders participating in peer mentoring for professional development in the NPTP in Sweden. Focus group interviews were carried out to capture, problematise, and create an understanding of how peer mentorship for professional socialisation can contribute to supporting and strengthening school leaders’ professional leadership identity. Data was collected for one year and consisted of focus group interviews with 35 school leaders participating in the national school leadership training program in their peer mentoring groups. A total of 7 focus group interviews, lasting about 60 minutes each, were conducted during 2020. All interviews were recorded, saved as separate digital audio files, and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse this study, and the collected empirical data was analysed with a deductive approach (Miles et al., 2014).

The preliminary findings show that in their position as school leaders, peer mentoring is seen as a tool in the work in practice at school. Peer mentoring can create a forum for making issues visible and widening knowledge and experience for individuals and groups. For school leaders, peer mentoring provides opportunities related to the profession. School leaders see peer mentoring as professional development, as they are often alone in their role. This takes place through the exchange of knowledge and experience between professionals. Peer mentoring offers training in professional meetings and is a tool to use in their professional role. In terms of person, school leaders see support in their role as school leaders through personal development. This involves peer mentoring as support in confidence, confirmation, and professional identity of their role through exchanging experiences and taking on new perspectives. Implications for further research will be considered. For European educational research, this paper contributes valuable knowledge about critical factors for school leaders’ work concerning educational leadership and leadership development in a Nordic context for practitioners and policymakers. Moreover, this paper contributes knowledge for school leader educators, which may be of value in both course and program development in leadership professional development programs in national and international contexts.

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