Education is ours (humans) one of the best strategies and tools in the complicated game of adjusting to external conditions and designing changes in the environment and style of life that allow us not only survival but also flourishing development of our kind. While education became more complex the need for more sophisticated ways of managing that process appeared obvious.

Introduction of the educational policy can be seen as one of the possible solutions. It influences what is taught, how it is taught, and the functioning of educational institutions (Bell, 2020). We need ambitious aims, planning, complex structures to navigate and manage huge educational systems. It is understandable that educational police itself must fulfill certain standards, which allow to play important and useful role in contemporary world. The context of the social world is well-known - we are facing wicked problems (Jordan, Kleinsasser i Roe, 2014) that challenge our existence, safety and basic rights. Will education be able to support people in the effort to transform the world? It primarily requires rejecting an instrumental approach to education, in which the goal is specific outcomes rather than reflection on the purposes of education in the face of contemporary challenges (Biesta, Priestley, Robinson, 2015).

We talked to educational and school leaders, experts and activists trying to find out how do they see the reality of the policy making. We believe that one of the critically important issues for the quality of educational policy is the educational leaders’ involvement in the process of policy making, their agency and understanding of the direction for the needed changes.

The aim of the paper is to report on findings from a few research questions:

1. Do/How do educational leaders participate in creating educational policy?

2. Is the Polish educational system prepared for the challenges of today? Does it support principals in preparing, coping with challenges and responding to reality and challenges?

3. What should change in educational policy to better respond to contemporary challenges?

4. Do principals have a sense of agency over educational policy? 

xThe research employs qualitative methods - focus group and individual interviews (Dumas & Anderson, 2014). Focus group interviews with school principals and individual interviews with experts and policymakers provided insights into their experiences and challenges in implementing educational policy. There was a group research of six focus groups and nine individual interviews. The interviews were transcribed, and inductive and deductive coding was performed. Main codes related to the research questions were extracted, and then new codes and subcodes were generated until the properties were saturated (Babbie, 2009). Categories that emerged after open coding and allowed the codes to be systematized into broader categories of meaning (Charmaz, 2009). Thematic analysis, facilitated by MAXQDA software, was employed to examine the data, resulting in practical recommendations derived from the findings. The paper will share findings about Poland from a research project using Situational Analysis, relational mapping, document analysis, and qualitative methods. Funded by the Spencer Foundation, the multi-year project is entitled Investigating Educational Policy-Making and its Responsiveness to Challenges in the World. A Qualitative Research Study in 4 Transitioning Contexts: Georgia (USA), Poland, Czech Republic, and Wales

The research findings revealed that school principals do not participate in the creation of educational policy, or their involvement is limited to informing or consulting. According to Arnstein’s ladder of participation, this corresponds to the lower and middle levels of participation (Arnstein, 1969). Principals highlight the illusion of participation—something that appears legitimate externally but lacks meaningful impact. A few respondents reported co-deciding on educational policy, but this occurs only at the local and regional levels. No principal declared involvement in shaping policy at the system level. At the same time, most respondents expressed a sense of agency, demonstrating motivation and discussing their actions and engagement (Zambrano et al., 2022; Kim, Song, 2023). Some respondents also believe in the effectiveness of their actions (Biesta, Priestley, Robinson, 2017). Educational leaders are key agents of change, making it essential to adopt the perspective that principals are not merely implementers of someone else’s policy but co-creators of policy at both the local and system levels. The study enabled the formulation of recommendations for the education system regarding the engagement of principals in policy-making.

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