Improvement of quality in the school system is high on the political agenda across Europe, and there is an increasing focus on the importance of school leadership. There is also a belief that education and development programs can improve leadership in schools, and many programs have been established as national initiatives to strengthen school leadership. Such national initiatives can be found in a number of European countries, for example, in the UK, in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

In recent studies (Møller & Schratz 2008, Huber 2004, 2010), various national programs for school leaders have been closely examined, especially in relation to how they are organized, and the political context surrounding these initiatives. It has been shown how national initiatives for leadership education are heavily dependent upon historical legacies, but also dominant political ideas about schooling. Some international trends can also be noted, not least with respect to a growing emphasis on how leadership is developed through practice.   

The purpose of this paper is to further improve our understanding of national education programs for school leaders by a closer analysis of how current national initiatives are linked to theoretical developments in school leadership research. The background for this interest is related to the growing emphasis on evidence-based policy-making throughout the educational sector, and in this paper we ask how current theoretical positions and perspectives on leadership are reflected in various national initiatives for the education of school leaders. Based on the national leadership programs in four countries (the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Norway), three issues are investigated in particular:

• What are key insights from leadership theory on school leadership education?
• How can the national programs in the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Norway be positioned according to research on school leadership?
• What characterize the relationship between theory and practice in the national programs for school leaders in UK, Denmark, Sweden and Norway?    

Møller, J. & Schratz, M. (2008). Leadership Development in Europe. In Crow, G., Lumby, J. & Pashiardis, P. (Eds) International Handbook on the Preparation and Development of School Leaders. Erlbaum Publishing Company Huber, S.G. (2004). School leadership and leadership development: Adjusting leadership theories and development programs to values and the core purpose of school. Journal of Educational Administration, 42(6). 669-684. Huber, S.G. (2010). Preparing school leaders – international approaches in leadership development. In Huber, S.G. (ed.) School Leadership – International Perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer. 225-251.