Portuguese principals' professional development needs and preferred learning methods
Serrão Cunha, Rosário (Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia)
Tintoré Espuny, Mireia (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. Facultat d'Educació)
Cabral, Ilídia (Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia)
Alves, José Joaquim (Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	Due to the crucial role principals have on school outcomes, investing in their training is a cost-effective approach for schools' improvement. Research shows that principals attribute pertinence to their ongoing professional development. However, little research has been conducted on principals' training needs from their viewpoint, particularly in Portugal. Through individual interviews (n = 19) and a questionnaire (n = 117) to principals, we collected data that enable us to understand principals' perceptions on their training needs, focusing on learning areas, skills to be developed and learning methods. Results show considerable variability, reinforcing the relevance of tailored and contextualised approaches to professional development. Globally, principals request management skills and training opportunities that enable them to develop leadership skills (e. g. , personal, interpersonal/socioemotional). Moreover, principals need training on instructional and distributed leadership practices. Collaborative and reflective methods are the ones principals prefer. Practical implications for the design of systematic professional development practices, in a lifelong perspective, are also discussed.
Note:	Altres ajuts: EDULOG/EDUGEST/2019
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Education sciences, Vol. 10 Núm. 9 (september 2020) , p. 1-16, ISSN 2227-7102

DOI: 10.3390/educsci10090219

17 p, 1.1 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > CRiEDO (Center for Research and Studies for Organizational Development)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles