What can we expect from the next generation of school principals?

As a principal, you craft the future of a thousand students. Let that sink in.

To students, the kind of leadership our teachers and principals demonstrate can mean the difference between inspiration and disillusionment.

The level of training our teachers have, the resources they provide to their students and the values they instil within them can have a profound effect on the men and women they become.

That is why the question ‘what can we expect from the next generation of school principals?’ is so important.

Principals have a profound influence on the practical and philosophical direction their schools take, but training methods have changed over the years. What effect is a rapidly changing education landscape likely to have on how the next generation of principals are trained?

The Principals Australia Institute (PAI) provides quality professional learning, leadership and support to principals and school leaders, many of whom belong to this new generation.

PAI’s CEO Jim Davies told The Educator that new insights into educational learning are pivotal in how our current and future principals perceive their role.

“Educational research is providing deeper understanding about how people learn,” Davies said.
 
“Leadership of young people’s learning is at the centre of every principal’s work. Professional learning programs for principals will need to continue to be attentive to the research.”
 
When asked if he could foresee any significant differences in management style between the next generation of principals and the last, Davies said the emergence of new learning trends has become more hi-tech and collaborative.  

“The emergence of new learning trends including 24/7 learning opportunities and collaboration amongst learners through virtual networks extends student learning well beyond the physical spaces of schools and the traditions of set homework pieces,” Davies explained.
  
“This has significant implications for the way principals lead.”