AITSL has five major recommendations for preparing future school leaders. Download our report for detailed insights on how to prepare aspiring school principals for this challenging role.
To be effective, principal preparation must be systematic and coherent, based on clearly articulated professional standards.
It should include the following elements:
Great principal preparation identifies and nurtures potential leaders early in their careers. It should give future leaders a range of opportunities to develop their leadership skills, as well as provide clear career pathways.
Successful succession planning requires:
Pathways to advancement should be clear, with professional learning appropriate to each level explicit, well understood and sustained after appointment.
To be effective, learning for aspiring leaders should occur in three broad stages:
Highly effective preparation programs reflect a range of adult learning techniques. These programs use techniques have been shown to be effective and allow for a diverse experience throughout the program.
They include:
For principal preparation programs to remain accountable and continuously improve, they need to engage in rigorous evaluation.
Principal preparation evaluations should:
Get more insights in the Preparing future leaders: Effective preparation for aspiring school principals report.