Trends and challenges in leadership in education in Slovenia based on some selected projects

Abstract

This paper presents the significance of the role of the head teacher and the importance of the National School for Leadership in Education, founded in 1996 with the aim of empowering head teachers with ongoing new knowledge and skills, as well as Slovenian legislation referring to the conditions for head teachers, the procedure of selecting head teachers, their responsibilities as well as numerous tasks the head teacher has to perform. According to the data, most head teachers in Slovenia are female. Head teachers are facing numerous bureaucratic tasks, lack of time for pedagogical leadership, and inappropriate career development. Regarding the challenges mentioned, three current topics, programmes or projects, which include a large number of head teachers, are presented in the paper. The first deals with the development of the programme Managing and leading innovative learning environments which consists of three pillars: (1) Consultancy, (2) Distributed leadership, and (3) Managing head teachers’ career. The second topic represents projects in the field of quality, and the third one tackles the field of entrepreneurial competences of head teachers and leadership teams. In spite of various projects and programmes in which the head teachers participate in order to acquire new competences, head teachers are still facing a lot of challenges on a daily basis. Only some of them are mentioned in the paper, such as cooperation or partnership with parents, amending the procedure of the appointment of head teachers, and the need for various forms of support, required by head teachers in their work.