Primary school leadership: understanding preparation in the Tóraíocht programme

Abstract

In the context of an impending global educational recruitment crisis, together with the recognition of the critical impact of effective leadership on educational outcomes, leadership preparation has become a focus of educational reform worldwide. The design and delivery of pre-appointment programmes for school leadership has significance for school effectiveness. In many countries, a leadership qualification is now mandatory for aspiring principals. In the Republic of Ireland, Tóraíocht, a non-mandatory accredited programme of preparation for school leadership was introduced in 2008, adding to the various diplomas and degrees available through higher education institutions. Adopting a narrative-informed qualitative methodological approach, the aim of this research study was to examine whether Tóraíocht makes a difference to the perceived leadership competencies of the novice primary school principals (n = 12), six of whom had participated in Tóraíocht and six of whom had not. The main findings indicate certain favourable conclusions regarding the impact of the programme on graduates subsequently appointed to primary-level principalship positions, and positive attitudes towards the proposed introduction of a compulsory pre-appointment leadership qualification in the near future.

Keywords:

• leadership
• primary schools
• Ireland

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sam McGuinness is Head of the School of Education at Ulster University. His research interests are in the fields of educational leadership and educational policy. His teaching interests are in the areas of principalship and middle leadership.

Verena Cunningham is a primary school teacher in St. Clare's National School, Ballyjamesduff and was awarded a research bursary by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation.