Educational leadership regarding municipal school support services in Iceland

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to shed light on the educational leadership practices regarding school support services at the municipal level in Iceland from the point of view of actors from both municipal and school levels. Furthermore to explain how those views are shaped by the structural arrangements and human resources of the services, population density and geographical location. Leaders of municipal educational support services, preschool principals and compulsory school principals responded to a questionnaire about practices regarding school support services. A framework of desirable leadership practices was used as an analytical tool to measure this leadership. The findings revealed that leadership practices regarding school support services match poorly with the leadership framework. Human resources are important elements of the leadership practices regarding the school support services, but the services’ structural arrangements, municipal population density and geographical location are less so. It is suggested that it is necessary to focus on improvements in leadership practices in general, regarding the school support services. For that purpose, more engagement is needed in the development of professional capacity, and a focus on creating a shared understanding between the services and school principals.