School principals' pre-service training in Spain and in the USA: Alignments between higher education and supranational recommendations

Abstract

This article tackles one of the relevant issues related to the professionalization of school principals' role: their pre-service training or, in other words, the mandatory training they receive before they can take the roles as public-school principals. We conducted a research study about the recommendations by the international organizations selected. On the other hand, the study about the cases of Spain, and specifically the Region of Madrid, and the USA, and specifically the State of Washington, let us draft some conclusions about the policies and practices on this matter within these countries and regions. After the analysis of the sources and documents, we initiated the descriptive phase of both the recommendations given by the supranational organizations and the policies and practices around this issue by the selected units. Once this phase was completed, we conducted the comparative and juxtaposition study between the chosen units and, between these and the recommendations by the international organizations. This comparative study is what lead us to draft the conclusions of this research study. As a result, the professionalization of the school leadership convenience is supported and justified. On the other hand, and in relation to the alignment among recommendations, practices, and policies around pre-service training of school principals, this study explains the most relevant parallelism and differences. This article aims to serve education stakeholders to further develop their work towards the improvement of the school principals' pre-service training and, more widely, towards the professionalization of school leadership.