Page 105 - Educational Leadership in a Changing World

Navigating between Principalship, Leadership and Management

ership through peer networking, mentoring, and self-reflection (Až-
man & Zavašnik, 2023).
Despite these educational efforts, leadership competencies – partic-
ularly soft skills – are still not formally or legally included in the selec-
tion and evaluation criteria for school principals. Current appointment
procedures remain primarily focused on formal qualifications, such as
academic degrees, years of professional experience, and professional ti-
tles. In contrast, personal traits, emotional intelligence, and leadership
abilities are typically assessed only informally, if they are considered at
all.
The Draft National Programme for Education 2023–2033, published
by the Ministry of Education, acknowledges this gap. It proposes the
strengthening of school leadership capacities and the establishment of
a systemic approach to continued professional development and self-
reflection for school leaders, including tools for leadership quality as-
sessment (Ministrstvo za vzgojo in izobraževanje, 2024).
In summary, while Slovenian law positions school principals as key
figures within the educational system, it has yet to fully capture the
complexity and multidimensional demands of modern school leader-
ship. Despite growing emphasis on soft skills in training and guidance
documents, these competencies are still only marginally embedded in
the formal legal and procedural criteria for appointing and evaluating
principals. This misalignment underscores a broader issue: the need to
reconcile statutory frameworks with the practical realities of educa-
tional leadership, where qualities like empathy, effective communica-
tion, and intercultural awareness are often just as vital as legal profi-
ciency. Bridging this gap will be essential for any meaningful reform
aimed at strengthening the professional identity and support struc-
tures for school leaders in an increasingly complex educational land-
scape.

Italy
Compared to Slovenia, Italy and Austria have developed more struc-
tured and legally defined approaches to school leadership. In Italy, en-
try into the principalship is governed by a national-level competitive
examination (concorso nazionale), established by Decreto Legislativo
30 marzo 2001, n. 165 [Legislative Decree No. 165/2001] (2001), which
assesses candidates’ knowledge of educational law, school organiza-
tion, and leadership skills (Savelli, 2017a, 2017b). Successful candidates

105