In the preparation of future leading pedagogical staff, it is important to combine theoretical knowledge with practical experience. Thanks to the high autonomy in the field of school management, the principal of a Czech school must have competencies that cannot be acquired only by education at the theoretical level.
It is necessary to prepare for the position of the school principal, among other things, by reflecting on the experience of existing principals in the authentic environment of the school, to search for a broader context and meaning. It is a controlled process of evaluating various situations and outputs, which uses feedback information.
For this reason, the Department of Management in Practice has been implemented and improved at the Department of Andragogy and Education Management of the Faculty of Education at Charles University for several years, which ensures the connection of theoretical knowledge and practical experience and thus helps managers on their way to professionalization. The practical training of students occurs at the so-called departmental schools in the form of managerial internships, the aim of which is to transfer experience, discuss current topics in education, and share good practice.
The aim of the paper is based on the analysis of the reflection of the practical preparation of students for the study program, School Management implemented in various forms (full-time, distance) in an authentic school environment, to define the possibilities of transferring the experience of department school principals to students for their preparation for school management. Research question: In what way is it possible to pass on the experience of school principals to students in managerial internships so that they can be effectively applied in an authentic school environment?