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Experiential learning as a way of professional training for future secondary school principals

Publication at Faculty of Education |
2022

Abstract

Professional training and support for school principals is one of the goals of the Czech Republic's Education Policy Strategy 2030+. Experiential learning is one of the preparation options.

Experience is a source of knowledge acquired through practical human activity. Elements of experiential learning can already be found in the work of Jan Amos Comenius, who mentions in Didactics the great fact that people remember events they have seen/experienced better than if they have only heard about them.

Dewey described learning by doing in his publication Experience and Education, where at the beginning of learning there is an impulse to do something, then there is observation of environmental conditions that may be new to the person or that he has already encountered, i.e. he already has knowledge from the past. The Department of Andragogy and Educational Management at the Faculty of Education of Charles University has been supporting future school principals in their preparation for the position for many years by offering a study programme in School Management, which includes practical training in the department's schools in the form of managerial practice with the aim of transferring years of experience of school principals to students.

The aim of this paper is to define key work activities relevant to preparing for school management by reflecting on the experiences of school principals in departmental schools by students in managerial practice. Research question: What are the key work activities of a secondary school principal and how are they important to impart to students in managerial practice for their use in practice?