Matti Erätuuli & Crister Nylèn : The Improvement of School Leadership - Co-operation Between Russian, Swedish and Finnish Principals

To explicate the difference between school management and leadership, a description of principals' behavior, especially in the area of instructional leadership, from their own perspective is presented. The test group consisted of nine Russian, nine Swedish, and two Finnish principals. Data were collected from essays written by the principals in which the topic was "myself as a principal." The results show that Swedish and Finnish principals had a slightly more general perspective than did Russian principals. Swedish principals' descriptions were on the level of actions, whereas the descriptions of Russian principals were more abstract and dealt with the principles of leadership. All groups brought up the administrative factor, which in this context means the creation of the foundations and support for the successful functioning of the school. No single factor in background or environment could be said to have caused any differences in the leaders. But the task areas that the principals regarded as important differed significantly in the different schools. Analyzing the national background of the principals indicates that the systematic education of a principal can be seen in their work. (RJM).