Instability of Teachers’ Working Conditions in Poland. Findings from the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP)

Abstract

This study is a part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). It addresses the issue of successful school principals’ leadership as seen through the prism of the successes achieved and maintained by schools. In this paper the selected results of the research, which was conducted in Polish schools, are presented. The paper focuses on the issue of the challenges faced by school principals in ensuring the quality of education and building school capacity in the face of the demands of the changing school environment. The research used a case study method with a range of data collection techniques, including one-to-one interviews with individual selected staff (deputy principals and teachers), and semi-structured in-depth interviews with school principals. The data collection techniques were designed according to the guidelines of the protocols of ISSPP project. The challenges faced by school principals have been identified and described. Among the challenges referred to as “unstable working conditions for teachers” the following were identified: the legal basis governing teacher’s work and school operations, the core curriculum, demographics, teacher salaries, professional promotions and teacher performance evaluation. The conditions that were identified by the school principals may impinge on the phenomenon of teachers leaving the profession or teacher turnover, which in turn affects the quality of education offered to students in Polish schools.