Leader and innovator in the context of educational reforms

Changes in society are also changing approaches to education. Over the past two decades, governments in many countries have addressed the need for effective education reform to improve student achievement. School leaders have a crucial role to play as they face high expectations for educational outcomes, particularly in the context of technological progress, innovation, migration and globalisation. Leadership in education is becoming increasingly necessary at the beginning of the 21st century. There is a need to rethink school management and leadership models and to introduce innovative ideas. The core work activities and competencies of a leader in education consist of their experience, knowledge, character traits, attitudes and skills. An example of this is the situation in the Czech Republic, where the public administration reform in 2000 led to the decentralisation of education, which gave schools the right to decide on matters in all areas. This paper summarises an example of leadership in secondary schools in the Czech Republic in the context of reforms that are taking place not only in education. The results show that the role of a leader and innovator in a school is mostly performed by the school principal himself and most often as needed, which is related to his responsibility for the school's operation and especially its direction, i.e. the implementation of the school's development concept. The research question is: Which of the work activities related to the secondary school principal as a leader and innovator are done by him/herself or delegated to other staff members and how often are they performed?