School principalship's identity from the point of view of the Education inspection

The objective of this study is to analyze the perception of educational inspectors regarding school principals. Numerous studies in the last decade have focused on exploring the school leadership exercised by principals as an essential point in educational improvement. Attention has focused mainly on the protagonist's own point of view (internal perspective). However, hardly any studies have been developed that analyze school leadership from an external perspective. To meet this objective, this study employs a qualitative methodology through a collective case study. The voices of seven education inspectors are analyzed on different elements of the current school management model that determine their identity and professional role as educational leaders, as well as possible solutions to the most recurrent problems detected in this regard. The results show the key points extracted from the interviews with the inspectors: a) towards an inverted leadership model: pedagogical leadership over managerial leadership; b) beyond initial training, continuous training is necessary; c) school autonomy versus accountability; d) rethinking the selection process: how to choose the best candidates; and e) disaffection and disidentification from school management: causes and possible solutions. In conclusion, being a principal in the Spanish context can be a challenge due to different issues. One of the most pointed out in our study was the identity duality that principals experience throughout their professional performance. Also, the glass ceiling in school leadership was another revealing fact that emerged from the discourse of school inspectors.