PRINCIPALS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE TEACHERS'S PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The professional paper focuses on the principals' attitudes towards the personal and professional development of elementary school teaches. The paper aims to present a research regarding who is more responsible for the personal and professional development of teachers, who claim the principals to be in charge of the teachers' development. The principals do not generally share such an opinion. The differences in attitudes have encouraged us to carry out a small-scale research into the principals' attitudes towards the personal and professional development of teachers. A qualitative research paradigm has been chosen for this purpose. Three questions were put forward. Firstly, do attitudes of the principals involved in the research differ regarding the length of their principalship? Secondly, do their attitudes differ regarding the work experience, and thirdly, what is the principals' opinion on who is responsible for the personal and professional development of teachers - principals themselves or teachers? The answers show that the length of principalship plays an important role in the formation of attitudes; further, work experience also play quiet a role in the formation of attitudes. Attitudes with regard to who is to carry more responsibility for the personal and professional development of teachers did not differ significantly among the principals.