The Role of School Principals in the Candidate Teacher Training Process

This study examines the roles of school principals in the process of training candidate teachers and suggests solutions to increase the effectiveness of this process. In line with the need for qualified manpower in the education system, the leadership, mentoring and guidance roles of school principals are of great importance. The study was conducted with the phenomenological method, one of the qualitative research designs, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers working in vocational and technical Anatolian high schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education. In the study, teachers' perceptions of the main roles of school principals such as teaching and learning responsibilities, guidance and supervision roles, planning and implementation skills were analyzed. The findings reveal that school principals should guide the professional development of candidate teachers, and that the deficiencies encountered in the process stem from the workload of principals, lack of leadership and coordination problems. Among the solution suggestions, school principals should mentor candidate teachers, provide regular feedback and manage the process more effectively. This study shows that the role of school principals in the process of candidate teacher training is critical in supporting teachers' professional identity formation.