Successful School Principalship in School in Challenging Circumstances in Poland: Building Resilience

The chapter offers a nuanced look at building resilience at teachers and the school situated in disadvantaged urban area. The study uses the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) research protocols. The study focuses on the school principal’s biography, the principal’s contributions to structures and cultures at school and beyond it, leadership for teacher quality and capacity building and the principal’s successful leadership strategies in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, and war in Ukraine. The findings indicate that the fundamentals for the work of the successful school principal are values. The study shows the importance of synergy of successful school principal beliefs, dispositions, qualities, and strategies for the school success. It confirms the claim that successful leaders improve teaching and learning most powerfully through the influence on teacher’s motivation, commitment, and working conditions. The study encourages exploration of successful principalship in a new light through building more resilient education systems. Central to this analysis are the values of education and values of school leaders and their leadership.