A learning ecologies approach on school leaders' professional development

School leaders are usually provided with administration-led, fully structured programs for professional development. Research in this field identifies some common attributes for leadership that such programs try to convey. Although this is, and will continue to be, an important part of school leaders' professional development, digital open content and open courses available and the easy accessibility to specialized networks and virtual communities expand opportunities for self-learning and self-development. In this context, the learning ecologies analysis framework proves useful in extending knowledge on what school leaders do for professional development, what they consider the most useful means for continuous updating and what the components of their individual learning ecologies are. This paper presents the most common strategies for professional development that school leader's use in Catalonia (Spain), their balante between organized professional development activities and self-development, and how they assess the role digital technologies play in their learning ecologies. A survey with 48 questions was conducted with the aim of gathering information on school leaders' continuing professional development in Catalan schools. Iwo hundred twelve school leaders answered the survey. Results focus on learning ecologies, more specifically on strategies for informal learning, forms of privileged training, ICT use and participation in professional networks and communities. Results demonstrate that almost half of the participants hold self-learning their usual professional development strategy. Results also show that school leaders who stay up to date through self-learning strategies, prefer online learning (resources, activities, courses) and use technology more intensively. Learning ecologies proved to be a useful framework for the analysis of the professional development strategies of school leaders.