ISSPP METTING IN GRANADA – 2026
We look forward to welcoming all ISSPP members to Granada and hope that the ISSPP 2026 meeting will be an unforgettable and incredible experience.
Every two years, ISSPP researchers meet to exchange experiences and advance future research strategies to continue progressing towards a greater understanding of successful school leadership implementation in places such as Seville, Puerto Rico, Phoenix, and London, to name a few. The next ISSPP meeting is scheduled to be held in Granada, Spain.
The ISSPP research group collaborating with the University of Granada is pleased to invite you to participate in the new ISSPP conference, which is scheduled to take place from 9 to 11 November 2026.
Conference Fee
Deadline for conference registration and payment – 15 June 2026
There are two payment methods:
A bank transfer option, which costs 185 euros. Payment should be made to the following account number.held by the University of Granada in the name of ISSPP Conference 2026:
ACCOUNT HOLDER: UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA
BIC: CAIXESBBXXX
IBAN ES58 2100 4224 3913 0072 0546
REFERENCE – ISSPP 2026
Another payment method is via a credit card payment gateway, which is paid through the conference website, but the price is higher at €190 due to commission charges.
You need to go to the bottom of the webpage to "Buy the ticket" and pay via the credit card payment gateway.
To process the registration fee payment, all registered individuals must send a photocopy of their passport or national identity card. Please, send it to cmoral@ugr.es
Room reservations – Hotel Eurostars San Antón –
The Hotel San Antón has set aside several rooms with breakfast included, reserved for the conference, with a 15% discount on the room price at the time of booking.
There is a discount code for the conference. The code is as follows: ISSPP26
This code must be used directly on the hotel's website so that each attendee can make their own reservation independently. The link to make the reservation is as follows:
(https://www.eurostarshotels.com/eurostars-san-anton.html):
This code will be available until 8 October 2026
Cancellation
Room cancellations may be made up to 30 days before the start of the conference by sending written notification to the San Antón Hotel.
Invoice
Anyone requiring an invoice must provide:
- If the invoice is addressed to an individual: Passport and tax registration address
- If the invoice is addressed to an organisation: Name and tax registration address of the organisation
- To process the registration fee payment, all registered individuals must send a photocopy of their passport or national identity card. Please, send it to cmoral@ugr.es
For any queries, please contact cmoral@ugr.es
THE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL PRINCIPALSHIP PROJECT (ISSPP)
The International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) is the largest international network of researchers studying successful schools and the contributions of principals to that success. Since its beginnings in 2001, ISSPP has advanced the study of successful school leadership through international comparisons. ISSPP continues today to bring new approaches to the study of school leadership, discovering traits that identify successful principals from different contexts and countries using case studies from multiple perspectives.
The researchers involved in ISSPP work together to achieve a greater and deeper understanding of the practices and strategies that characterize successful principals. Currently, using Bronfenbrenner's ecology theory as a reference, ISSPP researchers are delving into the study of successful school leadership by considering schools as complex and adaptive systems, situated and nested in ecological contexts in which different macro, exo, meso, micro, and chrono systems interact and influence each other. The progress made by ISSPP is generating valuable information for the training and professional development of school principals, as well as for improving school management in general.
Every two years, ISSPP researchers meet to exchange experiences and advance future research strategies to continue progressing toward a greater understanding of the phenomenon of successful school leadership in places such as Seville, Puerto Rico, Phoenix, or London, to name a few. The next ISSPP meeting is scheduled to be held in Granada (Spain).
The ISSPP group of collaborators at the University of Granada is therefore pleased to invite you to participate in the next ISSPP conference, which will be held on November 9-11, 2026.
The main lines of work to be developed at the meeting will be as follows:
- How we rethink the knowledge and research contributions from ISSPP and how to produce conceptually more nuanced evidence to enrich our understanding of the complex nature of school leadership.
- What changes have taken place in the conception of the ISSPP framing of successful school leadership.
- What new methodological directions are being developed by ISSPP to capture the dynamics of contexts and successful school leadership?
- New projects and new publications - Progress in ISSPP publications.
- Past, present, and future of ISSPP. New phases of ISSPP research and future projects.
We look forward to welcoming all ISSPP researchers to Granada and hope that the ISSPP 2026 meeting will be an amazing experience.
SCHEDULE
9 NOVEMBER
Venue: Hotel San Antón
10 NOVEMBER
Venue: Faculty of Education
11 NOVEMBER
Venue: Hotel San Antón
9:00 – 11:30 // Welcome & Brief Review of ISSPP’s Major Contributions
Share Insights from Country Teams
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Presentation of case studies by each research group/country participating in the ISSPP meeting: Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, England, Greece, India, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, the United States.
11:30 - 12:00 // Break
12:00–14:00 // Visit to school
School visits:
- CEIP - San José
- CEIP - Tierno Galván
- CEIP - Fuente Nueva
- IES - Severo Ochoa
- IES – Soto de Rojas
- IES – La Madraza
14:00 - 15:00 // Lunch
15:00 - 16:45 // Discussion: Rethink the knowledge and research contributions from ISSPP and comments on the visit to schools
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What are the knowledge gaps and how do we address them in our research?
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How do we advance ISSPP’s contributions to the field of educational leadership – thematically, conceptually and methodologically?
16:45 – 17:00 // In Memoriam: Professor Olof Johansson
18:00 // Visit to Granada – Dinner.
9 – 10:30 // Presentations and Panel Discussion
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Dean of the Faculty of Education
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Director of the Andalusian Research Institute
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Presentation by Qing Gu and Rose Ylimaki - ISSPP and its impact on the field of educational leadership
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Representatives of the Associations of Head Teachers of Granada: ASADIPRE Y ADIÁN
10,30 - 11:00// Break
11:00 - 14:00 - Plenary Discussion and Reflection
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ISSPP Expert Panel Led by Christopher Day –
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Title: Successful School Principalship: Aspirations, Challenges, Roles
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11:00-11:10 Introduction: Christopher Day
11:10-11:40 School Quality: The Principals’ Role (Part 1)
1. The Inclusive Principal: Rose Ylimaki (USA)
2. Building and Sustaining Teacher Capacity, Commitment and Competences: Helene Arlestig (Sweden)
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11:40-12:10 Breakout: Formulating Questions: Overcoming challenges of context and condition (Small Groups)
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12:10 -12:40 School Quality: The Principals’ Role (Part 2)
3. Personal Resources Count: Care, Competence and Resilience: David Gurr (Australia)
4. The Accountability Conundrum: Qing Gu (UK)
12:40-13:05 Break Out: Formulating Questions: Overcoming challenges of context and condition (Small Groups)
13:05-13:50 Plenary: EXPERT PANEL
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Christopher Day (Chair)
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Helene Arlestig
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Qing Gu
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David Gurr
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Rose Ylimaki
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The Importance of Hope: Christopher Day -
Final conference– Farewell to the ISSPP
14:00 - 15:00 - Lunch – Faculty of Education
18:00 /- Visit to Granada – Dinner.
9 - 11:30 // Discussion: Enriching the Field of Educational Leadership through ISSPP Research
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Mapping the concepts in ISSPP: How to produce conceptually more nuanced evidence to enrich our understandings of successful principalship in context?
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Mapping the research methods: What methodological approaches are being developed by ISSPP members to capture the dynamics of contexts and successful school principalship?
11:30 - 12:00// Coffee Break
12:00 - 13:00 // Final Reflections and Publication Proposals
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Publications proposals
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New projects and new ISSPP publications
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Discussion/Reflection
13:00 - 14:00 // Lunch
16:00 – 18:00 - Visit to Alhambra
18:00 - Visit to Granada - Dinner
16:00 - 18:00 /- Visit to the Alhambra
18:00 /- Visit to Granada – Dinner
