DWEC wanted to continue the innovative work in which it had been involved with NOFO since 2015. We wished to provide Irish school leaders with opportunities to participate fully in the activities and deliberations of a reputable body of educational leaders working in countries that have a reputation for quality and innovation in the areas of education and educational leadership. We wished to enable our Irish participants to share their considerable knowledge, experience and expertise of educational leadership in this international forum. Furthermore we wanted our Irish participants to learn about leadership, management, communication and innovation in this prestigious international setting.
Dublin West Education Centre (DWEC) leads continuing professional development (CPD) programmes directly for more than 200 schools in the Dublin area and vicariously for 4000 schools nationally through its management of national support services for teachers. It promotes innovation and creativity in schools and aims to provide learning opportunities for school leaders and teachers in a variety of ways. DWEC applied for the project because it wishes to connect Irish school leaders, principals, deputy principals and Education Centre personnel with quality leadership and management theory and practice in Nordic countries. Our connection with these Nordic countries arises from an invitation from KURS21NORD, also known as the Nordic Principals’ Forum (NOFO) in 2014 to DWEC to become a member of NOFO arising from the innovative work in leadership that took place in DWEC.