This master thesis evolves around the new school reform in the Danish public school
system, which will be implemented in August 2014. The school leaders are considered
to play a key role in the introduction of these radical changes. The aim is to gain insights,
about which kind of leadership the new reform is expecting school leaders to
conduct. The focus is on the changing role of school leaders, which this reform brings
forth, which has lead to the following research question:

What kind of school leader is demanded in the introduction of the new school reform?

The research question is investigated through an empirical study of the new school reform
and interviews of two principals, which were asked about their experiences of the
changing leadership role in the new school reform. Through a Template Analysis five
main themes appear, which uncover what the new school reform requires of the school
leaders in the future. These five themes are:
Firstly, it is argued that the school leaders are expected to become more resultsoriented
and focused on achieving the concrete goals, which are presented very explicit
in the new school reform. Secondly, it is explain how the school leader focuses on creating
a common understanding of the intentions in the reform. Thirdly, leaders experience
an ambivalent freedom due to the fact that the leaders on one side obtain an expanded
management control and on the other side experience an extended control management
about the intentions of the school reform, which challenging the leadership role.
Fourthly, it is considered that school leaders of the public schools will become more
similar with leaders in private companies. This assumption is explained with the fact that
school leaders experience an increased degree of decentralized power, which results in
less involvement of the employees in decision-makings. Finally, it is argued how school
leaders is being challenged in finding out what is important to focus on because of the
many more and different choices the leaders have to deal with.

The study concludes that the new school reform brings with it opportunities and
limitations for the public leaders, which affects their management capacity.