Keyword: «professional development of managers»

The relevance of the research is determined by the need to ensure equal access to quality education in conditions of social disadvantage, where schools operating in difficult social conditions play a key role. The effectiveness of their work directly depends on the level of strategic leadership of managers, however, in the scientific and practical sphere there is a shortage of effective models of scientific and methodological support aimed at developing the managerial potential of principals in such schools. The purpose of the article is to develop and empirically test a model of scientific and methodological support aimed at supporting the development of strategic leadership of school principals operating in difficult social conditions. In the course of the theoretical analysis, andragogical, systemic and synergetic approaches were used as a basis for understanding the processes of professional development of adult managers, managing complex changes and organizing continuous learning. As part of the experimental component of the study, the OCAI (Cameron-Quinn) methodology was employed to evaluate changes in the organizational culture of schools, along with the Student's t-test for statistical data analysis. The main results of the study showed that the implementation of the proposed model of scientific and methodological support proved to be effective in developing the strategic leadership of school principals. This contributed to the transformation of the organizational culture of educational organizations and the transition from reactive management to a proactive, strategically oriented approach. It is found that the implementation of the model through three pedagogical conditions (learning cycle, safe space for experiments, network communities) has a positive effect on motivation, reflection and cooperation in teaching groups. The theoretical significance lies in the conceptualization and justification of an integrated approach to the development of contextual strategic leadership in conditions of uncertainty. The practical value is expressed in the creation of a reproducible and scalable model of scientific and methodological support, which can be implemented in regional education systems to support schools in difficult social conditions. The results of the study can be used by education authorities, advanced training institutions, and heads of educational organizations to develop programs for enhancing managerial skills.