Exploring the network leadership practice of Master Principal Studio hosts in China

The Master Principal Studio (MPS) in China is a key component of the Leading Program for Excellent Principals ( ming xiaozhang gongcheng). In this initiative, outstanding principals are selected and endorsed by official authorities to establish studios, where they serve as hosts. Junior principals and middle leaders join these studios as members, participating in collaborative learning experiences. MPS fosters a network of schools, connecting principals at different stages of their professional growth. This research explores the network leadership practices of MPS hosts. Data were collected through semi-structured interview with 13 hosts, 19 members, 10 student principals (as extended members), and 4 studio assistants in 13 different levels of MPSs in China. The findings show that the MPSs’ hosts employed various network leadership strategies to create an empowering and supportive learning ecosystem within the studio. This sheds light on the importance of nurturing and leveraging diverse relationships within professional learning networks to achieve collective success and drive educational advancement.