The professional expertise of educational leaders has been defined through the lens of problem-solving processes. Problem-based learning has therefore become an increasingly popular instructional approach in principal preparatory programs. As such, this study represents an initial attempt to explore learning from success (i.e., success-based learning) as an alternative instructional framework in leadership preparation. The study explores what students in a principal preparatory program consider as affecting their ability to foster collective learning from success as a leadership practice strategy. Data analysis of interviews, reflective journals, and participant observations revealed the following themes: immediate results versus long-term learning processes, switching cognitive gears, legitimacy and legitimation, efficacy, criteria for measuring and choosing successes, time and space, generosity, and the principal's role. This study reinterprets principal preparation programs to include the collective process of learning from success, thus providing an alternative instructional framework on how to prepare principals for today's public school reality.
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