Abstract
Cultivating leadership capabilities and managerial competencies among pre-service teachers has become an important objective of contemporary teacher education programs. This study examines pedagogical opportunities for the development of leadership-related competencies and managerial readiness among pre-service teachers. Data were collected from 220 pre-service teachers, enrolled in two universities in Kazakhstan, through a structured survey consisting of three scales measuring pedagogical opportunities, school manager literacy, and managerial potential. Latent class analysis was conducted separately for each scale to identify distinct response profiles among participants. The results revealed three latent profiles of pedagogical opportunities (strong, moderate, and limited), two profiles of school manager literacy (high and relatively lower), and three profiles of managerial potential (very high, high, and moderate). Most respondents belonged to profiles reflecting strong pedagogical opportunities and high managerial competence, indicating generally positive perceptions of leadership readiness among pre-service teachers. The findings suggest that most pre-service teachers perceive themselves as possessing relatively strong managerial competencies and leadership potential, although variations exist in the availability and perception of pedagogical opportunities during teacher education. The findings suggest that teacher education programs can better prepare pre-service teachers for leadership roles by more systematically integrating leadership training and school-based experiences.