This book describes and analyses the organisation, functions and development of national educational authorities and agencies and the influence they have on local schools in 20 countries around the world. It examines the governing chain in the respective countries from both a theoretical and descriptive perspective. It does so against the background of the stability and rigour of the governing chains having been challenged, with some researchers considering the chain to be broken. However, the view that comes to the fore in this book is that the chain is still present and contains both vertical implementation structures and intervening spaces for policy interpretation.
How schools become successful is important for the individual students as well as the local community and the national state. A vast quantity of research has looked at what happens in schools and classrooms. At the same time, national governance and politics as well as local prerequisites are known to exert influence on schools and their results to a high degree. Societal priorities, problems and traditions provide variety in how governance is executed. This book provides an international overview of the similarities and differences between educational agencies and how their work influences schools.
In Sweden, there are ambitious national ambitions to increase academic student results, even if the accountability system remains soft. The chapter identifies and presents three different governance paradigms: Old Public Management, New Public Management and New Public Governance (Magnusson, Vad händer i själva verket? Om styrning och handlingsutrymme i Skolverket under åren 1991–2014. [What happens in reality. About Governance and Room to Maneuver in the Swedish National Agency for Education 1991–2014, in Swedish. Thesis. Uppsala universitet, Uppsala: 2018). Even if many practitioners trust the agencies, they also encounter detailed regulations and abundant reforms that have contributed to a debate about whether teachers spend too little time on teaching. It is obvious that the various levels above the principal in the institutional hierarchy endeavour to improve and change local schools, without acknowledging how their own culture and structure must improve. The serious ambition to improve results and schools has, at the same time, engendered activities and regulations to meet all objectives and resolve all problems that contribute to excessive work at all levels, rather than national and local priorities.
In Sweden as in the other Nordic countries schools are an important part of how individuals as well as society develops. How schools are led and governed therefore affects all citizens. In this chapter we discuss principals’ positions, responsibility, and expectation within the Swedish governance system. The chapter and our conclusions rest on current Swedish research and policy documents. In Sweden external expectations, support, and control from national and municipality (school owner) level has an increasing impact on the local schools. Traditions, values, and reforms puts a focus on contemporary change processes. In turn, these contemporary change processes affect to a high extent principal’s role and tasks in the local schools and create an increasing heterogeneity in prerequisites, expectations, and results. There is a strong will and high ambition to improve schools for better results on all governance levels, ambitions that often ask for fast effect which has backsides such as concurring reforms and a high turnover among school leaders.
Purpose– The main task of every school is to contribute to student learning and achievement. In the twenty-first century, national and international evaluations and comparisons have focussed on measurable student and school results. Not only teachers but also principals are held accountable for school results, which increase expectations of principals to work to enhance student learning and improve outcomes. In Sweden, a principal's work with a given school's core mission is labeled as pedagogical leadership, a concept that includes diverse activities related to national goals and school results. Aspects of pedagogical leadership include principals’ classroom observations and communication about teaching and learning issues. The purpose of this paper is to describe a model of pedagogical leadership as a base for principals’ experience with the aim to develop their understanding of pedagogical leadership.
Design/methodology/approach– The paper builds on data from three groups of principals who participated in a course to learn more about pedagogical leadership.
Findings– The participating principals performed their pedagogical leadership in different manners and with varying quality. During the course, there was a shift in what activities and duties the principals prioritized. The findings highlight the importance of democratic leadership and the improvement of teacher capacity and student outcomes.
Practical implications– The paper gives practical examples on how principals can improve their understanding of pedagogical leadership.
Originality/value– There are few articles on how pedagogical leadership is understood and practiced. The paper provides a model for pedagogical leadership and empirical data that shows that the concept deserves to be viewed as a qualitative concept that need interpretation.