New public manangement in public education: a catalyst for the professionalization of Swedish school principals.

• New Public Management (NPM) is one of the most significant reforms in public welfare in recent times. Making individual civil servants more dependent on the directions of the local manager than on common professional standards, previous sociological research argues that NPM results in a ‘deprofessionalization’ of civil servants. Taking a somewhat different approach, recent public administration research indicates that NPM may, at the same time, enhance the professional status of welfare managers. By integrating the literature on the sociology of professions and public administration this article develops a theoretical framework for understanding the influence of NPM on school principals’ professional project. Taking a process-oriented methodological approach, the article analyzes the professionalization of Swedish school principals. To grasp fully how and why NPM fuels the professionalization of principals, we study the professionalization process over an extended period of time and compare the professional project before and after the introduction of NPM in public education. The result shows that Swedish school principals gained increased support for their professional project by the introduction of NPM. The article argues that NPM can function as a catalyst for welfare managers’ professional projects.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

NPM

school principals

professionalization

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)