| 1. |
- Moos, Lejf, et al.
(författare)
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The Hurricane of Accountabilities? : Comparison of Accountability Comprehensions and Practices
- 2011
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Ingår i: How School Principals Sustain Success over Time. - DORDRECHT : Springer Netherlands. - 9789400713345 - 9789400713352 ; , s. 199-222
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the past 5 years since we visited the schools and principals were included in the International Successful School Principals Project for the first time, major changes have occurred in the ways in which schools are governed and managed. Since the start of the project in 2001, the “hurricane of accountability” has reached all countries in the project. This recent development is, first of all, characterized by an increased focus on student achievement and performance measurement as a key part of evaluation processes. Second, it implies a changed concept of educational quality, which in form seems to be defined by expectations about specific outcomes. Third, it indicates a belief that any divergence between the expected outcomes and the level of achievements can be identified. Along with this development, schools are increasingly being perceived as the unit of measurement and the need to make actors such as principals and teachers accountable is emerging.This chapter describes main changes in school governance with an emphasis on the establishment of systems to control and monitor educational quality. Moreover, it investigates similarities and differences in the ways of which principals in the USA on the one hand, and principals in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden on the other, respond to expectations about improving student outcomes.
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| 2. |
- Johansson, Olof, 1950-, et al.
(författare)
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The Nordic superintendents' leadership roles : cross national comparisons
- 2011
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Ingår i: International handbook on leadership for learning. - Dordrecht : Springer. - 9789400713499 - 9789400713505 ; , s. 529-551
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Our research problem deals with what happens when national educational policies meet structures of implementation at the school district and school level. Our focus is on the position that is directly subordinate to a municipal committee or board and with responsibility for education. This position we refer to as superintendent. By focusing on this position and the prerequisites for the person holding that position it may also be possible to investigate some of the preconditions for learning. The chapter starts with a short description of the Nordic governance system, gives some results from earlier studies about the superintendent, and is followed by findings from our Nordic survey.The findings address the power distribution between the state and the municipalities in national school governance across Nordic countries. The underlying argument posits that these system characteristics are crucial in determining the context for municipal superintendent leadership in practice. The conceptual model of the Nordic superintendent is discussed in the light of empirical data from all Nordic countries. Finally, the chapter discusses to what extent leadership for learning is a relevant perspective for analyzing Nordic superintendent leadership as it emerged from the data.
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| 3. |
- Moos, Lejf, et al.
(författare)
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Introduction to the international successful school principalship project
- 2011
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Ingår i: How school principals sustain success. - Dordrecht : Springer. - 9789400713345 - 9789400713352 ; , s. 1-13
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- When we started the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) in 2001, we were interested in finding answers to the question: What contributes to school principals’ success in leading schools so that students gain the most from their experience of school education? Teams of researchers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Canada, the United States, Australia and China participated and found a series of answers and arguments as the results from analysing a range of documentary, quantitative and qualitative data from approximately 30 schools. Five years later on, we went back to those schools which were led by the same principals in order to find out whether the success had been sustained and if so, how.This book reports our findings through country case stories and cross-cutting thematic chapters. First, we report briefly upon findings from the first phase. Following this, we describe the research methods that were used and the challenge of finding common international understandings of success in schools and in school principalship. Finally, we report findings about sustaining success from the second phase of the study.
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| 4. |
- Moos, Lejf, et al.
(författare)
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New Insights : How Successful School Leadership Is Sustained
- 2011
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Ingår i: How School Principals Sustain Success over Time. - DORDRECHT : Springer Netherlands. - 9789400713345 - 9789400713352 ; , s. 223-230
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The rich data provided in this project has enabled us to provide a unique international perspective on how successful leaders sustain their success. Our case stories encompass education in six countries and stretch over a period of 5 years. They give us new and challenging knowledge, not only about the values, qualities, skills and knowledge which successful principals hold and apply in order to achieve and sustain success, but, importantly, how they influence teachers’ teaching and in student learning and achievement. The analyses and arguments in the case stories and their further development through six thematic chapters have enabled us to view sustainability from diverse perspectives. One chapter takes a communicative perspective on leadership, sustaining success through sense-making communication in the everyday practice. Another chapter takes as its point of departure a psychological perspective on school leaders’ resilience as a precondition for sustaining success in leadership. A third chapter on sustaining improvement and leadership in challenging schools takes a systemic perspective on schools. And the fourth chapter analysed two different forms of preparation for leadership. The last chapter analysed cases from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and USA (New York) in changing policy regimes for leadership and finds that the directions towards increases in contractual accountability are broadly the same.
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| 5. |
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