Market Orientation of the Swedish School from an Institutional Perspective : How does the School Acquire the Characteristics of a Company?

• In the beginning of the 1990´s the Swedish public school changed from a management by rules to a management by objectives and results. Thereby the school has to cope with a market oriented system, acting like a company where the pupils and their parents are looked upon as the clients of the school. As a consequence of that the school management is facing a new position. The role of the headmaster has become more multifaceted than before. The headmaster is expected to exercise the public authority, promoting the teachers in their pedagogical skills and also be a business manager. The reorganisation of the school has caused problems among the teachers, the pupils as well as the headmasters. In this article I try to clarify the reasons why the transition to a market oriented system is especially problematic in the school sector. From a theoretical perspective I discuss the school from its former institutional form; as part of the public managed administration, and its present institutional form; a mixture of the previous form and a business company. Turning to a new kind of management requires an understanding of a variety of norms. The implication of this discussion clarifies what kind of possibilities and obstacles the school faces when turning to a market oriented system. One such obstacle is that the school is not used to act independently, to create its own distinct character and demonstrate its self image. I therefore give an example of how to create the self image of an organisation. The example is taken from research on the Study Associations belonging to the free organisations, the Liberal Adult Education (in Swedish folkbildningen). Like a business company the Study Associations are used to emphasize their ideas by their self image. When adapting to the new conditions of the market the Study Associations were eager to keep their character. The analytic model used to analyse the self images of the Study Associations is in this article proposed to be used as a tool for creating a self image of the school unit. The tool is thought of to improve the communication in both an internal and an external perspective of the school. It aims to infuse the teaching, the routines and the attitudes of the staff and the pupils with meaning based on norms and values of the school.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

New Public Management

reorganisation of the school

market orientation

self image

identity

school culture

headmaster

value-based management

leadership

Business studies

Företagsekonomi

Utbildningsvetenskap

Educational science

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)