Sweden – Good Will on All Governance Levels Is Not Enough to Create Sustainable Improvement

• 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.

Ämnesord

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

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

Nyckelord

Governance

Pedagogical leadership

Principals

Quality assurance

Reform

School improvement

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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