Mid Sweden University

This chapter explores Teacher Education as an ongoing professional trajectory, exploring the implications for both the policy and practice teacher professional identity, and how this has developed its later stages in career trajectory, in three different nation-states of the UK, Sweden and Russia. Here we choose to focus on the different national interpretations of leadership preparation and development, and the links between this and the support of Principals in schools. In the UK over the last decade, the development offered to senior staff has been led by an increasingly marketised approach, which has steadily moved further away from academic expertise and Higher Education qualifications. In contrast, the system in Sweden has thoroughly maintained its links in leadership preparation inside universities, building a rapport between senior staff in schools and their counterparts in university education departments. While in the Russian system these HEI links are also maintained, yet the national framework under which they operate is only now in its embryonic stages.

This paper critically reviews England’s National Professional Qualification of Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL) and Sweden’s National Principal Training Program (NPTP). The design and implementation of these programs are critiqued considering the process of professional learning, with view of offering recommendations for future policies on professionalisation through leadership professional learning. The study compares the professional development using a simple multiple case study design. Analysis of sources highlight common themes of leadership, curriculum, agency, and professionalism. These are discussed in relation to how such programs may contribute to the early years sector, leading to recommendations to inform future professional learning opportunities. 

Today, an increased impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the society at large has lead teachers to engage in professional development activities related to the use of ICT. Even though this development has been prominent for more than two decades, its long term effects seem complex to determine. This paper is based on interviews with twelve Swedish teachers who participated in a national program for promoting school development and use of ICT in 2000-2001. The program was aligned with the pedagogical approaches set out in the national Swedish curriculum, such as a shift from teaching to learning and giving pupils more responsibility, introducing interdisciplinary approaches to teaching in teams, and a problem based pupils-oriented pedagogy. The analysis of the interviews show that teachers still feel a high degree of appreciation for the program, and that they share a relative agreement of the importance of the program for their teaching with ICT in the last decade. The general intentions of the program to be more concerned with school development and pedagogy rather than technology and ICT seem also to be present today as a long term effect.

Today, an increased impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the society at large has lead teachers to engage in professional development activities related to the use of ICT. Even though this development has been prominent for more than two decades, its long term effects seem complex to determine. This paper is based on interviews with twelve Swedish teachers who participated in a national program for promoting school development and use of ICT in 2000-2001. The program was aligned with the pedagogical approaches set out in the national Swedish curriculum, such as a shift from teaching to learning and giving pupils more responsibility, introducing interdisciplinary approaches to teaching in teams, and a problem based pupils-oriented pedagogy. The analysis of the interviews show that teachers still feel a high degree of appreciation for the program, and that they share a relative agreement of the importance of the program for their teaching with ICT in the last decade. The general intentions of the program to be more concerned with school development and pedagogy rather than technology and ICT seem also to be present today as a long term effect.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to report how Swedish upper secondary schools involved in a European Union-financed collaborative project intertwined aspects of subject integration and international collaboration with the use of ICT. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used is a case study in which aspects of subject integration and international collaborative ambitions are intertwined with the use of ICT. Data consist of interviews with participants, texts concerning the project, the participating school, and the Swedish upper secondary schools system. Findings: Teachers and students have worked towards the objectives in the project and in the national curricula, and the case shows how difficult and how many barriers there are to overcome. Even though the curricula seem difficult to coordinate, students appear to have learnt more about the European perspective, as well as about themselves, through the approach. The teacher describes student motivation as high - authenticity and real people to collaborate with support the students' experience of a holistic education, which applies to real life. The teacher tried to change the role towards providing students with structure and advice, monitoring their progress, and assessing their accomplishments, but reported to be struggling with the teacher role. Originality/value: The paper demonstrates originality and value by providing important insight into the use of ICT in upper secondary schools for the purpose of collaboration and at the same time working towards joint curricular themes. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Much research has been done in the area of distance and online education and the possibilities and obstacles connected to that kind of education (see for instance Jonassen, D., Peck, K. L. & Wilson, B. G., 1999; Jung, 2005; Salmon, 2004). New technologies have changed the conditions for distribution of distance courses the last decade. Learning management systems (LMS) of various kinds have been developed; podcast, wikis and blogs are enablers for enhancing flexible education. Little research is done on how students perceive the availability of podcasts and blogs for their learning and even less on the effects on students’ learning, if any (Bell et al, 2007; Boulos et al, 2006; Maag, 2006)? Podcasting refers to a technique to distribute a collection of digital media files over the Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players or computers. The term can refer to either the content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated. The media thus distributed can be either plain audio, video or a combination of audio and presentation slides, often called enhanced podcasts ). Blog is a portmanteau of “web log”, a website where the author publishes entries combining text, images and links to other sources related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Mid Sweden University gives a course for students in teacher training and as inservice-training for teachers: “ICT and media as support for learning”. It is a distance course with one physical meeting in the beginning, and one at the end of the course. LMS, blogs and podcasts are used between these gatherings. In this course the students were offered to borrow a video-capable Ipod to give them options of Mobile Learning (mLearning). The study includes two groups of students, one group took the course the summer 2007 and a second group the summer 2008 which as of this writing hasn’t been held yet. Some of the on-campus lectures were provided as enhanced podcasts, and some additional lectures were only made available as podcasts. Another assignment required the students to comment on the course literature and lectures in the form of a blog entry. The students in the study group then commented on each others entries. An overall question is if educational providers should invest in Ipods and podcast productions? Does the benefits outweigh the costs and the efforts? The present study wants to investigate the student’s use of these features of the course. How did the students perceive the use of Ipods and podcasts in the course, and for their learning? How and how much did they use the blog, what characterized their blogging? As a theoretical framework the sociocultural theory was used. Learning is a social act that can be mediated between social beings through language, signs, genres or tools. Ipods and blogs can be seen as artifacts for learning from a sociocultural perspective. These tools can facilitate learning in a context relevant for the student (Säljö, 1999; Vygostky, 1978; Wenger, 1998).

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used

This study was conducted with questionnaires and text analysis. We distributed an initial questionnaire to investigate the students expectations and their background. At the end of the course we conducted a second survey about their perceptions of podcasts in relation to their learning. Text-analysis were used for the student blogs (Coffin et al, 2006).

Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings

An understanding about the students’ perceptions of podcasts and an outlook on how students can use blogs in a learning situation.

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine principals’ experience and sensemaking of collaboration with private companies, focussing on leadership and school improvement.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is set against the backdrop of a project where three public Swedish schools collaborated with private companies within their communities. Data were collected over three years and consisted of semi-structured interviews, meeting notes, field observations, field notes and document analysis. A qualitative content analysis was performed using the Atlas.ti 6.2 software tool.Findings – The study shows that important sensemaking for the principals in this collaboration between schools and private companies is related to the sense of collective responsibility and involvement, development of improvement culture and trust between key actors, and common improvement initiatives based on mutual interest. Challenges in the collaboration are related to principal changes, a lack of implementation of the collaboration, and that there was no clear vision of external collaboration in two out of three schools. In terms of possibilities, the collaboration was based on the needs of the school, a collaborative culture was developed, and the development/activities were undertaken between involved schools and private companies during the collaboration.

Research limitations/implications – Inevitably, there are limitations that need to be identified and recognised in this study. First, the small number of cases in this multiple case study, as well as the specific social context, limits the possibility of generalising the findings. Second, the study was not independently selected, and the findings and analyses are linked to national and local contexts, which can be seen as a limitation and strength. Notwithstanding, this study contributes with in-depth information about how a beyond-school collaboration with private companies is practised as well as how involved principals made sense of the collaboration from the perspective of school improvement.

Originality/value – The originality is the collaboration between schools and private companies. The paper contributes with new knowledge about how principals experience and make sense of this collaboration as a vehicle for school improvement.

The aim of this study was to examine experienced school leaders’ sense-making of their professional learning in relation to their professional development in Sweden. A case study design was employed, and semi-structured group interviews was conducted as the main empirical data. Preliminary results show that school leaders perceive that the course and the continuous professional learning in it have contributed to the development of their leadership in the profession. Collective learning through literature processing, reflections, inquiries in one's activities, and collective learning with other school leaders are presented as important aspects that have contributed to in-depth knowledge and development in the profession as a school leader.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine principals’ sense-making of a school–university collaboration taking an institutional perspective on organizational change. The study’s context involves three schools in a collaboration focusing on leadership and school improvement with one university.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on findings from a qualitative case study that examined principals’ sense-making of this type of school–university collaboration. Data were collected over three years and consisted of semistructured interviews, meeting notes, field observations, field notes and document analysis. A qualitative content analysis was performed using the Atlas.ti 6.2 software tool.

Findings

The findings showed that mattering sense-making for the principals in this collaboration is related to the cultivation of collective participation and responsibility, the development of trust and improvement culture among actors, and the sense of moving towards research-based and collaborative learning-oriented practices in their schools.

Research limitations/implications

This study encountered several limitations that need to be addressed and recognized. First, the small number of cases in this multiple case study, as well as the specific social context, limits the possibilities for the generalization of the findings. Second, the study was not independently selected and the findings and analyses were linked to national and local contexts, which can be seen as a limitation and a strength. Nevertheless, this study provides in-depth information about the principals’ experiences and constructions of meaning as they helped lead a school–university collaboration in their schools. Finally, although the sample was small and not representative, the findings provided useful insights into and examples of how principals understand and interpret a school–university partnership in their schools’ improvement processes.

Originality/value

The findings provide an elaborated illustration of how intentional efforts to collaborate and develop the schools in a school–university partnership may affect the regulative, normative and cultural–cognitive aspects in schools.

The thesis takes its point of departure from the recent interest in collaboration and networking as major school improvement strategies and the school leader’s crucial role in these processes. Educational research indicates that if schools are to meet future demands, then leadership must rest on trust within the organisation and a principal’s leadership must be understood in the frame of professional collaboration and social learning. The aim of this thesis is to, from an institutional perspective, deepen the understanding of regulative, normative, and cultural‐cognitive aspects of school leaders’ practices in collaboration beyond school at the local school level.

The research undertaken in this thesis is a part of a larger research and school improvement project. This longitudinal study draws on data from a qualitative case study of three schools conducted over three years. Qualitative data including semistructured interviews, a part of a questionnaire to participating teachers with open‐response questions, and observations were used. Additional contextual data, such as field notes, document analysis, and project meeting notes were also used. The theoretical framework is based on institutional perspectives on organisations and sense‐making theory, used to provide an understanding of how principals and teachers make sense of principal leadership practices.

This thesis builds on four separate papers (I‐IV) with their own aims and research questions but with the common goal of providing answers to the overall aim and research questions of the study. The four papers are complemented by this introductory part that ties them all together. Paper I, “Internationalization as an internal capacity builder for school improvement: a case study”, examines if and how the work with internationalization can build internal capacities for school improvement, but also examines the meaning of a principal’s leadership in relation to the work with professional collaboration and social learning. Paper II, “Collaboration With Private Companies as a Vehicle for School Improvement ‐ Principals’ Experience and Sense‐Making,” elaborates on principals’ experiences and sense‐making of a school collaboration with private companies from the local community of the school, focussing on leadership and school improvement. Paper III, “Making Sense of External Partnerships: Principals’ Experiences of School‐University Collaborations,” examine principals’ sense‐making of a school–university collaboration. Paper IV, “Teachers Making Sense of Principals’ Leadership in Collaboration Beyond School,” aims to create a deeper understanding of collaborations beyond the school with a focus on principals’ leadership and of how such processes reshape regulative, normative, and cultural‐cognitive aspects (Scott, 2008). The role of the formal leader is addressed in all four papers.

Finally, the findings show that the principals have had the possibility to build professional capacity in their schools, create a supportive organization for learning, and connect with different external partners as a result of these beyond‐school collaborations. The different actors in the beyond‐school collaborations also became a part of the schools’ overall distributed leadership practices. The findings show that beyond‐school collaboration influences and affects the normative and cultural‐cognitive aspects that exist in the participating school to some extent. The development of collective commitments to guide collaboration, engagement in collaborative work, an increase in shared responsibility for work, and the fostering of learning‐oriented collaboration and research‐based knowledge construction are examples of norms and values that seem to have started to move during the various beyond‐school collaborations. From the cultural‐cognitive aspect, the study shows that aspects of this dimension appear more or less in the schools. The principals have interpreted and made sense of the value of beyond school collaboration in different ways. The cultural‐cognitive aspect also seems to affect the teachers somewhat, where they make sense of the importance of the formal leader in beyond‐school collaboration. They also emphasise the importance of having a pedagogical leader. The findings showed that there were challenges that became visible in the various beyond‐school collaborations. However, being aware of the challenges and broadening professional learning communities through collaboration that goes beyond school all in all seem to support the principals in their leadership practices at the local school level and also support development in a school’s practices.

This paper aims to explore principals experience and sensemaking of a school collaboration with private companies from the local community of the school in a Swedish setting. Collaboration within educational settings continues to gain more and more attention as school networks, chains, partnerships. Broadening professional learning communities have been introduced in a number of educational settings around the world (Ainscow, 2016; Chapman et al., 2016; Muijs et al., 2010). Research imply that these approaches to school improvement could establish a valuable platform for professional collaboration and improvement in schools (e.g. Cordingley, 2015; Muijs, 2008) as well as being enablers of internal capacity building in schools (Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012). This is in line with Ainscow (2016), who argues that the aim must be to “move knowledge around” and the best way to do this is through strengthening collaboration within schools, between schools and beyond schools. 

In Sweden, there has been an intention to improve school through collaborative structures, shared responsibility and collective learning that promote collaboration since the governmental investigation of the school-working environment in 1974 (SOU, 1974:53), and the introduction of the 1980 national curriculum. Today, teacher teams are an ‘institutionalized practice’ in most Swedish schools, but the meaning of the collaboration can vary greatly (Blossing & Ekholm, 2008). Despite that, there still seems to remain a individualistic culture in the Swedish school system. Municipalities, schools, principals and teachers are used to working relatively “isolated” without collaboration with the outside world (Björkman, 2008; OECD, 2015; Nordholm, 2015).

Today, Swedish school principals are responsible for school improvement and for creating conditions for teaching and learning so that all students reach their educational goals. National policy states that Swedish principals act as pedagogical leaders with focus on the national curriculum to increase teachers’ capacity in relation to teaching and learning and to create a learning environment (Bredeson & Johansson, 2000). The principal's responsibility for proper school development has been strengthened in the new Education Act from 2010 compared to the previous (Jarl, 2013) and it clarifies the principal's responsibility, authorities, and decision-making right. Still, both Swedish (e.g., Blossing & Ekholm, 2008; Larsson, 2004) and international studies (e.g., Hargreaves & Fink, 2006; Lambert, 2007) have highlighted difficulties in bringing about learning and sustainable school improvement in local schools. The importance of leadership for increased learning and improvement in schools are well known and emphasized in research (Hargreaves & Fink, 2006; Leithwood et al, 2006). The study leans on the theory of communities of practice (Wenger 1998) and sensemaking theory (Weick, 1995, 2001). The purpose of this study is to examine principals experiences and sensemaking of a school collaboration with private companies from the local community of the school, focusing on leadership and school improvement. The research questions that frame the study are: 

-       How do principals experience and make sense of a school collaboration with private companies? 

-       How can the outcomes of the collaboration be understood in terms of possibilities and challenges?

Methodology or Methods/research (Length up to 400 words)

The study employed a qualitative case study design with a purposive sampling method in order to include schools working with companies in the framework of a collaborative improvement project. The present study aimed at examining principals experience and sensemaking of a school collaboration with private companies from the local community of the school, focusing on leadership and school improvement. In order to solve the problem in this study, a contextual depth is required. According to Stake (1995, p. 16) a case study allows it: "In qualitative case study, we seek greater understanding of the case, we want to appreciate the uniqueness and complexity, its embeddedness and interaction with its contexts."This is in line with Yin (2007), who mean case studies as a research strategy is based on wanting to explore an area in depth, focusing on how and why (Yin, 2007). The case in this study, ‘the quintan’(Stake 1995, 2006) was thebeyond schoolcollaborationbetween three schools and three mentor companies, and was pre-selected to study (Stake, 1995). This work is an “intrinsic case study” (Stake, 1995), which is typically undertaken to learn about a unique phenomenon, and this case is understood as a unique phenomenon. 

Data was collected over a period of three years (2012-2015) and mainly consisted of semi-structured individual interviews with the principals of the schools. Project meeting notes, field observations, field notes, and document analysis was also used in order to create a ‘thick description’ of the case. The 16 interviews were conducted in the beginning, middle and in the end of the collaboration, lasted about 50-70 minutes each and concerned questions about: school organizations, distribution of labour and job sharing, how the schools and the companies collaborates, and other external collaborations between the schools and the surrounding community. The nature of the interviews changed during the course of collaboration, from the focus on the school and the conditions for collaboration to the development of collaboration with the companies and, ultimately, on how the collaboration went and what it contributed to. All interviews were recorded and saved as separate digital audio files and then transcribed verbatim. The Atlas.ti 6.2 software tool was used to organise the interviews in the process of data analysis. Qualitative content analysis has been used for the analysis of this study and the collected empirical data was analysed using within-case analysis (Miles et al., 2014).

Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings (Length up to 300 words)

The findings illuminate three areas of interest: (a) collaborative structure (b) collaborative culture, and (c) emerging professional learning communities. A core story was formulated based on the themes and categories in order to elucidate the principals’ experiences and sensemaking of the collaboration between schools and private companies. One concluding remark so far is that the collaboration has created awareness among the principals and also demonstrated the practical possibilities of school collaboration and working with the surrounding community more in general. The final conclusions of the study will be presented at the conference. Implications for further research will be considered. For European educational research, this is one essential matter as it can be seen as a contribution to valuable knowledge about key factors for principals and schools work with school improvement and in a Nordic context, for both practitioners and policy makers. 

References (up to 400 words)

Ainscow, M. (2016), “Collaboration as a strategy for promoting equity in education: possibilities and barriers”, Journal of Professional Capital and Community, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 159-172.

Björkman, C. (2008). Internal Capacities for School Improvement – Principals´ views in Swedish Secondary Schools. (Doctoral thesis, Umeå University).

Blossing, U. & Ekholm, M. (2008). A central school reform program in Sweden and the local response: Taking the long term view works. Urban Education 43(6): 624–652.

Bredeson, P. & Johansson, O. (2000). The school principal’s role in teacher professional development. Journal of In-Service Education 26(2): 385–389.

Chapman, C., Chestnutt, H., Friel, N., Hall, S. and Lowden, K. (2016), “Professional capital and collaborative inquiry networks for educational equity and improvement?”, Journal of Professional Capital and Community, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 178-197.

Cordingley, P. (2015), “The contribution of research to teachers’ professional learning and development”, Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 234-252. 

Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2006). Sustainable Leadership. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hargreaves, A. and Fullan, M. (2012), Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School, Teachers College Press, New York, NY.

Jarl, M. (2013). Rektors pedagogiska ledarskap i ljuset av skolans managementreformer. Pedagogisk Forskning i Sverige, 18(3-4), 197- 215. 

Lambert, L. (2007). Lasting leadership: Towards sustainable school improvement. Journal of Educational Change 8(4): 311–322. 

Larsson, P. (2004). Förändringens villkor. En studie av organisatoriskt lärande och förändring inom skolan. (Doctoral thesis). Stockholm: EFI, Ekonomiska forskningsinstitutet vid Handelshögskolan i Stockholm.

Leithwood, K., Day, C., Sammons, P., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2006). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. National College for School Leadership. 

Muijs, D., West, M., & Ainscow, M. (2010). Why network? Theoretical perspectives on networking, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 21:1, 5-26.

Nordholm, Daniel (2015). Organising for school improvement at the middle tier: studies on temporary organisation. Diss. (sammanfattning) Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2015

OECD (2015). Improving Schools in Sweden. An OECD perspective. Paris: OECD.

Stake, R. E. (2006). Multiple Case Study Analysis. New York, London: The Guilford Press.

Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage. 

Weick, K. E. (2001). Making sense of the organization. Malden, MA: Blackwell. 

Wenger, E. (1998), Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. 

Yin, R. K. (2007). Fallstudier: design och genomförande. (P. Söderholm övers.). Malmö: Liber.

In accordance with a new and strengthened position of school leaders, professional training and professional development has been placed on the agenda, with an aim of professionalization of school leadership (Bøje & Frederiksen, 2019). Generally, most principal training activities and programs have been focused on the needs of aspiring or newly appointed principals, leaving experienced principals without the support they need for a continuous professional development (Pashiardis & Brauckmann, 2009). There are various discussions about how to best train future and existing school leaders (Huber, 2010; Jensen, 2016). Oxenswärdh & Forssell (2016) argues that being a professional practitioner requires knowledge of all aspects of the profession. “Principals must be continuous lifelong learners if they are to keep up with the demands of today’s complex and ever-changing educational environment” (Boren, et al., 2017).

In this study, the focus is on experienced school leaders and their continuous professional learning in working life. To be a professional school leader requires an opportunity to reshape their competence through continuous professional learning. According to research there is a lack of structure for school leaders’ continuous professional learning and specifically collective learning with other school leaders in Sweden (Hallerström, 2006). This is in line with another result from a recent study (Forssten Seiser, 2017), where school leaders emphasized the importance of being a part of professional networks in order to enable professional development. Today, the importance of arranging conditions for teachers’ continuous professional learning is often discussed, but rarely is the talk about the school leaders continuous professional learning. Studies have shown that school leaders often lack arenas, where they can meet and have exchanges on important issues and topics (Aas & Vavik, 2015). Oxenswärdh & Forssell (2016) highlights the importance of researching school leaders' learning processes and argues for school leaders' continuing professional learning after undergoing the national school leadership training program. The need for continuous professional learning for school leaders is also expressed in policy (e.g., SOU 2017:35; SOU 2018:17). In Swedish schools, one challenge is how school leaders can be strengthened in their professional roles. 

         In Sweden, educational leadership has been a keyword in the latest reforms of the school. Swedish schools have, over the last decades, turned from previously characteristic social democratic regimes to neoliberal policy regimes. The move has been underpinned by institutions such as the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD). In educational contexts, since the beginning of the 2000s the shift has meant increasing focus on school leadership, with demands from the state for school leaders to guarantee that student results (which have been declining in international comparisons) improve via scientific goal‐ and result‐oriented management (Blossing et al., 2014; Lundahl, 2005). School leadership are highlighted by researchers, practitioners, and political representatives as essential if schools are to meet future requirements and fulfil their mission to enable all students the possibility to cultivate and achieve their educational goals and personal development (Huber & Muijs, 2010; Leithwood, Sun, & Pollock, 2017; OECD, 2013; Pont, Nusche, & Moorman, 2008).    

         In this study, the focus is on the professional development of experienced school leaders and school leaders' professional learning. The aim of this study is to examine experienced school leaders’ sense-making of their professional learning in relation to their professional development. More precisely, when the school leaders were participating in a continuous professional learning course for experienced school leaders. The research question that frames the study is as follow:

-       How do experienced school leaders make sense of their professional learning in relation to their leadership development and how do they understand the implications of that in their leadership practices?MethodIn this study, Weick’s (1995) sense-making theory is used to grasp the school leaders' construction of meaning about their leadership and professional learning. Sense-making is about the “making of sense”, where “sense” refers to meaning and “making” refers to the activity of constructing something (Weick, 1995). Here, it is understood as the process by which school leaders construct meanings regarding their leadership and professional learning in the context of participating in a course for experienced school leaders. A qualitative case-study design (Yin, 2013) was employed with a purposive sampling method in order to include leaders participating in a professional learning course for experienced leaders. The study is based on empirical data collected during autumn 2019 and spring 2020, in the context of a professional learning course for experienced school leaders. The 20 participants who participated and completed the course were the informants of the study, and semi-structured interviews were used as the main data source for this case study (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2018). Four group interviews were conducted with a total of 13 participants, while 7 participants were prevented from participating in the planned interviews, but two of them participated by answering the questions in writing via email instead. The ongoing covid pandemic was the main reason why the school leaders were not able to participate in the scheduled interviews. From the beginning, the plan was also to meet physically to carry out the interviews, but there we also had to adjust and carry out the interviews digitally with the support of the Zoom program. In addition, the participants have written individual letters about their current work situation as school leaders that have been used and the continuous evaluations that have been made within the framework of the course have also been used as a basis in this study. The participants are either principals or deputy principals, and they are school leaders from both primary, secondary schools, and adult education in 13 municipalities in Sweden. They have at least 5-10 years’ experience of being leaders in their current leadership position. The empirical example is from a Swedish context. The professional development of school leadership was studied over a 1-year period in a group of school leaders from primary and secondary schools and adult education. The course was a part of a national professional development program for experienced school leaders provided by the National Agency of Education in Sweden.Expected OutcomesThe empirical data are still under processing and analysis. Preliminary results show that school leaders perceive that the course and the continuous professional learning in it have contributed to the development of their leadership in the profession. Collective learning through literature processing, reflections, inquiries in one's activities, and collective learning with other school leaders are presented as important aspects that have contributed to in-depth knowledge and development in the profession as a school leader. All in all, the school leaders clearly express how important the exchange with other school leaders has been, important and rewarding to be able to reflect and get input from other professional school leaders. Implications for further research will be considered. For European educational research, this paper provides a contribution to valuable knowledge about key factors for school leaders’ work concerning educational leadership and leadership development in a Nordic context, for both practitioners and policy makers. Moreover, this paper contributes to knowledge for school leader educators, which may be of value in both course and program development in leadership professional development programs in both national and international contexts.References 

Boren, D., Hallam, P., Ray, N., Gill, C. and Kuanchen, L. (2017). Examining Effective Principal Professional Development Through a University-District Sponsored Principals Academy. Educational Practice and Theory, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 87-106. Stefan Brauckmann, Petros Pashiardis & Helene Ärlestig (2020): Bringing context and educational leadership together: fostering the professional development of school principals, Professional Development in Education Jakob Ditlev Bøje & Lars Frode Frederiksen (2019): Leaders of the profession and professional leaders. School leaders making sense of themselves and their jobs, International Journal of Leadership in Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2019.1591515 Forssten Seiser, A. (2017). Stärkt pedagogiskt ledarskap: rektorer granskar sin egen praktik [Strengthened pedagogical leadership ‐ principals reviewing their own practice] (Doctoral dissertation, Karlstads Universitet). Karlstad: Karlstad Universitet. Huber, S. G. (2010). Preparing school leaders–International approaches in leadership development. In S. G. Huber (Ed.), School leadership-International perspectives (pp. 225–251). London: Springer. Jensen, R. (2016). School leadership development: What we know and how we know it. Acta Didactica Norge, 10(4), 48–68. Young, M. D., & Crow, G. M. (2017). Handbook of research on the education of school leaders. New York, NY: Routledge.

A growing body of research has emphasised the importance of school leadership for quality improvement in schools, which reinforces the importance of school leaders’ continuous profes- sional development in working life. However, less is known about the professional development of experienced principals. Against this background, the purpose of this study is to examine experi- enced school leaders’ sense-making of their professional learning in relation to their professional development. Drawing on sense-making theory, a qualitative case study design was adopted, and data consisted of semi-structured interviews, and course evaluations. Qualitative content analysis was performed using the Atlas 6.2 software tool. The findings showed that important sense-mak- ing for the principals related to the value of continuous professional learning and interactions with professional peers, and professional learning implications. This qualitative Swedish study can be seen as a contribution to experienced principals’ professional learning, as the professional devel- opment of experienced principals is under-researched.

The purpose of the study is to create a deeper understanding of teachers’ sense-making of principals’ leadership in the context of collaboration within and beyond school. Data were collected over three years, from semi- structured individual and group interviews with teachers, as well as a part of a teacher questionnaire. A qualitative content analysis, guided by an institutional perspective on organizations and sense-making theory, was performed, and the analysis revealed that important sense-making was related to the leadership practices and the formal leader. The findings provide an elaborated illustration of how intentional efforts to collaborate and develop the schools in various collaboration beyond school may affect the normative, and cultural-cognitive aspects within schools. 

Sweden, as well as in the other Nordic countries, has during recent decades been affected by the changes brought about in the wake of globalisation. In Sweden, a downward trend in students’ progress has been shown in international meta‐evaluations (PIRLS, PISA, and TIMSS), which is in line with all Nordic countries except Finland. This, in turn, has created a pressure for reform, which has placed great demands on schools’ capacities to improve their work. Today, school leaders struggle to build local improvement capacity among their teachers to put reforms into practice (Blossing et al., 2015). National policy states that Swedish principals should act as pedagogical leaders (Utbildningsdepartementet, 2011) with a focus on the national curriculum to increase teachers’ capacity in relation to teaching and learning and to create a learning environment (Bredeson and Johansson, 2000). The principal’s responsibility for proper school development has been strengthened in the new Education Act from 2010 compared to the previous one ( Jarl, 2013), and it clarifies the principal’s responsibility and authority. Still, both Swedish (e.g. Blossing and Ekholm, 2008; Larsson, 2004; Löwstedt et al., 2007) and international studies (e.g. Hargreaves and Fink, 2006; Lambert, 2007; Rosenholz, 1989) have highlighted difficulties in bringing about learning and sustainable school improvement in local schools. Swedish policy suggests that the principal's ability to act as a pedagogical leader needs to be improved in order to promote school improvement within the Swedish school system (SOU 2015: 22; SOU 2017: 35). This means that principals need to be strengthened in their role as pedagogical leaders and in their professional practice (Forssten Seiner, 2017). An increased complexity and profound changes in the principal's assignment since the 1990s has led to tensions between different interests when the principal is to translate the assignment into practice (Ekholm et al., 2000; Jarl, 2007). The principal is a municipal official but acts under the government as well as municipal government. The principal has both performance and business responsibility, which requires administrative and management skills, as well as management of the educational work and the employees. Previous research has shown that principals are in a tension between a government and a municipal task, between management and activities with pupils, teachers and other adults, this paper will focus on change and persistence, which poses a challenge for them to fulfill their mission (Jarl & Rönnberg, 2010; Nytell, 1994; Persson, Andersson & Lindström Nilsson, 2005).

References Blossing, U., Nyen, T., Söderström, Å., & Tønder, A. H. (2015). Local drivers for improvement capacity: Six types of school organisations. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. Lundahl, L. (2005). A matter of self‐governance and control. The reconstruction of Swedish education policy 1980‐2003. European Education, 37(1), 10–25. Nihlfors, E., & Johansson, O. (2013). Rektor – en stark länk i styrningen av skolan [Principal ‐ a strong link in the governance of the school]. Stockholm, Sweden: SNS Förlag. Norberg, K. (2018): The Swedish national principal training programme: a programme in constant change, Journal of Educational Administration and History, DOI: 10.1080/00220620.2018.1513912 Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development. (2013). Leadership for the 21st century learning. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264205406‐en Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development. (2015). Improving schools in Sweden: An OECD perspective. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/school/Improving‐Schools‐in‐ Sweden.pdf Skolinspektionen. (2010). Rektors ledarskap. En granskning av hur rektor leder skolans arbete mot ökad måluppfyllelse [The principalʹs leadership. A review of how the principal leads the schoolʹs work towards increased goal fulfillment]. Stockholm, Sweden: Skolinspektionen.

This chapter uses the backdrop of the pressures created by international comparative analysis in a global education system through mechanisms such as PISA, PIRLS, TIMSS, and the OECD to compare the approaches taken by both Great Britain and the Swedish government over the last decade in their attitudes to leadership development with school staff, and particularly their leadership teams. It examines the national program rolled out in Sweden and the merits of tying this into university education departments. In England, this leadership development has moved away from universities to being centralized in a marketized process, with all the service provision outsourced to the non-profit and private sectors, thus having little to do with the higher education landscape, despite the international comparative analysis that is regularly published that demonstrates that this is where it is best placed.

This study presents findings from a qualitative case study where principals (n = 193), studying a national principal training programme, participated in a study exploring novice principals’ perceptions of how their leadership was impacted during the recent Covid-19 pandemic. A model classification of stressful situations related to coping strategies was used as the theoretical framework for the study and used in the content analysis with a deductive approach. In small groups, the principals used a specific conversation model and discussed their experiences of how their leadership had been affected during the pandemic. The findings showed that principals identified a lack of clarity and situations linked to the adaption to new rules required over time when staff and student absenteeism were consistent challenges. The majority of situations that the principals described can be linked to unclear but affectable situations, where they had to make uncomfortable decisions but also provide security and solutions. Principals mainly used problem-oriented stress management strategies by searching for information, analysing and finding new solutions.

This article presents findings from a case study that examined how internationalization at one Swedish upper secondary school could be understood in relation to building internal capacities for school improvement. This article used a case study methodology in which aspects of capacity building, and internal capacities constituted the theoretical point of departure. Data consisted of interviews with the principal and teachers, observations, and field notes. The article argues that internationalization at the upper secondary school supported capacity building, and it is evident that internationalization is an internal capacity. It is also apparent that the principal’s leadership is distributed and vital to the school’s success in terms of internationalization and school improvement. Above all, internationalization serves not only as an external form of collaboration but also as an internal capacity at the school for leadership, professional development, and internal collaboration. It is evident that these internal capacities are intertwined. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a time of a low intensive crisis and has changed conceptions of leadership and leadership practices (Harris, 2020). Principals’ work across the globe has fundamentally altered (Pollock, 2020). In terms of implications for leadership, a study from 2020 have shown that to help transition to remote education provision, there has been a need for leadership to come from many and to prepare leaders to lead through crises. This might include being future focused, highly responsive, and with an emphasis on values-based and moral purpose leadership views (Gurr, 2020). During the pandemic, Sweden used a strategy built on trust, which also effected the work of the principals’, thought trust is an important aspect of their leadership (Ahlström, Leo, Norqvist, Isling 2021). The aim of this study is to examine principals sense-making of how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected them as leaders. In this study, the sensemaking theory presented by Weick (1995) is used to grasp principals’ sensemaking of how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected them as leaders and managers at local school level. The study used a qualitative research method and 193 principals studying the national school leadership training program in Sweden participated in this study. The principals got to discuss in small groups, based on a specific conversation model, how the Covid-19 pandemic affected their leadership and how they made sense about it together. Preliminary findings show that problems related to the pandemic have created additional work and an increased workload with new tasks. To lead on a distance is a new situation for the principals. Relationship building becomes difficult with the digital distance and the "gaps" where physical meetings with employees on large and small issues disappear. The pandemic has also led to several positive effects, such as finding new ways of meet for collegial learning and communication, with the possibility of a higher presence of educators and guardians. For Nordic educational research, this paper provides a contribution to valuable knowledge about key factors for principal leadership during a low intensive crisis in a Nordic context, for both practitioners and policy makers.

This paper focuses on professional development for school principals, drawing on literature on the education of leaders and school leaders' development. The Swedish National Principal Training Programme (NPTP) is a state-regulated executive education for professional principals in preschools, schools, and school-age Educare centres. It has been mandatory for all newly appointed principals in Sweden since 2010. The NPTP is a mandatory in-service programme and consists of three courses: school law and governance, governing with objectives and results, and school leadership. The programme runs over three years, parallel to working full-time as a principal. The participants are expected to spend 20% of their working time on their studies. The NPTP uses a networked educational design, which is a valuable research topic from a networked professional learning perspective. This pilot study aims to explore the role of networked educational design for novice principals' professional development and strengthened professional confidence and identity. The research question that frames the study is: In what ways do novice principals' experiences of professional development contribute to the development of their professional confidence and identity with a networked educational design? The study employed a qualitative case-study design with a purposive sampling method to include novice principals undertaking Sweden's national school training programme. Data were collected during 2018-2022 from post-programme evaluations, including individual digital questionnaires with close-ended and open-ended responses and small group oral evaluations documented in a log book. The participants were novice principals studying in the NPTP at one university in Sweden. In all, 321 school leaders from 10 cohort groups in the programme consisting of principals and deputy principals from preschool, primary, secondary, and adult education participated voluntarily. The programme evaluations were carried out during the participants' last residential stay in the programme. Results indicate the importance of residential stays and networking opportunities in the educational journey of principals. These opportunities help connect with peers, establish contacts, and acquire valuable strategies. Completing the training increased principals' professional confidence, particularly in their roles as school leaders. The study shows that the networked educational design supports the development of a professional network among principals, which enhances their professional identity and confidence. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of this networked educational design, which helps shape principals' professional identity and confidence. The findings emphasise the value of networked professional learning