In the last decades there has been a growing interest in studying processes in improvement work. A particular interest has been the improvement process that the organisation undergoes and why events evolve in the way they do. By better understanding improvement processes and identifying supporting and hindering forces, the possibilities successfully to plan and implement improvement work in a systematic way increases. The focus of this thesis is organisation processes in schools and the relations that hold between planned and emergent improvement, when using a research-based strategy. The aim of the study is to describe and understand how processes are initiated, developed and completed when using a strategy called ‘Scope for Action Model’(frirumsstrategin). The empirical material of the study was organised and analysed according to Van de Ven’s and Poole’s four ideal types for process studies. Within each type, motors have been identified, which contain generative mechanisms that are a key to how actions, events and activities emerge and are driven forward. The results of the study show that the emergent initiatives are more frequent than the planned ones and that they are more likely to generate an improvement – in the study defined as something new in the organisation. However, on several occasions the planned improvement work inspires emergent initiatives for improvement and in some cases seems to be a fundamental condition for their existence. The different motors, which in the analysis are seen as driving forces, support or challenge each other, making the process develop and produce a result. The study shows that the participants reshape the strategy to make it fit into the organisation of the school. The results also show that teachers and principals have to be well-informed of how to work with a strategy in a practical and constructive way. They have to be able to translate crucial moments in the strategy to stimulate the participants to creative actions. The strategy for school improvement is not shown to be a solution which itself can create improvement, but in combination with the participant’s creative goal settings it can be a contributory factor. / Denna avhandling riktar intresset mot skolförbättring och de processer som uppstår när en planerad förändring genomförs på skolor med stöd av en forskningsbaserad strategi. Syftet med avhandlingen är att beskriva och förstå hur dessa processer - i arbetet med frirumsstrategin - initieras, fortlöper och avslutas. Studien visar att det finns relationer mellan planerade och framväxande processer. De framväxande processerna är mest frekventa och har sin grund i deltagarnas egna målformuleringar. De förmår skapa utveckling i skolverksamheterna, något de planerade processerna inte lyckas med. Det planerade förbättringsarbetet tycks bidra genom att vara en inspirationskälla eller i vissa fall en förutsättning för de framväxande initiativ som tas av deltagare från olika delar av organisationen. Studien pekar på att en strategi kan vara igångsättare av förbättringsarbete och utgöra en grund för skolor att utgå från. Av resultatet framgår att det är viktigt att rektorer och lärare har goda kunskaper om förbättringsarbetets processer för att kunna använda strategin på ett konstruktivt sätt. Genom att ha insikt i vilka mekanismer som påverkar processer kan ett förbättringsarbete ledas medvetet samt tillåtas innehålla både de konflikter och den samstämmighet som kan bidra till att utveckling sker.

In Swedish schools, students have a statutory right to support if the need arises. According to The Education Act, the workflow with support measures can briefly be described as: if needs are noticed, then support measures in the form of additional adjustments must be made. If the additional adjustments are insufficient, the investigation of the needs for special support must be initiated, which may result in the establishment of an action program, that regularly must be followed up and evaluated. Between an external and an internal boundary that is between the Education Act and the school culture a so called Scope for Action (frirum) can be found, according to Berg (2003). Schools’ actor-preparedness (aktörsberedskap), that is prerequisites, affect how the Education Act according to the workflow with support measures is interpreted and put into practice. The purpose of this study is therefore to identify and examine the Scope for Action when it comes to workflow regarding support measures. To do this the perspectives of SENCOs (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) in Upper Secondary Schools will be collected through interviews. Berg’s (2003) Scope for Action Model (frirumsmodell) will be applied and used as a tool for interpretation and explanation of these interviews. Additionally, in the search for and interpretation of ‘frirummet’ Wall’s (2018) study of the Education Act from an administrative law perspective is used. The inquiries are therefore what the workflow in terms of support measures looks like from a special educator’s perspective, what characteristics and consequences of ‘frirummet’ that can be identified and what characterizes the actor-preparedness. The results point to a number of ways of utilizing the scope for Action, for example when it comes to acknowledge and identify needs, define and use of concepts, documentation practice and workflow according to support measures. In the structures and routines described by the SENCOs, expressions of Berg's (2003) actor-preparedness can be discerned to varying degrees. At the same time as the SENCOs' descriptions in many ways point to an aspiration for interprofessional collaboration and collective autonomy, there are also clear traces of specialization and individual autonomy. The question is whether the variation is due to possible ambiguity with associated interpretive space in the Education Act or to the schools actor-preparedness where resources could be a part. The results however show that how The Education Act is set to practice varies not only depending on how detailed the law is but also depending on local interpretations, conditions and decisions. The question of legal certainty therefore arises.