The purpose of this study is to uncover and problematize how school management and senior teachers perceive governing and management of school development processes from a perspective of trust. The research questions are the following: “Which constructs of trust emerge among school management and senior teachers in governing and management of school development processes?” and “Which constructs of possibilities and challenges emerge among school management and senior teachers in governing and management of school development processes from a perspective of trust?” The study has a social constructivist design where a framework for evaluation of trust versus mistrust (the Trust/Mistrust matrix: TDM) was used in the analysis. Three themes for school development processes with constructs of trust emerged: (1) culture for school development, (2) the need for school development measures and (3) a learning organization. The empirical materials of the study consist of interviews with school management and senior teachers. The result indicates two ideas of what school development is; individual, subject-driven perspective and collective education-driven perspective are two parallel systems with different roles that arose without the organization realizing it. One implication for the future is to structure the organization for participation in school development processes for school management and teachers on all levels for access to the capacity of the collective. Teachers’ and managers’ autonomy is an aspect that is beyond the limitations of this study but may merit further investigation. / Syftet med studien är att synliggöra och problematisera hur skolledare och förstelärare uppfattar styrning och ledning av skolutvecklingsprocesser ur ett tillitsperspektiv. Frågeställningarna är följande: ”Vilka konstruktioner av tillit framträder hos skolledare och förstelärare i utsagor om styrning och ledning av skolutvecklingsprocesser?” och ” Vilka konstruktioner av möjligheter och utmaningar framträder vid skolledares styrning och ledning av skolutveckling ur ett tillitsperspektiv?” Studien har en socialkonstruktionistisk design där ett ramverk för utvärdering av tillit vs misstro, Trust/ Mistrust-matrisen: TDM använts vid analysen. Tre teman för skolutvecklingsprocesser med konstruktioner av tillit framträdde: (1) kultur för skolutveckling, (2) behov av skolutvecklingsinsatser och (3) en lärande organisation. Empirin i studien utgörs av intervjuer där skolledare och förstelärare intervjuats. Resultatet indikerar två föreställningar vad skolutveckling är; individuellt, ämnesstyrt perspektiv samt gemensamt, undervisningsperspektiv är två parallella system med olika roller som uppstått utan att organisationen är medveten om det. En implikation för framtiden är att i verksamheten organisera för delaktighet i skolutvecklingsprocesser för skolledare och lärare på alla nivåer för tillgång till kollektivets kapacitet. Lärares och ledares autonomi är en aspekt som utelämnats i denna studie men som kan finnas anledning att utforska vidare.

Thesis (M.Ed.) -- University of Limpopo, 2006 / The aim of this study is to investigate whether Total Quality Management strategy can address the problem of school development within the previously disadvantaged schools at Sabie Circuit, Mpumalanga Province. In order to realize this aim, sixty-four respondents from eight schools, were given questionnaires as the data collection techniques. To ensure validity of the questionnaires, a pilot study was conducted in one of the primary schools. Findings of the study were used to make recommendations to principals, educators and parents who are members of school governing bodies. The researcher identified insufficient time as a limitation of the study because the researcher is a part time student.

Abstract As written in the pre-school's governing documents, principals are responsible for the work with school development and systematic quality work in the organization. In previous studies and in reports from the Swedish National Agency for Education, criticism has been given regarding, among other things, the lack of prerequisites and support for principals in carrying out school development. This study has sought knowledge on preschool principals' experiences and reflections of working conditions and subsequent support for the developmental part of their work docket, as well as which support structures principals believe should facilitate the work geared towards school development. This study reveals that principals, due to a relatively widespread lack of understanding of the pre-school's mission, confirm a lack of suitable conditions and support for their work. The need for increased resources both to educate uneducated staff and to create opportunity for school development and systematic quality work is analysed. The study also mentions the impact of school culture on and that of conditions concerning school development. In accordance with Abbott's profession theory, signs are shown in the principals' experiences that increased governance and control of professions can lead to de-professionalization and that competition for jurisdiction (the field with exclusive tasks linked to a profession) can lead to a change in the status of an entire professional group. A strong and clear profession with autonomy and control over its tasks and jurisdiction can, through these distinguishing characteristics, exclude competing professions or groups fighting for the same tasks. / Sammanfattning Rektorer har genom förskolans styrdokument, ansvar för arbetet med skolutveckling och systematiskt kvalitetsarbete i organisationen. I forskning samt i rapporter från Skolverket finns återkommande kritik mot bland annat bristande förutsättningar och stöd för rektorer att bedriva skolutveckling. Föreliggande studie undersöker förskolerektorers reflektioner och erfarenheter av förutsättningar och stöd från huvudman och personal för skolutveckling samt vilka stödstrukturer som rektorerna anser bör underlätta arbetet med skolutveckling. Resultatet visar att rektorer ofta upplever en utbredd brist på förståelse för förskolans uppdrag samt att de saknar förutsättningar och stöd i sitt arbete. Det finns behov av ökade resurser både för utbildning av outbildad personal och för att frigöra tid i verksamheten för skolutveckling och systematiskt kvalitetsarbete. I resultatet framkommer också att skolkulturen påverkar förutsättningar för skolutveckling. Rektorerna uttrycker, i enlighet med Abbotts professionsteori, att ökad styrning och kontroll av professioner leder till avprofessionalisering samt att konkurrens om jurisdiktion (fältet med exklusiva arbetsuppgifter knutna till en profession) kan leda till förändring av status för en hel yrkesgrupp. En stark och tydlig profession med autonomi och kontroll över sina arbetsuppgifter och jurisdiktion, kan genom dessa utmärkande egenskaper, exkludera konkurrerande professioner eller grupper som konkurrerar om samma arbetsuppgifter i syfte att stärka sin profession.

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: My study aims to ascertain whether interpersonal staff relationships have a role to play in the healthy development of a school as an organisation. My specific focus is on how educators experience these relationships, and how they impact on the educators' commitment to a particular school. My research design consisted of three case studies. I used a semi-structured questionnaire with each case and at a later date had a group discussion. My analysis of the questionnaires' data provided tentative themes for inclusion and further exploration in the group discussion. The combination of two data production phases resulted in the confirmation and expansion of the data. My study shows that various factors impact on interpersonal staff relationships within a school. These interpersonal staff relationships have a bearing on the continuance, moral and alienative dimensions of commitment, and impact on staff retention and job performance. They also impact directly on the health of the educators. Thus interpersonal staff relationships would seem to have an important role to play in the development of healthy schools. I conclude by acknowledging the limitations of this study, and recommending further research.

Denna studie är kvalitativ med intervjuer och litteraturstudier. Syftet har varit att undersöka läroplanen och uppdraget hos några anställda som har som målgrupp ”elever i behov av särskilt stöd”. Lärarna har inte likadan vidareutbildning. Min uppsats handlar om en del av den utbildning som finns för att kunna arbeta med elever i behov av särskilt stöd. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna är allmänna och gäller även för lärare med grundutbildning. Läroplanen, Lgr 11, griper tag i texten genomgående. Efter vidareutbildning för elever i behov av särskilt stöd kan man få många olika anställningar och uppdrag. Denna undersökning har belyst tre porträtt av två speciallärare och en specialpedagog. De har trots namnet inte samma uppdrag, men i vissa avsnitt har de vissa likheter. I intervjuerna framkommer att alla tre arbetar med elever i behov av särskilt stöd och den mesta undervisningen är organiserad på det viset att den är enskild. Alla tre, fyra med ett bortfall, arbetar på samma skola på landsbygden, dvs inte i storstadsområde. De ser möjligheterna med sitt uppdrag, men det är inte alltid som kunskaperna och kompetensen får chans att komma fram. I resultatredovisningen och analysen blir det tydligt att det finns något karakteristiskt med de lärare som vidareutbildar sig för uppdrag med elever i behov av särskilt stöd. Jag vill dock påpeka att detta är endast tre lärares uppfattning. Teoriavsnittet, med läroplanen som övergripande styrdokument, är valt för att läroplanen är så pass ny att den ännu inte har hunnit implementeras i skolorna, medan man säger att den är en del av uppdraget. Alla tre har de erfarenhet av att ingå i skolans pedagogiska ledningsgrupp. Studien tar även upp förväntningar med utbildning och anställning hos de intervjuade lärarna. En slutsats är: utbildning har betydelse både för att utföra uppdraget och för att få uppdraget. / This study is based on qualitative interviews and literature studies. The aim was to examine the mission statement of teachers who have been targeting “students in need of special support”. The teachers do not have the same training. My essay is about teacher training available to work with pupils with special needs. The theoretical approach is general and also applies to teachers with basic training. The curriculum, LGR 11, grabs the text throughout. After education for pupils with special needs it is possible to have many different jobs and assignments. This study has highlighted three portraits of specially educated teachers. They have, despite the name, not the same mission, but in some sections they have some similarities. The interviews reveal that all three are working with pupils with special needs and most of the teaching is organized in the sense that it is individual. All three, four with a dropout, are working at the same school in a rural area, that is, not in a metropolitan area. They see the potential of their mission, but it is not always that knowledge and expertise have the chance to surface. In the performance reporting and analysis, it becomes clear that there are a characteristic of the teachers in training for the mission with students in need of special support. I would point out that this is only three teachers' perception. Theory section, with the curriculum as an overall policy documents, is chosen as the curriculum is so new that it still had yet to be implemented in schools, while it is part of the mission. All three have experience to be part of the school's educational team. The study also outlines expectations with education and employment with the informants. One conclusion is that education is important both for performing the task and to get the assignment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate conceptions that affects the results of school development in order to improve the language used while teaching within all subjects. The approach is a dialogical practitioner-research where the principal studies within her own occupation/school and is driven by a social constructionist framework of knowledge and learning. Laclau & Mouffe´s discourse-theory was used to analyze the articular-practice in eighteen teachers and their principal’s written reflections. The study focus discourses of school-development and second-language-development in relation to the nodal point ”learning”. It also focuses on teachers’ construction of identity within the school. The meaning of conceptions within school-development and second-language-development discourses are analyzed using discourse-theory methods. Conflicting meanings are also highlighted. The prior questions of the study investigates the conceptions of school-development and second-language-development and how they relate to current discourses and to each other. Conceptions that are connected to these discourses are compared with how the role of the teacher is described by the teachers themselves. The study shows an agreement on the necessity of school-development and improvement of language. Boundaries are made against those who don’t agree with school-development-projects. Different approaches are standing side by side within both fields and the role of the teacher are given multiple understandings due to their diverse experiences and framework of teaching. The understanding of the concept “diversity” alter in different fields. The meaning of “safety” varies, the teachers and principal have different thoughts on the idea of what safety is. The study shows a lack of research and science in the teachers written reflections. One implication of the study is that the conception of the role of teachers has to be reconstructed to be able to build a professional-learning-community. Different conceptions about safety has to be highlighted to avoid different understandings that prevents collaborative work between teachers. / Syftet med denna masteruppsats är att få syn på föreställningar som påverkar utvecklingsprocessen på en skola där målet är att arbeta mer språkutvecklande. Studien är att betrakta som praxisforskning med en dialogisk ansats, där rektor lär genom att forska i sin egen verksamhet. Studien utgår från en socialkonstruktionistisk syn på kunskap och lärande. Genom den diskursteori som utvecklats av Laclau och Mouffe synliggörs skolans artikulatoriska praktik, så som den framträder i arton lärares och deras rektors reflekterande loggar. De diskursiva fälten ”skolutveckling” och ”andraspråksutveckling” studeras i förhållande till nodalpunkten ”lärande”. Även lärarnas föreställningar kring subjektspositionen som lärare granskas. Genom diskursteorins verktyg synliggörs också de olika innebörder som ges kring begrepp som förekommer i diskurserna om skolutveckling och andraspråksutveckling. Även motsättningar lyfts fram. Studiens frågeställningar handlar om föreställningar kring skolutveckling och andraspråksutveckling och hur de förhåller sig till rådande diskurser och till varandra. Även föreställningar om begrepp som hör samman med skolutveckling, andraspråksutveckling, lärande och lärarrollen studeras. Studien visar att det råder enighet både kring nödvändigheten av skolutveckling och kring att utveckla det språkutvecklande arbetet på skolan. Markeringar görs mot ett diskursivt yttre, att motsätta sig utvecklingen. Olika diskurser kring andraspråksutveckling och lärande syns sida vid sida i de två fälten. Också lärarrollen ges skiftande innebörder, som kan kopplas till olika epoker och lärandeteorier. Föreställningar om begreppet ”olikhet” varierar i olika diskursiva fält. Motstående uppfattningar kring begreppet ”trygghet” framträder utifrån de olika subjektspositionerna som lärare respektive rektor. Studien visar att vetenskap och forskning inte är så framträdande i denna skolas artikulation. En slutsats som dras av studien är att lärarrollen behöver ges nya innebörder om man vill få till stånd en professionell lärande gemenskap. Även olika föreställningar kring trygghet respektive lärande behöver lyftas till ytan och synliggöras, för att undvika att motstridiga tankemönster står i vägen för det fortsatta gemensamma arbetet.

For my dissertation, I have chosen to monitor and research growing children in Prague and in the Central Bohemian Region. Primarily, I am interested in the growth period of the younger school age (which corresponds to the first degree of compulsory school attendance). However, I also monitored and worked with the growth data of infant and pre-school aged children. The reason for this is that I needed the growth data from a longer period of time for a better assessment. I am really interested in the area of child anthropology because I belive the growth of every child is essential for their future. The final height and weight of the individual, specifically his/her total body proportions, can have a significant influence on their next life. I am convinced that this can have a major influence on the health, social application and self-confidence for each of us. Thanks to a very willing approach of a Prague pediatrician I managed to accumulate the growth data of children living in Prague. I would like to compare the obtained data with the data of children living in the Central Bohemian Region. I was able to gain the growth data of the children thanks to the friendly cooperation of my pupils'parents, my acquaintances and friends. Children were selected according to their health cards. On these cards...

Skolor i Sverige ska kontinuerligt arbeta med skolutveckling. Enligt Skolverket är rektor ytterst ansvarig för att leda skolutvecklingsarbetet på respektive skolenhet. Skolutveckling innefattar många olika delar och innehåll där den inre organisationen på respektive skolenhet till viss del kan avgöra vilken inriktning utvecklingsarbetet bör ha. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka rektorers föreställningar om skolutveckling på den lokala skolenheten i relation till verksamhetsintegrerad grundlärarutbildning. Studiens ansats är kvalitativ, där det empiriska materialet utgörs av intervjuer med rektorer. Den  teoretiska utgångspunkten i denna studie grundar sig i ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv med en förståelsebaserad orientering. Resultatet av studien visar att skolutveckling bedrivs på många olika sätt. Exempel på skolutvecklingsarbete har utkristalliserats i olika teman såsom aktuell forskning, systematiskt kvalitetsarbete, samverkan och elevernas resultat. Den inre organisationen påverkar riktningen i detta utvecklingsarbete i form av den kultur som råder samt vilket utvecklingsområde det fokuseras på. I relation till skolutveckling upplever rektorerna den verksamhetsintegrerade grundlärarutbildningen positiv utifrån flera aspekter men framförallt att teori och praktik tillämpas vecka för vecka. Utbildningens utformning kan bidra till skapandet av gemensam kunskap och skolutveckling på arbetsplatserna. Dock har rektorerna en föreställning om att studenterna kommer bidra mer och mer  till skolutvecklingen under utbildningens gång. / Schools in Sweden should continuously work with school development. According to the National Agency for Education the principal is ultimately responsible for leading the work with school development. School development includes many different parts and content where the inner organization at the school units should prioritize the development work. The purpose of this study is to research principals’ notions around school development at the local school unit in relation to a work-integrated teacher education. The approach of the study is qualitative, where the empirical material consists of interviews with principals. The theoretical outset in this study is based on a social constructivism with understanding-based perspectives. The results show that school development is being carried out in many different ways. Themes that have emerged in the study in terms of school development are current research, systematic quality work, collaboration and the students’ results. The inner organization affects the development work by way of the existing culture as well as which area of development is being focused on. In relation to school development the principals experience the work-integrated teacher education in a positive way from several aspects but above all that theory and practice are carried out week by week. The formation of the education contributes in generating common knowledge and school development at the workplace. However, the principals have an idea that the students’ contribution to the school development increases during the education.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka några rektorers föreställningar om hur de bedriver sitt pedagogiska ledarskap. I förlängningen hoppas jag också kunna bidra till den generella kunskapsbildningen inom detta, ur ett skolutvecklingsperspektiv, viktiga område. Studien utgår från en socialkonstruktivistisk kunskapsteori där rektors pedagogiska ledarskap tolkas som något som är socialt konstruerat. I den empiriska fasen har intervjuer med sju åländska rektorer hållits, detta med hjälp av föreställningskartan (cognitive map) som intervjumetod. Studien utgår från följande två frågeställningar: hur beskriver rektorerna att de utövar sitt pedagogiska ledarskap samt vilka prioriteringar gör rektorerna inom ramen för det pedagogiska ledarskapet? I analysen av rektorernas utsagor har både en induktiv samt två deduktiva analysverktyg använts. I den induktiva processen har materialet katalogiserats utifrån sitt eget innehåll i syfte att se vilka områden och teman som växer fram. I de deduktiva processerna har rektorernas utsagor katalogiserats utifrån färdiga kategorier. I den första används meningsbärande ord som verktyg vilka baseras på Rektor och styrkedjans (SOU 2015:22) beskrivningar av vad rektors pedagogiska ledarskap består av och i den andra används Transformation in Action Framework (Keamy, 2016) som analysmodell. Resultatet visar att flera likheter finns mellan rektorernas föreställningar om hur de utövar sitt pedagogiska ledarskap och gängse forskning och teoribildning. De åländska rektorerna uppger att en stor del av det pedagogiska arbetet utgörs av dynamiska samarbeten och interaktioner med andra personer i skolverksamheten. De använder sig av direkta arbetsmodeller som lektionsbesök, medarbetarsamtal och ledningsgrupper och mer indirekta arbetsformer som har med exempelvis organisering och strukturer att göra. Studiens resultat uppvisar också flera konkreta exempel på hur rektorerna leder arbetet med lärarnas undervisning och elevernas lärande, detta exempelvis genom att rektor själv håller i övningar för lärarna och genom att rektor på ett systematiskt sätt samlar in underlag från lärares lektioner vilket sedan används till att utveckla skolan och undervisningen som helhet. Det visar sig också att rektorerna till viss del gör olika prioriteringar inom ramen för det pedagogiska ledarskapet. / The purpose of the study is to examine some principals' conceptions of how they conduct their pedagogical leadership. In the long run I also hope to contribute to the general knowledge formation within this, from a school development perspective, important area. The study is based on a social constructivist theory, in which the principal's pedagogical leadership is understood and interpreted as something socially constructed. In the empirical phase, interviews with seven Ålandic principals have been held, using the cognitive map as an interview method. The study is based on the following two questions: How do the principals describe how they practice their pedagogical leadership and what priorities do the principals make within the framework of pedagogical leadership? In the analysis of the principals' statements, one inductive and two deductive analysis tools have been used. In the inductive process, the material has been cataloged based on its own content in order to see which areas and themes are emerging. In the deductive processes, the principals' statements have been cataloged based on pre-existing categories. In the first category, meaning-bearing words are used as tools based on the report Rektor och styrkedjan (SOU 2015: 22) descriptions of what constitutes the principal's pedagogical leadership. In the second category, Transformation in Action Framework (Keamy, 2016) is used as an analysis model. The result shows that there are several similarities between the principals' perceptions of how they practice their pedagogical leadership, collective research, and theory formation. The Ålandic principals state that a large part of the pedagogical work consists of dynamic collaborations and interactions with other people in the school environment. They use direct working models such as lesson visits, employee interviews and management groups, and more indirect methods related to, for example, organization and structures. The result of the study also shows several concrete examples of how the principals lead the teachers' teaching work, and the pupils' learning. This by, for example, the principal holding exercises for the teachers, and by collecting data from teachers' lessons in a systematic way, which is then used to developing the school and teaching as a whole. It also turns out that the principals to some extent make different priorities within the framework of pedagogical leadership.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to contribute to knowledge about how the work and profession of upper secondary school teachers is understood and shaped by the teachers in the beginning of the 21st century, and to relate that understanding of work and professional development to the strivings of the teachers’ trade unions and the state. With the implementation of an innovation as a starting point, the teachers’ narratives also described their work in a broader sense. Connections and contradictions between those descriptions of everyday work are analysed in relation to central ideas in research and state and trade union policy. The empirical data were mainly generated through interviews and studies of state- and teachers’ trade union policy documents. Twenty-three teachers at four upper secondary schools were interviewed twice, with a one year interval. Five school leaders were also interviewed. A minor questionnaire added data concerning professional development. 102 documents published by the State and the teachers’ trade unions between 1964 and 2004 were analysed using critical discourse analysis.</p><p>The analysis is eclectic, drawing on perspectives and conceptions from theories on professions, organisations, school development and the frame factor theory. The overall approach of the study is practice related research and includes an intention to draw attention to connections between micro and macro levels.</p><p>The analyses of the teachers’ narratives on implementation indicate that they were able to do the job despite unsatisfactory conditions thanks to high work morale and extensive experience. The infrastructure provided by the frame factors was weak or working at cross purposes. The school-wide support for development was stronger at one of the four schools.</p><p>The teachers’ formal freedom of action was substantial. In practice it was restricted by frame factors and the fact that the potential freedom was not fully used. Thus, the actual autonomy was more limited than it appeared to be. The school culture included elements of balkanised and contrived collegiality. Many tasks were delegated to the interdisciplinary work teams, but the teams did not seem to live up to expectations. Primarily, they lacked time and an appropriate group composition. There was a clash between the interdisciplinary work teams and the teachers’ need to co-operate within subject work teams. The teachers did not regard interdisciplinary work teams as useful for school or professional development.</p><p>Supportive conditions for long-term, shared learning and dialogue between researchers and practitioners were largely lacking. Visions such as learning organisations were far removed from the everyday life in the schools. Changes in organisational structures at the schools have partly been counterproductive.</p><p>The far-reaching restructuring of the Swedish upper secondary schools implemented from the end of the 1980s and during the 1990s was in line with international reform trends. It also had specific national characteristics. The concept professional teachers was introduced in some Government bills around 1990. The teachers’ trade unions adopted the concept and it became increasingly significant in trade union policy during the 1990s. At the turn of the millennium it was a dominant idea in their documents.</p><p>During the 1990s several influential discourses became established as shared views between the State, trade unions and some researchers, e.g. what I have called change and professional discourses. They were rarely problematized in state and teachers’ trade union policy documents. The two agreements between the teachers’ trade unions and the employers, in 1995 and 2000, constituted another component of what has been termed a system-shift in the Swedish school system. They influenced the teachers’ working conditions and implied new strategies for the trade unions. The professional, change and management discourses salient in the documents were brought into schools with insufficient opportunities for the teachers to develop a deep meaning of the discourses.</p><p>The study emphasizes the importance of practice oriented studies, related to wider contexts, in order to provide insights into teachers’ work and professional development. It also brings nuances to, and problematizes theoretical conceptions and discourses in the field.</p><p>Key-words: teaching profession, upper secondary teachers, change, school reform, professional development, school development, frame factors, school governance, school policy, trade union</p>