The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of principles and ethics that dominate four schools with a Muslim profile, two in Sweden and two in England. The specific objectives of the study are:  to examine educational policies with regard to primary schools with a confessional orientation in Sweden and England; to compare two primary schools with a Muslim profile in Sweden with two such schools in England; and in these four schools to describe and examine the manner in which school heads, teachers and other staff deal with the encounters between the values found in the national curriculum of Sweden and England respectively and the principles and ethics embodied in their private philosophy of life; to describe and examine the views of school heads, teachers and other staff on school leadership and any educational, ideological or personal role model they emulate; to describe and examine the expectations and views of parents with regard to the school with a Muslim profile; and describe the views of the pupils regarding their schools and the norms and values in school and; finally, to examine the attitudes of some local authority politicians in Sweden to MP schools. The findings indicate great difference between the two schools with a Muslim profile in Sweden, on the one hand, and the two schools in England, on the other. The fundamental reason for that lies in the parameters which had been established in these countries as the conditions for being permitted to establish and run a school with a confessional orientation. Since the schools in both countries had conformed to the relevant legislation and framework in their respective countries with regard to such schools, they had therefore consequently developed in different directions. / Partly financed by Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council)

I studien har fyra skolledare verksamma i gymnasieskolan intervjuats. Studien syftar till att utforska skolledares upplevelser och erfarenheter av ledning och samordning av det pedagogiska arbetet genom en interpretativ fenomenologisk analys. I studien framträder tre dimensioner av hur pedagogiskt ledarskap gestaltas i spänningsfältet mellan lärares handlingsutrymme och uppdraget att leda och samordna det pedagogiska arbetet. Dessa dimensioner är förhandling och balansgång mellan att skapa struktur och att ge utrymme till lärarna, att följa en etisk kompass som även verkar förebildande samt dimensionen förändringsarbete. Resurserna som respondenterna använder är den förståelsedrivna undersökande attityden i kombination med värnandet av lärarens handlingsutrymme med förväntan om förändring, reflexivt användande av egna tidigare erfarenheter, tydlighet och uppdragsförankring, struktur och systematiskt kvalitetsarbete. Respondenternas förståelse av uppdraget och hur de gestaltar pedagogiskt ledarskap i de dimensionerna i kombination med de resurser som respondenterna använder tolkas som att det ger professionellt välbefinnande. Det blir en form av vård av skolledar-jaget. / In the study, four secondary principals have been interviewed. The aim of the study is to explore principals’ experiences and perceptions of managing and coordinating educational work through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The study reveals three dimensions of how instructional leadership is manifested within the tension between teachers’ autonomy and the mandate to lead and coordinate educational activities. These dimensions include negotiating and balancing the creation of structure with providing space for teachers, adhering to an ethical compass that also serves as a role model, and the dimension of change management. The resources utilised by the respondents are a comprehension-driven investigative attitude combined with safeguarding the teacher’s autonomy with an expectation of change, reflective use of personal past experiences, clarity and mission alignment, and systematic quality management. The respondents’ understanding of their role and how they embody instructional leadership within these dimensions, along with the resources they use, is interpreted as contributing to their professional well-being. This constitutes a form of care for the principal’s self. / <p>Professionsprogram i pedagogik för undervisning, lärande och pedagogiskt ledarskap</p>