Utbildning & Demokrati – tidskrift för didaktik och utbildningspolitk

Distansundervisning i grundskolan och barnets bästa

2024-06-12T15:47:29+02:00

Remote Learning in Primary School and the Best Interests of the Child. On a Principal’s Considerations Before Deciding to Provide a Student with Remote Learning. Primary school education traditionally requires all pupils to attend and be physically present in school, unless they have a valid cause for absence. In Sweden, compulsory education is structured around an attendance requirement, with few exceptions for fulfilling these obligations outside the physical premises of the school. However, since 2020, new regulations have permitted distance learning under specific conditions. One key condition is that such education must be in the best interest of the child. This article investigates the legal regulation of distance education as a supportive measure in primary schools. By critically examining how the principle of the best interest of the child has been employed as a legal argument concerning physical presence in school, this article concludes that the legal norms have inherent contradictions and therefor demands that the principal applies the rules with a critical mindset.

Att balansera motstridiga ideal

2024-06-12T15:53:08+02:00

Balancing between conflicting ideals. A study on ethical leadership, gender equality and diversity work in an upper secondary school. The aim of this article is to explore what characterizes principals’ ethical leadership in relation to gender- and diversity work at an upper secondary school distinguished by its elite program profile. Our main research interest is to investigate how principals describe and relate to the school’s equality work. The study’s theoretical understanding is founded in Starratt’s descriptions of ethical leadership. The study emanates from 12 in-depth individual and focus group interviews with a total of 47 individuals, both school staff and pupils. Our conclusion is that the principals’ stated mission is to communicate success and create a school for a selected group of students. Furthermore, this mission becomes part of the principals’ responsibility. This means that their presence and authenticity in the processes, as well as the requirements and expectations set by the school organizer, limit the opportunities for principals to achieve gender equality and diversity.

Etiska och moraliska perspektiv på kontextuella särskildheter i rektorers arbete och ledarskap i strukturellt missgynnade områden

2024-06-12T15:57:26+02:00

Ethical and moral perspectives on contextual particularities in principals’ work in structurally disadvantaged areas. Metropolitan Swedish cities experience consequences of segregation and challenges in providing equality in education as part of an equitable national welfare. Drawing attention to elementary schools in structurally disadvantaged areas, this study focuses ethical and moral perspectives on principals’ work and leadership in relation to contextual particularities. Findings are based on an empirical set of 15 semi-structured group conversations with 20 principals. In their day-to-day work and leadership principals balance a generalized norm of judicial and institutional requirements with contextual particularities emanating from structurally disadvantaging structures. Wider ethical intentions, characterized as social justice ambitions to level out inequalities and achieve emancipatory goals for every student, are at core when principals consider multiple perspectives in processes of handling contextual particularities. Resultingly, an ethical school leadership come through with principals as moral agents and subjects. However, also ethically mindful and morally experienced principals need supportive institutional accountability in line with local needs and adjusted to local particularities.

Rektorers arbete med demokrati

2024-06-12T16:01:27+02:00

Principals’ work with democracy. Always important, sparsely accomplished, constantly challenged. This paper examines principals’ work with democracy in schools, the challenges they face when carrying out such work and what role they themselves consider playing in the democratic work. The paper is based on an interview study with principals. The first interviews were conducted in 2003 and the later in 2023, which allows comparison between principals who exercise school leadership in different time and space. The study shows that the principals describe democratic work as always important but sparsely accomplished. The democratic work of principals is described as multidimensional including the realization of the tasks of schools, schedule-breaking activities, democratic school organization, the promotion of democratic attitudes, and environmental or external monitoring. The study also shows that principals engage in innovative democratization although there are tensions between economic and democratic imaginaries pervading their work likely to crowd out the always important, sparsely accomplished and constantly challenged democratic work.

Skolchef i komvux - mellan politik och rektor i styrkedjan

2024-06-12T16:03:59+02:00

Superintendent in Municipal adult edcuation - Between Politics and Principal in the Governance Chain. Swedish education policy often emphasises that the superintendent, in the form of the representative for the municipality authority, must take more responsibility for the quality of education. This also applies to municipal adult education (MAE), a form of schooling that differs from the rest of the school system regarding governance. However, there has been limited research conducted on it. Based on Bacchi’s (2009) WPR approach, this study scrutinises how governance is produced in superintendent’s talk about their relationship with the principal and politics. Delegated steering is supported by two different logics of responsibility and economics. The superintendent’s duties and responsibilities are often emphasised, and reference is made to the chain of command. Responsibility is partially shifted to the principal and/or politicians in certain municipalities. This affects the superintendent’ discretion and has both direct and indirect effects on the education offered by the municipality, ultimately impacting the students as well.

Temainledning: Skolledarskap och skolledares yrkesutövning

2024-06-12T15:39:59+02:00