A focus on achieved results? Swedish school leaders and perceptions of equity

Abstract

The concept of equity has a long history within Swedish school policy. However, the concept is contested and its meaning has shifted over time. On a national political level, there is today an understanding of equity as the achievement of certain results, but it is an open question whether this understanding is adopted by the school leaders, and whether the understandings of equity held by the school leaders differ in regards to schools being public or private. Based on an extensive material, gathered through questionnaires and interviews, we argue that school leaders have not embraced the understanding of equity as the achievement of certain results. Rather, their understanding of equity seems to be influenced by the more traditional value of equality, a conclusion that is also valid for private school leaders.