Lejf Moos and Klaus Kasper Kofod
The purpose of this paper is to revisit three successful schools to see how the principals and the schools had sustained success over a period of five years.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to revisit three successful schools to see how the principals and the schools had sustained success over a period of five years.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study research design was used building on the 2005 design. This time the principals were interviewed.
Findings
The study is a case study over five years. In the first round of visits to schools four‐to‐five years ago in the ISSPP context, it was found that the modernization of Danish society was beginning to show new forms in the every day life and discourses of schools. It could be seen that the links between the state, local authorities and schools were changing. Some were being loosened and some were beginning to be tightened. Returning to three schools in 2008, it was found that the tightening of links had accelerated, so the new governance of schools through accountability, contracts and networks was at this stage implemented with a number of effects in schools and in school leadership. While rather big differences were seen between the schools at the first visit with respect to relations and leading, the differences seem to have diminished over the past four‐to‐fast years. Principals then considered it a major responsibility to act proactively in “setting and negotiating” the direction of the school. Now they are more inclined to name those activities as “translations” of external expectations to staff in a more reactive way because the expectations have been made more explicit and detailed. The political trend towards narrowing the focus of schooling seems to be successful in terms of test results. All three schools perform better now than previously in the national tests.
Practical implications
The challenge to the principals and teachers is to sustain this development and at the same time take care of the comprehensive vision of “Democratic Bildung”. And the challenge to principals is to find ways of communicating with teachers and influencing teachers that are legitimate and effective.
Originality/value
The paper adds knowledge to the literature on sustaining school success and to the literature on relations between external policies and internal practices.
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The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the findings of the follow‐up studies of successful school principals in six countries – Australia, Denmark, England, Norway, Sweden…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the findings of the follow‐up studies of successful school principals in six countries – Australia, Denmark, England, Norway, Sweden, and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were categorized according to stakeholder expectations, the concept and practice of leadership, and the sustainability of leadership.
Findings
The synthesis revealed that several similar factors contribute to sustained successful leadership, although there were also differences that appeared to be associated with two groupings of countries – Australia, England and the USA on the one hand, and the Nordic countries, on the other.
Originality/value
The paper brings together data gathered from the same schools five years apart and facilitates a better understanding of the sustainability of successful school leadership.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore how important the choice of theoretical perspective is on the analyses of empirical data from a Danish case study.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how important the choice of theoretical perspective is on the analyses of empirical data from a Danish case study.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical bases for the analyses are qualitative, longitudinal case studies of school leadership in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). This article discusses and compares analyses from two analytical perspectives. The first is a welfare state perspective, which includes education for democracy and social justice. The second perspective is a competitive state perspective. Here the educational focus is on educating for employability on a labour market.
Findings
School leaders are seen to comply with most of the demands of the competitive state: e.g. demands for negotiations and effectiveness. Leaders also intended to lead schools and education for democracy and social justice.
Originality/value
The limitations and possibilities are described more clearly than usual. They therefore provide deeper insights into the complexities of school leadership.
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Jan Merok Paulsen, Olof Johansson, Lejf Moos, Elisabet Nihlfors and Mika Risku
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the superintendent position, its relation to the local political system and the function as superior of principals in the school district…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the superintendent position, its relation to the local political system and the function as superior of principals in the school district in order to illuminate important district-level conditions for student learning. Influences from historical legacies and policy cultures are investigated by means of cross-country case analyses.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on data from national surveys of superintendent leadership in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.
Findings
A key point is the observation of a mix-mode system of hard and soft governance. Municipalities, schools, teachers and pupils are – in different degrees across the Nordic countries – subjected to external evaluation and assessment by central control agencies, where the streams of reports, assessments and performance data are assembled. However, shifts in the governance systems are only modestly reflected in the self-reports on the superintendents’ role. Overall, superintendents in the cases express a self-preferred leadership style as professional learning facilitators who focus on pupil orientation, which positions the superintendent in “crossfires” between conflicting stakeholder demands.
Research limitations/implications
The paper reinforces the importance of superintendent leadership in local school governance. It underscores the importance that superintendents facilitate learning conditions for school leaders, teachers and students, which we see as a promising path for further research.
Originality/value
The paper provides empirical evidence regarding superintendent leadership situated in local social and political contexts within the Nordic countries. The cross-country analysis illuminates how path-pendent historical legacies mediate current reform trends.
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Lejf Moos, John Krejsler, Klaus Kasper Kofod and Bent Brandt Jensen
Aims at conceptualizing and investigating the meaning of good school principalship within the space for manoeuvring that is available within the context of Danish comprehensive…
Abstract
Purpose
Aims at conceptualizing and investigating the meaning of good school principalship within the space for manoeuvring that is available within the context of Danish comprehensive schools. The paper aims to present findings from case studies of two Danish schools within the frame of reference.
Design/methodology/approach
Outlines the educational context for the Danish schools and gives a short account of the point of departure for the analysis. The perspective in this study is that leadership is about communication, decision making and community building at several levels in schools. In the beginning of the project a series of interviews with stakeholders in those schools was conducted. That formed the basis for the accounts of the first two schools. Later on a number of key stakeholders in the schools were observed and interviewed and that is the basis for the account of the third Danish school.
Findings
The findings show that whilst there is a high degree of consensus amongst the schools and the stakeholders, there are also different points of view. Also shows a pattern of successful leadership communication and community building.
Originality/value
An investigation of the importance and contribution of the principal to the quality of education in Denmark.
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Jorunn Møller, Gunn Vedøy, Anne Marie Presthus and Guri Skedsmo
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how success has been sustained over time in schools which were identified as being successful five years ago.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how success has been sustained over time in schools which were identified as being successful five years ago.
Design/methodology/approach
Three schools were selected for a revisit, and the sample included two combined schools (grade 1‐10) and one upper secondary school (grade 11‐13). In two schools the same principals were still in post, and in the third school there had recently been a change in principalship. Interviews with the principal and a group of teachers at each school were the major source of new data. Questions that guided the study: What structural and cultural changes can be identified within the schools compared with five years ago? What factors might help sustain success over time?
Findings
The learning‐centred approach identified earlier had been sustained in the schools during the five years. All principals focused on multiple ways of influencing staff motivation, commitment and working conditions, teamwork was a vital characteristic, and they also reported on their struggle to sustain and promote equity and social justice. For the two schools with principals still in post one could hardly detect any change in preferred strategies, but for the third school with the new principal there was a significant change. Although his ethos was closely connected to that which existed at the school five years ago, his leadership approach and the agenda for school improvement were different. As such, the study provides an example of how principals have the power to set the tone and the agenda for school development even though leadership practice is an interactive process involving many people.
Originality/value
The paper provides knowledge about sustainable leadership in a context where new expectations are raised towards schools, and principals are in particular challenged to respond to new and sometimes contradicting expectations.
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Lawrie Drysdale, Helen Goode and David Gurr
This paper seeks to demonstrate how the principal was instrumental in turning around an underperforming school by using a leadership style that modelled appropriate behaviour, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to demonstrate how the principal was instrumental in turning around an underperforming school by using a leadership style that modelled appropriate behaviour, and which was consultative, conciliatory, inspirational and empathetic, through having a clearly articulated whole‐child‐focused educational philosophy, by building relationships and developing staff, and through displaying a range of appropriate personal qualities such as integrity, high energy, sensitivity, enthusiasm, and persistence.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a multiple‐perspective, observational case study that included individual and group interviews with the principal, staff, parents and students, and involved shadowing the principal for a total of three days.
Findings
The four themes found in the original study remained important. In addition, the leadership of the assistant principal, and increasingly that of teachers working in teams, were important for success. During the study it became obvious that to move the school from a good school to a great school would likely require a different approach to leadership, changes to school direction, and new improvement strategies. The principal indicated that she was not able to do this and it was time for a new principal to take on this challenge.
Originality/value
This is part of a larger study that is revisiting case studies of successful principals to explore sustainability of successful school leadership and successful schools.
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Stephen L. Jacobson, Lauri Johnson, Rose Ylimaki and Corrie Giles
The purpose of this paper is to revisit a successful school to see how the principal had sustained success over time.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to revisit a successful school to see how the principal had sustained success over time.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a case study research design similar to the 2005 report.
Findings
The old findings revealed a principal who had used direction setting, developing people and redesigning the organization, as well as the enabling principles of accountability, caring and learning to turn around a failing, high poverty urban school. The new findings revealed that, while the same core practices and enabling principles were still in place, a significant change in governance structure had been required to sustain the school's success. Specifically, the school converted from a traditional public school to a charter school in order to protect investments made in teacher professional development. The resulting initiatives, introduced to stem teacher turnover, led to the emergence of greater teacher leadership and professional self‐renewal processes that sustained the school's success.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the literature on sustaining school success and the utility of governance change.
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The purpose of this paper is to give an account of the ways in which one experienced secondary principal of an English secondary school developed and sustained a successful school…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give an account of the ways in which one experienced secondary principal of an English secondary school developed and sustained a successful school over a 13‐year period in changing policy contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws from data collected during two three‐day‐visits separated by a six‐year period and is part of a multi‐site international research project. The researcher used a multi‐perspective qualitative design in which a range of staff, parents, students and board members were interviewed, according to a common protocol. The school was selected originally because it was judged by an independent external inspection team whose judgements were based on a number of key indicators, including national test scores. The qualitative data were cross‐referenced with a range of available documentation.
Findings
The data show that this principal exercised trust in such a way that it was broadened, deepened and embedded over time. The data suggest that educational ideals, commitment and trust were important features of his continuing success as leader and the sustained development of the school.
Originality/value
The paper illustrates that it is every principal's responsibility to create and sustain the conditions in which trust may be established and strengthened.