Lars-Olof Johansson, Isak Barbopoulos and Lars E. Olsson
This paper aims to examine how social and moral salience influences the activation/deactivation of consumer motives and how this in turn affects costly pro-environmental consumer…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how social and moral salience influences the activation/deactivation of consumer motives and how this in turn affects costly pro-environmental consumer behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
In two experiments involving real purchases, it was tested whether social salience (private vs public choice) and moral salience (recall of neutral vs immoral action) lead to the activation of normative motives, and/or the deactivation of economic motives, and whether this facilitated the purchase of a costlier green product.
Findings
Participants were motivated by both economic and normative motives, and they actively made trade-offs between these motives as the choice environment changed. Green consumption was positively influenced by social and moral salience but only when both salience conditions were present simultaneously. However, salience did not lead to the activation of normative motives, as was expected, but to a deactivation of the motive to save money. This may suggest that while the importance of norms was not altered by salience, the perceived value of the green option likely changed in such a way that participants became more inclined to choose the costlier green option.
Originality/value
The present research sheds light on how and why social and moral salience influences green consumption. It was demonstrated that social and moral salience influences the tendency to purchase costlier green products, however, only when both are combined. Also, the effects of social and moral salience may not rely on the activation of facilitating social and moral motives but rather on the deactivation of conflicting economic motives.
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Olof Johansson and Helene Ärlestig
In the rational model of the democratic governing chain, intervening spaces at all levels are neglected in relation to the policy process. An intervening space is a group of…
Abstract
Purpose
In the rational model of the democratic governing chain, intervening spaces at all levels are neglected in relation to the policy process. An intervening space is a group of persons with the power and responsibility to interpret policy at their level in an organization. The research question is as follows: How are democratic policy ideas visible in the intervening spaces of a governing chain in public schools?
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on two municipalities representing the 25 most populated cities in Sweden. The data are based on interviews with 66 informants with leadership roles on the district level and two schools in each municipality.
Findings
Leadership is obviously more than making decisions. It is also about facilitating and creating trust, engagement, motivation and willingness to take responsibility. In this process, intervening spaces are central. They exist at all levels from the national ministry to the classroom. The empirical examples show the importance and challenges in how different leadership roles, relationships and interaction transform policy intentions to practice on the local level.
Originality/value
The authors contribute by highlighting the parallel interpretation processes that take place at various leadership levels locally. There are possibilities and challenges in aligning the intervening spaces into a rational governing chain. The findings indicate that intervening spaces and policy drift is vital to support, control and use professional competence in the process to transfer political ideas to classroom practice.
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Lars-Olof Johansson, Gunnar Falkemark, Tommy Gärling, Mathias Gustafsson and Olof Johansson-Stenman
Jonas Höög, Olof Johansson and Anders Olofsson
The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of a follow‐up study of two Swedish schools in which, five years previously, the principals had been successful leaders. Had…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of a follow‐up study of two Swedish schools in which, five years previously, the principals had been successful leaders. Had this success been maintained?
Design/methodology/approach
Two schools were revisited to enable the authors to interview principals and teachers as well as conducting observations of the schools in operation.
Findings
The identification of sustained leadership success was compromised because the original principals were no longer at the schools, their replacements had also left and their (“third generation”) replacements had just arrived. Strong teacher teams had served to maintain school standards.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the literature on the vital role of the principal in determining a school's success and also points to the value of strong, cohesive teacher teams.
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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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Katarina Norberg and Olof Johansson
Schooling is a significant tool for fostering future generations, which, in turn, implies that the curriculum is an ethical document. It mirrors the society's notion of what is…
Abstract
Purpose
Schooling is a significant tool for fostering future generations, which, in turn, implies that the curriculum is an ethical document. It mirrors the society's notion of what is valuable, useful and necessary from a societal and individual perspective. The purpose of this paper is to address the Scandinavian curricula's ethical framework, which is negotiated by school leaders and educators.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an overview of the political intentions for desirable socialisation and civic identity represented in Scandinavian curricula, and discusses the implications for ethical school leadership.
Findings
There is a disparity between rhetoric and reality when it comes to a “school for everyone”, since the curricula's promoted content and end are interpreted differently. The paper indicates that an awareness of individual and less conscious internal values and how they steer conduct is significant.
Originality/value
The paper is among the first to address Scandinavian curricula's promoted values and their consequences for ethical school leadership.
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Angela Thody, Zoi Papanaoum, Olof Johansson and Petros Pashiardis
This article seeks to centre on Cypriot, English, Greek and Swedish selection and training of principals. This was part of a 2001‐2002 European Union (EU) funded study which…
Abstract
Purpose
This article seeks to centre on Cypriot, English, Greek and Swedish selection and training of principals. This was part of a 2001‐2002 European Union (EU) funded study which created a distance learning CD ROM for principals.
Design/methodology/approach
National education systems and principals' selection and training were analysed and compared using documents, focus groups, principals' interviews and an international seminar.
Findings
The most centralised systems of Greece and Cyprus had less principal preparation, and more government involvement in principal selection, than the less centralised Sweden and England.
Originality/value
The extent of training was perceived to matter less in successful principalship than selecting the right people, although even a good leader can be improved through training and principals were concerned about their lack of formal training.
The rationale behind the theme is that in most countries, there are mission statements in different laws and policy documents that describe the purpose of schools. Most of those…
Abstract
The rationale behind the theme is that in most countries, there are mission statements in different laws and policy documents that describe the purpose of schools. Most of those statements contain two goals; passing on knowledge from one generation to the next and the upbringing of good and harmonious citizens who shall be able to take over and continue to develop the world's democratic societies. If it is decided to believe that the policy makers want to have democratic schools that foster the next generation, the style of leadership used in schools has to be reviewed. A question seldom asked is: What kind of leaders can be models for the goals and democratic values decided and what kind of training do they need? This special issue of Journal of Educational Administration presents a set of articles which explore this theme.