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Purpose: Research and practice need to inform each other to create valid and useful knowledge for school development. This paper reports on an ongoing partnership between a school organizer and a university unit within a national initiative to strengthen long-term collaboration. The aim is to explore how a Research-Practice Partnership and Research and Development (R&D) process can contribute to various categories of learning that directly or indirectly support organizational development.

Design/methodology/approach: The empirical data are derived from an R&D project involving two researchers and 15 principals in one Swedish municipality. Principals and researchers met regularly, engaging in diverse activities to stimulate inquiry and sensemaking. Data include written reflections and communications from both principals and researchers. We apply a thematic analysis during three phases of the project.

Findings: Results indicate that learning and development, seen as leadership actions, are closely connected. It is therefore necessary to nuance and visualize both direct and indirect signs of learning and sensemaking. Long-term partnerships and a combination of various activities and feedback provide a solid foundation for understanding how processes contribute to new knowledge and working methods for both practitioners and researchers.

Practical implications: As schooling is fundamentally rooted in learning, it is imperative that principals and researchers engage in continuous learning and develop strategies to foster learning within their organizations.

Originality/value: To contribute to organizational development shared learning must be connected to both context and new challenges. This article discusses the importance of acknowledge both direct and indirect learning and development categories for both practitioners and researchers.

External networks among deputy superintendents seem to be an increasing phenomenon in a sector that faces a rapid change and a high working load. Is this the new way to learn and improve the organization or just a social gathering with little value? In this study, the significance of networking among deputy superintendents is explored. This group of middle managers is less studied compared to superintendents. The following questions have guided the study: How are their networks designed? What themes and issues do they focus on? What networks are considered relevant? The data for this study were collected through a survey of participants in a seminar series arranged by the Swedish National Professional Association for Superintendents. Networking appears to blend operational, personal, and strategic issues, intertwining practical matters with personal and professional growth to address present challenges and future requirements. Even if networking is seen as less formal it requires individual engagement as it is embedded in a process to become a professional space that benefits both the individual and the school organization. Networks appear to provide essential resources for navigating the complexities embedded in tangled logics and the frequently unpredictable processes that follow.

The Swedish National Principal Training Programme (NPTP) plays a central role in shaping principals' roles and competencies in a rapidly changing educational landscape. This study aims to examine how the National Principal Training Programme Leaders (NPTP Leaders) navigate, understand, and lead a well-established principal training programme. Drawing on theories connected to enactment and sensemaking, seven NPTP Leaders were interviewed to explore their perspectives on the principal’s role and mission, the NPTP today and in the future, and their leadership responsibilities. Findings indicate that while the programme successfully balances theory and practice, tensions exist between national policies, university autonomy, and local needs. NPTP Leaders recognise the evolving complexity of principal leadership, but their approach remains centred on stability and development within the existing structure rather than proactive innovation. They emphasise pedagogical leadership while acknowledging that administrative burdens often restrict principals’ capacity for school improvement. Additionally, discrepancies between programme content and participants' diverse realities indicate a need for more tailored learning experiences. The study concludes that while the NPTP prepares principals for their roles, there is potential for greater collaboration and policy engagement among NPTP Leaders. Strengthening their influence within the governance framework could enhance the programme’s adaptability to future educational challenges.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge of how school actors’ conditions, understandings, and priorities influence what is regarded as school success and successful principalship. Empirically, it is based on a detailed analysis of how school success and successful principalship is understood and acted in a rural Swedish school context.

Design/methodology/approach: Inspired by ecological system and complexity theories, together with protocols recently established in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP), we applied a mixed method approach combining half–structured interviews and a teacher-survey. In total we conducted 16 interviews with school leaders, teachers, students, parents, a superintendent, and a student counsellor.

Findings: The interviewed school actors emphasized the importance of trust and combining efforts to maintain sufficiently good academic results with respect for students’ needs and wellbeing. They described success in their school context as being built on cooperation and teamwork that preserves well-proven values and practices, with flexible, well-qualified teachers supporting students’ efforts to attain their individual goals while simultaneously seeking to widen their perspectives and knowledge.

Originality/value:  Previous research on principalship in rural schools has shown the importance of individual principals maintaining a high profile and closely cooperating with the surrounding community. We add nuance to this understanding of successful principalship by highlighting the value of principals focusing on teamwork, drawing on their schools’ existing culture and the surrounding community to create a stable learning environment for students, while striving to lead incremental changes.

Purpose – The international body of research on crises and school leadership is expanding, yet studies focusing on this theme within the Nordic context remain limited, predominantly addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aims to examine contemporary research on leadership and crisis management in Nordic education to elucidate the governance, support and control mechanisms employed during unexpected events and to inform future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on neo-institutional theories and sensemaking theory, this study traces the phenomenon of interest across Nordic education systems and governance contexts. The study is based on a literature review and apply thematic content analysis.

Findings – Through the elaboration of six themes, the demands and expectations for school leaders and the tensions they encounter are revealed. The findings suggest that crises often precipitate centralized, top-down governance that challenges the traditional values and decentralized governance in Nordic education systems. In these changed governance relations, school leaders continuously adjust to ever-changing policies through sensemaking and re-organizing the routines and pedagogical approaches of the school. Additionally, the study explores the consequences of crisis management, revealing ethical and social responsibilities and challenges to the well-being of school leaders. Lastly, showing various forms of support and control applied both vertically and horizontally.

Originality/value – The literature review highlights key points for leading and governing in an unforeseen future, emphasizing the crucial role of schools and leaders in maintaining coherence in a democratic welfare society during crises and an everchanging reality. Nordic school leadership during crises involves high demands of micropolitical sensemaking, organizing and communication amid changing policies and legislation. It also involves balancing ethical concerns and social responsibilities to make schools safe and democratic spaces for students and staff. By connecting Nordic studies on education governance, school leadership and crises, we fill an important research gap and identify potential avenues for practice, policy and research. A key strength of this study is its coverage of five Nordic countries in a single paper.

In almost all societies, schools are seen as an important base for transferring knowledge and values related to how today’s democratic society works and develops from one generation to the next. Going to school is considered an opportunity for the individual student to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to make individual choices and prepare for a future job or occupation. Besides transferring individual competence and skills, schools play an important role in how the democratic nation-state is understood and valued.

New technologies and AI open possibilities that we have not seen before at the same time as we have large societal and environmental challenges. Taken together, national and global events and processes change values, and norms, and the understanding of the concept of democracy, which have a direct impact on schools and the younger generation.

Hence, we believe that future schooling needs to focus on sensemaking, values, and ethics to meet upcoming challenges in which the ambition to support and develop democratic citizens is crucial. This chapter is a commentary that explores these issues and educational leadership based on Swedish education policy documents. We argue for an authentic, values-based, communicative leadership for learning and democratic improvement.

In Sweden as in many other countries, there is increasing segregation due to students' socio–economic background. This study aims to identify and nuance what successful school principalship looks like in a school situated in a low socioeconomic area. The school has, for several years, had a high turnover of principals and teachers in combination with low academic results among students. The study seeks answers on how leadership promotes teacher quality, academic emphasis, and equity in the organization to turn around a school and make success sustainable. Studying a school with students who have not yet received high academic grades means we look for other signs of success. We used a mixed methods approach for interviews and a survey for teachers based on the revised ISSPP protocol. The first priority of the principal was to restructure the school day and introduce common pedagogical models to improve teaching. After two years in the organization, the principal is now taking ownership and creating an inclusive agenda. There are many ongoing complex processes in the school, where the principal’s energy and initiative is crucial. One concern is how the principal can go deeper and wider, sustaining the momentum.