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This article presents findings from a qualitative study of schoolprincipals, focusing on the controversial issues they encounterand handle in their work. Drawing on the theory of institutionalhabitus (McDonough, 1996; Reay 1998) we offer insights into theways in which a school´s habitus shapes the content of the con-troversial issues that arise, depending on its social composition. Thefindings show that schools in socially vulnerable areas tend toexperience controversial issues connected to poverty, migration,criminality, and contact with external authorities, while more privi-leged schools primarily encounter classroom-oriented issuesrelated to pedagogy and differing viewpoints. The article arguesthat institutional habitus shapes not only school culture, but alsothe character and intensity of the controversial issues rincipals mustmanage. At the same time, leadership practices can partly chal-lenge the effects of institutional habitus by developing collectiveand supportive school environments.

The aim of the study is to explore associations between perceived positive or negative changesin the work situation during the past 12 months and principals’ intentions to leave theirworkplace within the next two years. A mixed-methods approach was applied. The quantitativedata show that it was more common to report having perceived negative changes in the worksituation among principals who also expressed having had intentions to leave the workplace.The qualitative data resulted in ten categories, of which support from colleagues andmanagement, workload, staff issues, economic resources, and organizational conditions werethe most prominent categories.

Background: To educate students and prepare them for life in society, school principals, teachers, and staff needproper work-related organizational preconditions, motivation, and good health. In this context, span of control(SoC, i.e., the number of employees a manager is accountable for) is an understudied modifiable organizationalprecondition that influences the relationships between managers and employees. Therefore, as a basis for futurepreventive actions, we examined (a) school principals’ SoC and (b) how SoC varied across gender, job title, years ofworking as a school principal, and school owner, and the extent to which SoC was associated with (c) the reporting ofexhaustion symptoms and perceived work ability, and (d) demanding and supportive managerial circumstances.

Methods: School principals (N = 2045; mean age 49 years [SD 7 years]; 77% women) in Sweden completed a crosssectionalweb survey including background information and the Lund University Checklist for Incipient Exhaustion,a brief version of the Gothenburg Manager Stress Inventory, and the Work Ability Score. SoC was assessed as thetotal number of employees the principal was accountable for. Median and quartile splits created four groups withincrementally wider SoC. Data were analysed using non-parametric tests as well as multivariate analyses of variance(MANOVAs).

Results: The mean SoC was 31.7 employees (SD 15.5). SoC differed across job titles, school levels, school owner, andyears of working as a school principal. There was no difference in SoC across gender, exhaustion symptoms, or workability. Adjusted MANOVAs and subsequent post-hoc testing indicated that principals with the narrowest SoC (i.e., ≤22 employees) reported less frequent role conflicts and role demands, and less frequent need to harbour employee’sfrustration as well as less access to support from colleagues at the same level.

Conclusions: Irrespective of school ownership, an SoC of no more than 22 employees was consistently associatedwith reports of perceiving less frequent role conflicts, role demands, and need to harbour employee frustrations

Som ansvarig chef och ledare för det pedagogiska arbetet samt för den interna organisationen,har rektorer breda ansvarsområden och en nyckelposition i utbildningsystemet. Eftersom rektorn genom sitt ledarskap skapar ramarna för hur personalen arbetar, kan överbelastning och ohälsa hos rektorer leda till bristande ledarskap som påverkar lärare, elever och i förlängningen hela förskolan, skolan och samhället. Det finns därför starka skäl till att vara uppmärksam på rektorernas hälsa och arbetssituation och att verka för att skapa goda förutsättningar för ett långsiktigt fungerande skolledarskap.

I denna rapport presenteras resultat och slutsatser från forskningsprojektet ”Skolledares arbetsmiljödel 2: Fördjupande undersökningar av rektorers organisatoriska förutsättningar för ett hållbart skolledarskap”som finansierats av AFA Försäkring. 

Sweden has a long tradition of recognizing children’s rights to participation and influence in education. The concept of student influence is often linked to democracy in policy documents, and it was already on the national agenda when the 1946 school commission demanded education for democracy in the following terms: ‘However, the students’ aspirations for greater influence and responsibility should receive wholehearted support from the school authorities. It should be clear that an increased co-responsibility for the students favours their growth in a democratic society’ (SOU 1948:27, p. 145. Own translation).

In this study, we assume that legal norms are not only applied within their formal and written frameworks but are also influenced by several other factors that are crucial to how these norms are implemented in practice (Hydén, 2002; Mathiesen, 2005). In this context, it means that even though the law provides good opportunities for student participation, there are several challenges to translating the law into practice. Thus, it is necessary to go beyond the law and political intentions to understand children’s participation in practice. To identify any gaps or inconsistencies in the understanding and practical application of children’s rights to participation and influence, we adopt a critical child rights approach as our starting point (e.g. Desmet et al., 2015; Reynaert et al., 2012).Footnote1 This involves identifying and understanding factors beyond the law, such as power-related influences that affect participation, and taking a more critical view of children’s rights (e.g. Desmet et al., 2015; Reynaert & Roose, 2015; Reynaert et al., 2012; Vandenhole et al., 2015). In this study, that means focusing on understanding different actors’ interpretations of the concept of participation to assess whether children’s voices and input shape decisions and lead to changes on issues that directly impact them in the school environment. Additionally, the analysis considers the impact of education policies that regulate student participation in school decision-making processes.

The study examines how the concept of participation is perceived and understood within one school’s context. The variations in interpretations between different groups, such as teachers, students, and principals will be particularly highlighted. By analysing how each group views and applies the notion of participation, we aim to gain a deeper insight into the implementation and use of the concept in schools. Furthermore, we will see how different perceptions of participation correspond to central laws that apply to schools in order to understand whether they support or contradict how influence and participation are applied in schools. The following questions guide the work:

• How do professionals and students perceive and understand influence and participation in a school?
• How do these perspectives and practices relate to the Curriculum and the Education Act?
• Based on the results of the previous questions, how are children’s opportunities for participation affected?

To explore various forms of participation, the study uses Shier’s Participation Model (Shier, 2001) as its theoretical framework.

A growing body of research has emphasized coaching as a key approach to the professional development of school leaders. In many countries, coaching in one form or another is integrated into national school leadership programs. This article reports on a study exploring a specific form of coaching, group coaching, integrated into two national school leadership training programs in Norway and Sweden. The study aims to contribute extended knowledge about how group coaching integrated into such programs can support school leaders’ professional development by examining how a similar yet different group coaching approach, might impact the challenges school leaders bring forth for coaching and how school leaders experience the significance of group coaching in dealing with the challenges in their daily practices. A qualitative collective case study design was adopted, and data was collected through observations, interviews, and questionnaires. Qualitative reflexive thematic analysis was performed. The study shows differences in the type of challenges the school leaders participating in the Norwegian and the Swedish programs brought forth for group coaching and how they experienced the group coaching process to support them in reflecting, understanding, and acting on the challenges in new ways.

While there is abundant literature on how teachers can and should manage controversial issues (CI) in schools, far less attention has been paid to how school principals manage CI. We explore this topic by applying a socio-temporal understanding of agency to explore how school leaders understand their role in managing the specific controversial issue of racism. The study comprises interviews with principals in which they express how they understand and manage the controversial issue of racism. The findings show that the principals’ primary temporal direction of agency has consequences for how they manage racism. Principals primarily directed towards the present (practical-evaluative) or the future (projective) demonstrate more expanded agency, while principals primarily directed towards the past (iterative) display less expanded agency in managing the controversial issue of racism. One finding of the study is that principal deal with controversial issues seemingly to the same degree as teachers, however, they do so in different ways and under different circumstances. We therefore propose a conceptual shift from controversial issues to controversial spaces to better adhere to the specificities of principals’ encounter with controversy.

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.

Background: In Sweden, managers, individuals working within education, and parents with small children are three groups at high risk for sick leave due to stress-related mental health problems. However, the combined risk of being a parent and manager working within education, i.e., as a principal, on individual work and life satisfaction is not well understood or well-described in the scientific literature. Accordingly, the present study aimed to examine to what extent indicators for occupational balance and organisational and social work environment factors are predictors of work and life satisfaction among Swedish school principals who are also parents to small children.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study design was used, and data were collected with a one-year interval (T1 and T2) using a web survey. The participants (n = 149) had at least one child under 8 years old and answered the survey at T1 and T2. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate how predictors at T1 determined the reporting of work and life satisfaction at T2.

Results: Supportive organisational structures and few role conflicts at T1 predicted work satisfaction at T2, and supportive organisational structures and a perception of occupational balance at T1 predicted life satisfaction at T2. Adjusted for outcomes at T1, supportive organisational structures and occupational balance still remained predictors.

Conclusions: Supportive organisational structures that clearly define authority and areas of responsibility, and few role conflicts appear to be important for reporting higher work satisfaction among Swedish principals with small children. In addition, high occupational balance and supportive organisational structures that clearly define authority and areas of responsibility also appear to be important for reporting higher life satisfaction. These results suggest that employers of principals with small children may help them by taking action in the above-mentioned areas. The principals themselves could also benefit from being attentive to these issues. Both are important for strengthening public health and preventing sick leave.