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Strategies for entrepreneurship in the educational system are present not only in the Nordic countries, but also in the majority of other Western countries. Linked to these strategies different research efforts have been made. Although the research efforts have a common origin in supranational policies on entrepreneurship, there has been little research analysing the similarities and differences in how the topic is addressed by researchers in different countries. Being able to relate to both the policy and the available research in a nuanced way is important especially in the context of teacher education. The purpose of this article is to review the most recent research in pedagogical entrepreneurship from three countries: Finland, Iceland and Sweden. The aim is to discover whether the common phenomena of entrepreneurship in an educational context are approached differently in these three countries. The review of 21 articles in all, covering aim, method, concepts, references and results, draws a rather fragmented picture of the research. The main results are that the reviewed research was mostly qualitative and covered the entire spectrum from theoretical research to practice-oriented research. A variety of concepts were used. The analysis of the use of references uncovered a need to be more aware of including research from neighbouring regions. The research field seems to be quite lively and is still developing. However, it would benefit from a better dialogue between researchers in order to strengthen the contribution of Nordic research on pedagogical entrepreneurship.

In about a hundred schools in the northern parts of Sweden, extensive development work is being carried out with the title Företagsamhet i skolan ('Enterprise in schools'). The purpose has been to support the ability of a new generation to manage its own future in a part of the country characterised by depopulation and unemployment. Our point of departure is the big regional venture that has been made in order to develop enterprise in schools in northern Sweden (the so-called PRIO 1 project) and current rhetoric. The exploration of enterprise in schools is marred by a number of fundamental difficulties. This has to do with the concept's varying meanings and roots in other research disciplines. The primary aim of this study is to analyse whether enterprise in schools contributes to education and, if so, which of its aspects are central. The study shows that the manifestations of enterprise in schools are in many ways in accordance with the school development aspirations of the last few decades, and the concept thereby runs the risk of being dismissed as a new label for old ambitions that have not been completely fulfilled. We argue, however, that the specific contribution that 'enterprise in schools' can make in education is found in the network development that has been started on different levels in the schools in northern Sweden. We therefore wish to emphasise 'learning networks' as an important part of capacity building.

The northern part of Sweden is characterised by depopulation and relatively high levels of unemployment among young people. As a consequence, a number of projects have been established for the purpose of strengthening young people’s creativity and spirit of enterprise. The aim of this article is to problematise the concept of ‘enterprise education’ as understood in Swedish schools. This is done by visualising the rhetoric that surrounds the effort of introducing Enterprise in Schools (‘Företagsamhet i skolan’) and by trying to understand what the concept means in practice from the perspective of apprenticeship theory. The authors’ research involves classroom observations and interviews with teachers and students from different schools. The results show that the discourse about Enterprise in Schools is based on catchwords such as cooperation, power of initiative, creativity and activity. The authors’ studies of the organisation and implementation of the teaching have visualised the collaborative aim and emphasis on learning through schoolwork.

Research topic: This study examined how a Swedish elementary school K-9 organised their improving process of entrepreneurial learning through teacher leaders ’professional development. 

Theoretical framework: The schools’ point of departure and the pedagogical perspective werebased on entrepreneurial learning (Falk-Lundqvist, Hallberg, Leffler & Svedberg, 2011;Peltonen, 2015; Sagar, 2013; Surlemont, 2007), distributed leadership (Harris & Muijs,2005; Harris & DeFlaminis, 2016) that was grounded in collegial learning (cf. Harris & Muijs,2005; Timperley, 2011) as well as collegial mentoring. The pupils and the teachers in this school were divided in six teams according to grade level. Each team had a “teacher leader for professional development” (TLPD), appointed by the principal. The TLPDs mission was to lead the school development and to support their colleagues’ professional development. They had ongoing process oriented training (cf Scherp, 2013; Timperley, 2011) with external educators, focusing on teacher leadership, colleagues’ learning and entrepreneurial learning. Every third week they met their principals and discussed ongoing development strategies. The process included reading and discussing research literature about teaching and learning. The analysis of the data was grounded in theories of distributed leadership and collegial learning.

Methodological design: The study involved individual in-depth interviews with six TLPDs, andobservations of TLPDs meetings and TLPDs leadership in their teams.Conclusions: A preliminary analysis of the data showed not only the importance of continuousprofessional development for teacher leaders but also the importance of a school organisation that provides teachers with opportunities and legitimacy to lead their colleagues. Another finding showed that reading the same literature and have collegial discussions were important both for school development and for the legitimacy of the TLPDs, thus narrowing the knowledge practice gap (Kennedy, 2014) On the ‘darker’ side of teacher leadership were all the different experiences on leading colleagues and identifying their role as TLPDs. Difficulties in managing team members’ different ambitions and willingness for common development were also evident. This paper argues for considering these challenges in future professional learning practices to support teacher leaders. It also calls for unpacking of potential cultural practices to support teacher leadership, for example, issues of power and hierarchies.

Relevance to Nordic educational research: Entrepreneurial learning as well as distributed leadership is one key factor in school improvement strategies in the Nordic countries  (cf Dal et al. 2016).

Teacher Education in Sweden, as well as in the rest of Europe, struggle with issues about how to increase the quality of teacher education programs. A strong drive for this is that the quality of Teacher Education has an important impact on pupils' achievement in school (European Commission, 2008). Another reason is that a high quality in education will make teachers more likely to stay in the profession, and thus reduce the lack of teachers. Research has shown that it is a common challenge in the European countries to train and develop student teachers with valid qualifications, both at a practical and scientific level (Råde, 2014). In Sweden a current issue is how to develop the practical part of the teacher student education, the school based studies (SBS), and to link theory to practice and integrate university-based knowledge with work-place knowledge (Karlsson Lohmader (2015). The importance of well-educated and qualified teachers, and thus a high-quality Teacher Education who can respond to these demands, are highlighted in policies (e.g. European Commission, 2013, 2014; Swedish Ministry of Education and Research 2010), as well as in research (e.g. Kelchtermans, G. Smith, K. & Vanderlinde, R. 2018; Valliant and Manso, 2013; Ievers et al., 2013; White, Dickerson & Weston, 2015).

In order to find ways to develop the practical part of student teachers' education, a national improvement program over five years has been launched in Sweden, concerning the establishment of ‘advanced’ education training schools, so called practice schools.  According to the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) decision, 15 Universities have received funding to participate in the improvement program (UKÄ, 2014:2). The programs’ framework is wide and conditions and strategies differ between the Universities. However, three quality aspects have crystallized: concentration, competence and collaboration. A higher concentration of students and competent supervisors (SBTEs) in a school is expected to increase opportunities for sharing experiences. The aspect competence investigates if the Universities contribute with supervisors- training for school based teacher educators (SBTEs) and ensures that there are teachers at the Universities (institute- based teacher educators, IBTEs) which follow up the students' development during school based education (SBE). The aspect collaboration investigate organizational conditions and activities where the Teacher Education and the schools jointly develop student teachers' practical part of their education.

The present study is the third part study of the Swedish national improvement program. The first two studies took a local and a regional perspective. In addition, this study covers a national perspective on the improvement program by answering the following questions:

How have the three quality aspects, concentration, competence and collaboration, developed in the program?

What kind of challenges do the improvement program face?

Method

In the present study statistic material, documents, interviews with project leaders from Universities as well as principals and SBTEs experiences have informed us through different useful methods (Bryman, 1997; Patel & Davidson, 2011) and can be seen as an explorative study. Our aim has been to present the problem area in an overall and a general way by using different methods and information sources. One of the authors has been a part of the Swedish Higher Education Authority assessment group (UKÄ report, 2017) and contributes with knowledge from an interview study on a national level,  which together with knowledge from an ongoing evaluation (both authors)  on a regional level, including interviews with stakeholders,  school leaders and  SBTEs, have formed the basis for this study. The material has been analysed in relation to the quality aspects that have emerged from obstructive as well as supportive aspects. 

Results            

The results show that the 15 Universities have had extensive possibilities to develop their own design of their projects, linked to the improvement program but according to interpretation of the three quality aspects concentration, competence and collaboration. However, consensus prevails in terms of competence and is concretized by: all SBTEs must be given supervisor training. Surprisingly, there is no specific competence demands for IBTEs. All schools have organized for SBTEs to be able to attend a supervisors’ education. The mobility among SBTEs  and IBTEs have been a challenge in the improvement program. Competence has been more connected to the individual rather than a position as SBTEs and IBTEs, which have made the organisation around school based studies vulnerable. The concentration of SBTEs and students have also been affected by the mobility and has given rise to discussions and questioning of the relationship between more students and increased quality. The collaboration between Universities and the schools has in many ways been connected to assessment. The IBTEs visit students during a lesson and afterwards, together with the student and the SBTE, they discuss the lesson and the students’ different abilities and knowledge linked to the course goals, a so called “ three-part-discussion”. From all school units there have been a desire for closer cooperation between school and University to make schools a clearer and more important part of Teacher Education, which has not been the case for several schools. This was one important reason for schools to join the project - a way to increase the opportunities to participate in research projects and/or gain access to current school research.  This democratic way of letting Universities and practice schools develop the VFU in a variety of ways has given important knowledge to the improvement program.

Background: The Teacher Education at the University of Umeå is one of fifteen universities in Sweden participating in a National Project over five years concerning the establishment of ‘advanced’ education training schools. The goal is threefold: 1) to develop teacher education with a focus on developing the school based studies (VFU) for student teacher, 2) to increase the knowledge and skills of the SBTEs (school based teacher educators) and IBTEs (institute- based teacher educators) by offering in-service education and 3) to initiate research programs with the participating municipality schools (Umeå teacher education application document, 2014). The background is that Teacher Education in Sweden as well as in the rest of Europe struggle with issues concerning how to increase the quality of teachers in our schools, not only as a single problem for the schools but also the effects on student teachers’ practical part of teacher education, and in the end, it has shown that the quality of Teacher Education has a strong influence on pupils’ performance in school (European Commission, 2008).  Research has shown that there is a common challenge in the European countries to educate and develop student teachers with valid qualifications, both on a practical and a scientific level (Råde, 2014). The importance of well-educated and qualified teachers, and thus a high-quality Teacher Education who can respond to these demands, are highlighted in policies (e.g. European Commission, 2013, 2014; Swedish Ministry of Education and Research 2010), as well as in research (e.g. Harris & Muijs, 2005; Timperley, 2011; Darling –Hammond, 2006; Valliant and Manso, 2013; Ievers et al., 2013; White, Dickerson & Weston, 2015). The Swedish pilot project is trying to face these challenges by using different strategies to increase the qualities in Teacher Education.

One of the main strategies in VFU is to increase the concentration of teacher students at advanced teacher training schools and thus also increase the concentration of the educated supervisors (SBTEs). The idea is that an elevated concentration of both SBTEs and student teachers at the advanced teacher training school, will have a positive impact of the quality as a variation of supervising and peer learning will occur (Government Offices, 2013).

The present study is the second part of a process evaluation of a pilot project on School Based Studies (VFU) in teacher education at the University of Umeå, Sweden, which was launched in 2015 and will be finished in 2019. An organizational focus was in the first part of the evaluation. In this second part the focus is on quality, identified as increased concentration of student teachers in VFU. The purpose with the present study is thus to take a closer look at the chosen strategy for raised quality in VFU and the following questions have guided the study:

• Has the concentration of student teachers and SBTEs increased?
• In what ways have the concentration of student teachers and SBTEs been utilized?

Methodology: In the previous study the first step was to map the project organization and to get in contact with vital stakeholders both from university level and municipality level (Blossing, 2004).  In the present study, the second step, statistic material as well as student teachers’ experiences have informed us through different methods:  observations in class rooms, interviews, surveys and seminars (Bryman, 1997). Student teachers and their work-based training has been observed at the advanced teacher training schools and in connection, ten interviews with student teachers were performed. In conjunction with the regular evaluations that follow completed periods of school based studies, questions related to the purpose of the training schools have been added to the survey. 105 student teachers have responded to the survey. In addition seminars have been conducted at four of the advanced teacher training schools led by lecturer from the University which resulted in that SBTEs and student teachers jointly discussed and made notes about their experience of VFU both as student teachers and as SBTEs. The triangulation have aimed to provide a composite picture of the project and demonstrate strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. Both the quantitative and the qualitative material have been compiled and analyzed.

Results: The purpose of the project is to increase the quality of VFU in Teacher Education. The results show that the main purpose to increase the concentration of student teachers at the advanced teacher training schools has not yet been full filled. This can be understood in two ways; on the one hand, there are more students in the areas of advanced teacher training schools, on the other hand, the areas have expanded and include more schools. This means that in practice there can be less student teachers than before in one school and the benefits that can be gained from increased concentration cannot be reached. We are aware of that the outcome of this study is context dependent on a regional level. However, there are a few teacher training schools, especially upper secondary schools where there has been a high concentration of student teachers and qualified SBTEs. These schools and SBTEs have developed the learning environment in several ways, for example joint seminars, group supervising and student-to-student- auscultations. The student teachers at these schools express the benefits of peer learning and flexible ways of being supervised. Overall there is a lack of knowledge of the goal, possibilities and benefits with the advanced teacher training school both among student teachers and SBTEs. However, as this is an ongoing project it is possible to make improvement. The contribution of the present study is to highlight development opportunities as well as demands in relation to quality aspects on VFU in Teacher Education.