The purpose of our network is to learn more about the respective national governing systems, principals' roles and work, and how these aspects affect schools, school results, and school improvement.
About the project
The NordLead network investgates school principals’ prerequisites and work within democratic welfare states. The five Nordic countries have many similarities but also differences which make it interesting to understand more about various ways to strive towards democracy and well-educated citizens. Accordingly, we focus on schools as formal institutions that carry out functions delegated to them by the social collective.
This entails a discussion about what kind of state policy demonstrates autonomy in Nordic schools as well as the ways in which school leaders as sense makers in local schools possess and enact policy in a globalized economy and a changing world.
The network draws on a range of theoretical frameworks as well as educational leadership and policy research to provide multiple comparative perspectives of school leadership in the Nordic countries, the moral purpose of schooling, school governance and power relations, expectations towards school leadership, handling of crisis and cultures of trust.
Background
All the researchers in the network are fortunate to have lived in a part of the world where welfare and democracy provide free schooling to all children. This provides us a responsibility and an opportunity to bring knowledge about Nordic school management and their conditions to an international and national research- and practice field.