Lärares överväganden kring att leda undervisning

Previous research describes classroom management as both complex and demanding. Therefore, teachers as leaders need to make many choices about how to handle situations and students. The aim of this study is to describe teachers’ considerations when they are managing the classroom. The study was conducted by a teacher-research team. The data consist of 12 focus-group interviews with 46 Swedish teachers, spanning from primary to upper secondary school. Through thematic analysis, the following four themes of consideration emerged: (a) control – how much control teachers as leaders should have and how much co-decision that should be given to the students, (b) role – if teachers should be strict or personal, (c) focus – if teachers should focus on the subject or relations to students, and (d) differentiation – if teachers should focus on each individual or on the entire group. This result is an important contribution to understanding the challenges teachers face when managing the classroom and trying to provide learning and development to all students.

Leadership as agency in the context of structure

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how principals, deputy principals, heads of departments (HoDs) and teachers as leaders exercise their agency within and through the organisational structure of their schools to improve academic quality. Design/methodology/approach A case study was conducted in the wider context of school-based leadership. Principals, deputy principals, HoDs and teachers selected by means of purposive sampling from six primary and secondary schools in Harare Province of Zimbabwe participated in the study. Findings Leaders in schools in Harare Province were found to have the capacity to use their agency within and through the organisational structure to improve pass rates. They were able to use their agency to work within the supposed rigid bureaucratic organisational structures to enable bureaucratic organisational structures, or, in participants’ views, democratic structures. Research limitations/implications Some limitations of the research ought to be considered. The research scope and site had its limitations. The research site was limited to a few primary and secondary schools in Harare Province (one out of ten provinces) of Zimbabwe. Although the sampling procedures were implemented to ensure good representation of participants’ views, the sampling was limited to a few schools. Owing to time and financial constraints, a larger sample could not be selected to conduct the interviews. These limitations are acknowledged, but they do not undervalue the significance of the study, as they can provide potential avenues for further research. For example, the study may be replicated in rural provinces of Zimbabwe. Such further research could help improve school leadership in Zimbabwe. Practical implications Principals, deputy principals, HoDs and teachers as leaders can exercise their agency in the structure of their schools to improve academic quality, expressed as and measured by pass rates. School leaders who have a positive attitude and requisite experience are able to change the rigid bureaucratic structures of their schools to enable bureaucratic structures, which are similar to democratic structures. Originality/value This paper provides a critical perspective on how leaders exercise their agency in the context of the organisational structure of their schools to improve academic quality.

Nurturing the leadership that matters in a time of uncertainty

This paper aims to challenge school principals, teachers and teacher educators to seriously engage with concepts that are deemed central to educational improvement, namely positive leadership and authenticity. It is argued that when teachers as leaders work with and for others to build communities that are relevant and meaningful they can have an impact on collective growth. The paper adopts a different approach, one that encourages the reader to engage not only at the conceptual level but to move from in inward to an outward perspective. The intention being to get the reader to make personal decisions that can have an impact at the personal and collective level. It is argued that only in this way can change be brought about.