PhD project Through the reform of career services (2013) Swedish School leaders have an expanded opportunity to distribute leadership for teaching improvement to ´first teachers´ and ´lecturers´. First teachers and lecturers are already skilled leaders in their classrooms but the reform of career services brings a new leadership for teaching, in which there are some challenges.
Through the reform of career services (2013) Swedish School leaders have an expanded opportunity to distribute the leadership for teaching improvement to ´first teachers´ and ´lecturers´. In my thesis I explore the leadership of ´first teachers´ and ´lecturers´ and what effect their leadership has on teaching and school leadership in Swedish schools.
Umeå School of Education
Department of Education
Centre for Principal Development
Through the reform of career services (2013) Swedish School leaders have an expanded opportunity to distribute leadership for teaching improvement to ´first teachers´ and ´lecturers´. Teachers as middle leaders have the potential to build up professional and cooperative relations, support teachers in their professional learning and to develop and enable improvement of teaching. Through their double roles above and alongside their teacher colleagues they can exert another leadership than the school leaders and their position in and close to the classrooms enables leadership close to the classroom practice. First teachers and lecturers are already skilled leaders in their classrooms but the reform of career services brings a new leadership for teaching, in which there are some challenges. The reform of career services pronounces first teachers and lecturers as particularly skilled teachers and also brings more salary. This emerges balancing between unspoken conceptions about the leadership of first teachers and lecturers, which entails renegotiations of how first teachers and lecturers lead their teacher colleagues. In my case study I explore these unspoken conceptions and what impact they have on the improvement of teaching for the whole school. I also highlight what impact this has on the instructional leadership of the school leader.
