Förändringar i rektorers pedagogiska ledarskap efter tre års gemensam kompetensutveckling

Abstract

Expectations and demands on principals to address pedagogical leadership is high. However, conceptualization of what pedagogical leadership encompasses and how it can be turned into leadership practice is rare. This paper reports on principals’ changes in their pedagogical leadership after a three-year professional development initiative in a Swedish municipality including all 70 principals. Theoretical point of departure is sensemaking and dimensions of pedagogical leadership. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with 15 of the participating principals. The analysis shows that participating in the initiative gave principals knowledge about their pedagogical leadership that made them do changes in their leading practices to open up for participation, to better adapt to the needs of the organization and to keep focus on the curriculum goals. The importance of principals’ own learning and knowledge about teaching and learning based on research was the least prominent dimension in the analysis. Moreover, how to use data to analyze results in order to improve teaching and learning together with teachers did not appear in the result which draws attention to principals’ real possibilities of enacting the role as leaders of professional learning and educational development.