Danish Successful School Leadership – Revisited

Abstract

In the first round of visits to schools 4–5 years ago in the ISSPP context, we found that the couplings between the state, local authorities and schools were changing. Some were being loosened and some were beginning to be tightened. The decentralisation of public sectors had been started some 20 years previously and at this point in time, a counter movement of re-centralisation was being initiated (Moos, Krejsler, Kofod, and Jensen, J Educ Admin 43(6): 563–572, 2005; Moos, Krejsler, Kofod, and Jensen, Communicative strategies among successful Danish school principals, in Day and Leithwood (eds), Principal leadership in times of change, Springer, Twente, 2007).

We went back to three schools and found that the tightening of couplings had accelerated: Curriculum and evaluation of student outcomes had, to some extent, been taken to the national level and a number of social technologies were put in action to the same effect. To mention only a few: The Quality reports from schools to local authority to ministry had been introduced. National testing had multiplied from one grade (school leaving tests) to all grades.

While we saw rather big differences between the schools at our first visit in respect to relations and leading (Moos, Krejsler, and Kofod, Meninger i ledelse – succesfuld skoleledelse mellem visioner og selvledelse [Senses in leadership - successful school leadership between visions and selfleadership], Dafolo, Frederikshavn, 2007), the differences seem to have diminished over the past 4–5 years. Principals then considered it a major responsibility to act pro-actively in ‘setting and negotiating’ the direction of the school. Now they are more inclined to name those activities as ‘translations’ of legitimate external expectations to staff because the expectations have been made more explicit and detailed.

The political trend towards narrowing the focus of schooling seems to be successful in terms of test results. All three schools perform better now than previously in the national tests. The challenge to the principals is to sustain this development and at the same time take care of the comprehensive vision of ‘Democratic Bildung’(Moos et al., 2007).