Abstract
This chapter aims to situate cultural and moral dimensions of Norwegian educational leadership within the broader social and political environment and in relation to political-ideological transformations that have taken place during the last 70 years. The analysis draws on historical and contemporary research on education policy and leadership. I start by drawing attention to some aspects of the ideology and history of Norwegian education to demonstrate the historical, political and cultural embeddedness of the education system. Purposes, curricula and moral foundation will be highlighted, and this analysis will be followed by a presentation of key principles for organising and leading schools today. I will use findings from three comparative research studies among school leaders to illustrate and discuss changes in conceptualizing educational leadership over time, and why. These findings indicate which conditions there are in Norway for adoption of theories of school leadership and governance that have been circulating internationally in research network. Finally, I will discuss how the cultural dimensions and key principles for organising and leading schools intersect with current globalised policy trends, and where there is likely to be tensions between these global trends and the political, cultural and historical imperatives of educational leadership and schooling.
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Notes
- 1.
At the same time, the nation-building project tended, in the past, to exclude the cultural rights of ethnic minorities in education. This was the case, for instance, for the Sami people and the Kvens (Stugu, 2001).
- 2.
In the new millennium, the individual aspect of equity in public discourse has increasingly been restricted to discussions about student performance in both national tests and international comparative assessments and to the demand for school choice (Volckmar, 2019).
- 3.
In 2019–2020, there were 792 schools with fewer than 100 students out of the total 2800 compulsory schools; 195 schools, most of which are located in the Oslo area, had more than 500 students (UDIR, 2019).
- 4.
There is, however, immense regional variation. While 16% of the upper secondary students in Oslo and Hordaland (including Bergen) attend a private school, fewer than 1% do so in Finnmark.
- 5.
The principals who participated in the LEXEL project from 2012–2016 told similar stories when they argued that feeling safe and confident, both academically and socially, served as the foundation for students’ well-being (Ottesen & Møller, 2016).
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Møller, J. (2021). Images of Norwegian Educational Leadership – Historical and Current Distinctions. In: Normand, R., Moos, L., Liu, M., Tulowitzki, P. (eds) The Cultural and Social Foundations of Educational Leadership. Educational Governance Research, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74497-7_4
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