Balancing

Trust and Control:

The Norwegian Approach to School Development

SIEE2
Santiago, Chile
October 17th 2018
Astrid Tolo
(UoB)
 OVERVIEW

▸  Conceptual framework
▸  The Norwegian Context
▸  Project background, method and
analyses
▸  The trust based approach
 SCHOOL
DEVELOPMENT

PROFESSIONAL
DESCRETION
AND TRUST

IMPLEMENTATION ACCOUNTABILITY
 SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT

▸  Educational systems are typically loosely coupled

and layered, and responsibility vaguely
distrubuted among stakeholders (Weick, 1976)
 IMPLEMENTATION

▸  Implementation is seen as Policy enactment…how

schools actually deal with demands, interpret policy
and translate into practice - in their own context…
(Ball, Maguire and Brown 2012)

▸  School leaders are key actors in implementation

processes
 ACCOUNTABILITY

▸  ”Accountability is a process, aimed at helping actors

reach responsibilities and reach goals. Individuals and
institutions are obliged… to provide an account about
how they meet clearly defined responsibilities” (Unesco
GEM report 2017)
▸  Information phase (collection of retrospective information)

▸  Debating phase (assessment of information)

▸  Consequences phase (based on judgements)
 PROFESSIONAL DISCRETION AND TRUST
•  Professional discretion is based on different forms
of knowledge illuminating problems to be solved
in practice, and the way these can be solved
(competence).
•  Trust in professional work is based on showing
competence, honesty and reliability (O´Neill
2013) and chains of trust within a profession/
orgnaisation (Grimen 2009)
 SCHOOL
DEVELOPMENT

PROFESSIONAL
DESCRETION
AND TRUST

IMPLEMENTATION ACCOUNTABILITY
Norway


5 million inhabitants
Norway
19 counties

425 municipalities
Capital - Oslo

10 years obligatory edcucation

13 years right to education
97% public schools


 Levels of governance and different stakeholders in the education system
Stakeholders at
both state and
Levels of governance local levels
Association of local
Ministry of Education
and regional
authorities
Directorate of Education
Teachers union

County
Governor National centers

REPORTS
Teacher education
Local government Regional government
municipalities (428) Counties (19)
Parent organisations

Primary and lower Upper secondary Vocational

secondary schools schools education, inc. Student organisations
apprenticeships
Key tools Description Use of results by Purpose
National Mandatory for Years 5, 8 and 9. National At the national level, results are used
tests Assessment of students’ basic skills in authorities to inform education policy and
reading, mathematics and English School owners allocation of resources towards
Schools municipalities with special challenges.
At the local level, results inform school
evaluation and improvements.
User Pupil Surveys are mandatory in Years 7, 10 National Results are used at all levels to analyse
surveys and Vg1. Schools can also administer them authorities and develop the learning environment.
in other years. Parent Surveys and Teacher School owners Results may also be used for research
Surveys are voluntary. Schools purposes.
Mapping Avaliable for Years 1, 2, 3 and Vg1. School owners Identify pupils who need extra help
tests Assessments of basic skills in reading and Schools and adapted teaching at a early stage
mathematics. Some are mandatory and in their schooling.
some are voluntary.
Point-of- Available for schools to structure a Schools Inform school self-evaluation and
view systematic review of their teaching practice improvement.
analysis and results.
tool
Organisati Available for school to review the school as Schools Inform school self-evaluation and
onal a workplace for its staff and identify improvement.
analysis aspects that may impact teaching and
tool learning quality.

Template Available for school owners to assist them School owners Assist school owners in the
to prepare in the preparation of their annual status requirement to complete annual
local reports. The Template tool includes data status reports and strengthen
for both mandatory and suggested education system monitoring at the
 THE NORWEGIAN CONTEXT
▸  No coherent test-based accountability system
▸  Little emphasis on high stakes testing
(compared with e.g. England)
▸  Trust in teachers´ professional (subjective)
knowledge is integral to the education system
▸  Assessment for Learning (AfL) introduced in the
education act in 2009
▸  National programme for implementation of AfL
from 2010
 THE NORWEGIAN CONTEXT: A TRUST BASED CULTURE?

In a trust based culture“there is a

considerable reliance on prescribed
processes and selective and sparing use
of sanctions” (O´Neill, 2014, p. 172).
RQ: How do school
leaders act as
intermediaries
between stakeholders
when implementing
AfL?
 INTRODUCTION OF
ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING
http://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/governing-complex-education-systems-casestudies.htm
 Governing complex education systems.
A Norwegian case study

IMPLEMENTATION OF AFL

Central theme: Balancing trust

and control
 METHOD

•  The original study had 56 semi-structured

interviews with stakeholders at all levels
•  All interviews originally transcribed as part
of the OECD study
•  For this study - analyses of interviews with 8
school leaders in 4 municipalities (primary
and lower-secondary schools)
 CONSTRUCTIVE/HERMENAUTICAL ANALYSIS

•  Leaders’ personal knowledge represented

trough their sense-making (Hatch 2002)
•  Codes driven from theories on trust:
Narratives about relations - and precautions
(distrust) and lack of precautions (trust) (O´Neill
2002, 2013, 2013b, 2014 and Grimen 2012)

•  School leaders’ approaches to

implementation of AfL appeared from our
data analysis (the material)
FINDINGS
SCHOOL LEADERS RELATE TO
MUNICIPALITY AND TEACHERS
 SCHOOL LEADERS EXPERIENCE HUGE
VARIATIONS IN

▸  School Organisation
▸  Quality of municipal support
▸  Demands
▸  Control and /or trust
… FROM MUNICIPALITY LEVEL
This influences how they act
 THREE PATTERNS OF SCHOOL CULTURES AND APPROACHES
TO IMPLEMENTATION

Blind- Active
trust (dis-)trust Dis-trust

Action: follow balance abdicate

Initiatives: teachers leaders municipality
Knowledge: teachers leaders/ outside
teachers school
 WAY FORWARD:
RECLAIM PROFESSIONAL AUTHORITY
▸  Leaders must
▸  be trustworthy (based on competence, honesty and reliability)

▸  know where to find support

▸  judge trustworthiness ”upwards and downwards”
▸  know how to judge teachers’ professional competence
▸  to balance trust and control in an informed (but not
controlling) way
▸  Implies DIALOGIC RELATIONSHIPS