Session Information
26 SES 10 B, Successful Principals and Inservice Training
Paper Session
Contribution
The study deals with international influences on Finnish school leadership. Specifically the study is about Michael Fullan’s and Andy Hargreaves’ impact on the field.
Question: ‘Now the circle closes?’ was one of the two triggers for the study. Closing the circle metaphorically depicts the past decades of Finnish school leadership; the development of research and in-service training, gradually increasing research and theoretical modeling leading to the day, when the Finnish school leadership is an educational product for exportation. The other trigger was the claim that Michael Fullan’s Change Forces –trilogy’s part one (1993, in Finnish 1994), has been influential in Finland. This interest in Fullan was extended to include his writings with Hargreaves and, then to include Hargreaves as well.
Both triggers are relevant, because in the beginning 1990s Finnish research about school leadership was scarce, even if the role of school leader was getting more important. A related fact is that until recently the Finns have based their research and ideas about school leadership on international literature. However, there has been a change within past 10 years. Doctoral research has started to flourish and professionals consider Finnish school leadership as something worth exporting and to be offered for international education markets. (Ahtiainen, forthcoming; Erätuuli & Leino, 1992; Hämäläinen 1986; Risku & Kanervio, 2011)
The purpose of this study was threefold. First, to look at Fullan’s and Hargreaves’ references in Finnish doctoral research on school leadership, to list the most used literature and evaluate how the literature is used, in order to evaluate their influence as international authorities. Second, examine how theories of Fullan and Hargreaves are applied to in-service training for school leaders. And third, to describe and interpret the development of research on and in-service training for school leaders in Finland.
In a wider sense, this study is related to discussion about educational globalization and travelling of theoretical ideas across borders, as well as dealing with English as lingua franca of science and culture. Besides, all these concepts are related to the challenges of global education policy and to the PISA-effect. (E.g. Harris, 2012; Suárez-Ortega , García-Mingo & Ruiz San-Román, 2012.)
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Erätuuli, M. & Leino, J. (1992). Rehtori koulunsa pedagogisena johtajana. [Principal as pedagogical leader.]University of Helsinki. Department of Education. Research report 134. Harris, A. (2012). Leading system-wide improvement. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 15 (3), 395-401. DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2012.661879 Harvey, W.S. (2010). Methodological approaches for interviewing elites. Geography Compass, 4(3), 193-205. Hämäläinen, K. (1986). Koulun johtaja ja koulun kehittäminen. [School leader and school development.] Jyväskylä: Gummerus. Risku, M., & Kanervio, P. (2011). Doctoral and Regular Research on Principals in Finland 2000 - 2010. In O. Johansson (Ed.), Rektor – en forskningsöversikt 2000–2010. Vetenskapsrådets rapportserie 4:2011, 161-186. Vetenskapsrådet. Retrieved from http://cm.e-line.nu/servlet/us_pyra?wts.PAGE=h_ix3.htm&wts.ACTION=loginguest&p=H Silverman, D. (2010). Doing qualitative research. A practical handbook. 3rd ed. London: SAGE. Smith, K.E. (2006). Problematising power relations in ‘elite’ interviews. Goeforum 37(4), 643-653. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2005.11.002 Suárez-Ortega , M., García-Mingo, E. & Ruiz San-Román, J.A. (2012). When Español is not enough: research, write, translate and publish or … perish. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 15 (4), 463-482. DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2012.696709
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