Traditionally, principals have been protectors of teachers’ interest rather than representatives of the political administration. Since the 1980s, however, market-based reforms in public education have been evident in numerous European countries: e.g., in the Netherlands, the UK and Sweden. These reforms have changed both the organizational setting of public education and the relationship between teachers and principals. As local school entities are transformed into autonomous organizations, teachers and principals encounter new roles which clearly challenge the conventional teacher-principal relationship. Based on survey data including Swedish teachers and principals, this paper initially shows that principals constitute somewhat of a Trojan horse at the local school level. As a result of marketisation of public education in Sweden, the political administration at the municipal level has gained an increased authority over individual school entities. Clearly, the Swedish teachers are sceptical towards the municipal influence and want to reduce this authority. Paradoxically, at the same time as the teachers want to reduce the authority from the municipal school administration they welcome a strengthening of principals’ control. When administrative conflicts occur between the local school entity and the municipal school administration, Swedish principals, however, tend to adopt the role as representatives of the local political administration rather than being protectors of teachers’ interests. Consequently, as teachers call for increased discretion for principals they ultimately open up the door for an influence from the municipal school administration. This comprises what we call the paradox of the teacher-principal relationship. As marketisation has gained a large spreading in numerous Western educational sectors, explaining how marketisation influence the relationship between teachers and principals becomes increasingly important. So far, the literature has seldom focused on the teacher-principal relationship in the context of marketisation in public education. The paradox of the teacher-principal relationship clearly comprises a theoretical challenge in this perspective: First, why are teachers hostile towards the influence from the municipal school administration? Second, why are principals devoted to the municipal school administration rather than protectors of teachers’ professional interests? Third, why are teachers loyal to their principals despite the fact that principals first and fare most act as representatives of the municipal school administration? By using the paradox of the teacher-principal relationship as a starting point, this paper sets out to develop an explanatory model for addressing this paradox.

The first part of the study is mainly descriptive in its character. The paradox of the teacher-principal relationship is described using survey data. In the spring of 2005 two surveys were sent to a randomly selected sample of Swedish principals and teachers in primary and secondary education. Altogether, 64 percent of the principals (or 1031 principals) and 55 percent of the teachers (or 1324 teachers) answered the surveys. The aim of the second part of the paper is to develop a theoretical model which explains the paradox of the teacher-principal relationship. Our argument is developed by using the literature on marketisation in the public sector and by using the organizational literature on the role of professions in public organizations. Furthermore, our argument is strengthened by in-dept interviews with individual teachers and principals as well as with representatives of teachers’ and principals’ unions.

We argue that the paradox of the teacher-principal relationship is a result of different strategies among teachers and principals when it comes to the introduction of market standards in public education. The Swedish teachers are, at the one hand, mainly sceptical towards marketisation. Following marketisation, the increased municipal influence threatens to reduce the influence of teachers’ professional unions. The Swedish principals, at the other hand, are mainly positive to marketisation and regard the restructuring of public education as a window of opportunity. The marketisation of public education is used as a chance to develop an own professional autonomy and to increase their professional status. However, the professionalization of principals has a price as principals are turned into managers instead of members of the teacher profession. The principals have to perform somewhat of a balancing act between the professional interest of teachers and the increased authority of the municipal school administration.