International studies discuss the differentiated impact of critical influences on teachers’ professional work. There are studies pointing at the complexity of the teacher profession (Day & Gu, 2010; Doyle, 2006), other studies have addressed redefinitions and changes in perceptions of teacher professionalism following policy changes ( Helgøy & Homme, 2007; Taylor, 2007). In Norway as well, there has been placed a stronger focus on the quality of teachers’ work, skills and competencies. The Norwegian school authorities are aiming at improving the quality of teaching in lower secondary schools by a national project considering school-based development as a collective and institutional matter (Directorate of Education and Training, 2012).

The material presented is taken from a research project with the objective to examine the terms and analyze conditions for teachers' development of relation based learning management. Four schools are involved in the study, and the research participants are teachers and principals. The purpose of this presentation is to critically explore conditions of teachers’ professional development, with a special focus on teacher commitment and cooperative practice based on semi-structured interviews with 12 teachers and 4 principals in four different lower secondary schools. The question her is: What kind of discourses is activated within secondary school when teachers’ competence is at stake?

The theoretical framework is based on social-constructivist theories, with focus on knowledge and learning in interaction with professional and political environments. I have chosen an ecological approach, emphasizing a system- and relational-oriented perspective on how competence development may contribute to teachers’ approaches of encountering, communication practices, strategies of establishing confidence and recognition (cf. Irgens, 2011). Objectives for school-based competence development is to provide amendments that involve enduring progress, that it helps to new ways of thinking and acting (cf. Fullan, 2007). Teacher commitment has been found to be a critical predictor of teachers’ work performance, in addition to having an important influence on students’ motivation, achievement and attitudes towards learning (Day, Elliot & Kington, 2005). Tyree’s (1996) four dimensions of commitment among primary school teachers will be used in the analyses.

Day, C, B. Elliot, & Kington, A. (2005). Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment. Teaching and Teacher Education 21, pp. 563-577. Day, C. & Gu, Q. (2010). The New Lives of Teachers. Teacher quality and school development. London and New York: Routledge. Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th.ed.). New York: Teacher College Press. Helgøy,I. & Homme, A. (2007). Towards a new professionalism in school? A comparative study of teacher autonomy in Norway and Sweden. European Educational Research Journal, 6 (3) 232–249 Irgens, E.J. (2011). Dynamiske og lærende organisasjoner. Ledelse og utvikling i et arbeidsliv i endring. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. Taylor, I. (2007). Discretion and control in education: The teacher as street-level bureaucrat Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 35 (4), 555–572.