In the last decades, policy reform processes in education sign a change from the Nordic social democratic past by supporting an increasingly market-liberal vision of education (Imsen et al. 2017). In Norway this can be seen by growing numbers of private schools (author, 2018) and changes towards a more diverse, competitive and consumer oriented corpus of private schools. Increasing attention in research is given to developments of private schools and the autonomy of schools and school leaders (e g. Salokangas & Ainscow, 2017, Volckmar 2010). Norway represents an interesting case with both similar and different characteristics compared to trends for private schooling; for instance, increased autonomy is granted in order to allow implementation of particular profile, belief or special pedagogical orientation. However, schools are not allowed to be run as profitable businesses. In contrast to longstanding traditions of debate about the existence of private schools very few studies have looked into the practices of teachers and principals in private schools. More knowledge is needed in order to understand how these reform processes plays out and govern private school practices. The aim of this study is to zoom in on how private schools teachers experience autonomy in decision-making processes. The paper draws on document analysis of local school documents and interview data. The study undertakes in-depth interviews with school leaders and teachers from three different private profile schools: international, pedagogical and religious. To analyse experiences of teachers’ autonomy this study focuses on the concepts of decision-making and control inspired by an analytical matrix designed by Wermke, Rick & Salokangas (2018). The preliminary results of the study provide insights into variations in how teachers in different private schools experience control over school results and classroom-level decisions.

Imsen, G., Blossing, U., & Moos, L. (2017). Reshaping the Nordic education model in an era of efficiency. Changes in the comprehensive school project in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden since the millennium. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 61(5), 568-583. Salokangas, M., & Ainscow, M. (2017). Inside the Autonomous School : Making Sense of a Global Educational Trend. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315444086 Volckmar, N. (2010). En skole for alle” og privatisering-en analyse av de skandinaviske landenes privatiseringspolitikk [A School for all” and privatisation–An investigation of privatisation in Scandinavian education policy]. Uddannelseshistorie 2010. Fællesskab og elite: Skolen mellem det offentlige og private, 44, 33-49. Wermke, W., Rick, S. O., & Salokangas, M. (2018). Decision-making and control: perceived autonomy of teachers in Germany and Sweden. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 0(0), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2018.1482960