Purpose. The purpose of the paper is to contribute to insights about successful school principalship in a Norwegian context. The paper draws specific attention to the role of values and trust. Norway has a strong ideological tradition based on ideas of inclusivity and democratic values, and trust in professionals. The Norwegian school context is also characterized by local freedom by awarding greater autonomy to lower levels of governing, such as municipalities and local authorities. However, emerging accountability and quality assessment practices have characterized processes of change in the last two decades, and attention is increasingly being directed toward trusting what can be measured by results. The aim of this paper has been to examine how successful school principalship with a specific attention to values and trust is perceived and experienced by multiple actors in four case schools, identifying key socio-cultural, economic, and policy enabling and constraining factors. Theoretical framework. The ecological system theory of Bronfenbrenner (1979), and complexity theory (Morrison, 2010) serve as analytic framework, supplied with theory on leadership as practice (Wilkins & Kemmis, 2015) paying attention to the diverse arrangements which educational leaders are organizing through sayings, relatings, and doings for the benefits of student learning and wellbeing. Methods, Sampling, Data Sources, and Analysis. The study is multiple perspective and builds on the voices of principals, assistant principals, middle leaders, and students from four primary and secondary schools in Norway. The content analysis has been supplemented by a discourse analytical approach. Findings. The findings suggest that combined with trust in the profession, the values of students’ wellbeing connected with student learning and results are central factors in all the four cases. The involvement of multiple actors in school principalship seem to be an enabling factor, as well as designing well-functioning organizational structures. Constraining factors seem to be related to loose coupling in the school organization, especially in large upper secondary schools. Significance. The study is significant because it draws on data from Norwegian context. Norway has introduced of a new common curriculum in Norway which strengthens the consideration to values in education.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374-393. Wilkins, J. & Kemmis, S. (2015). Practice theory: viewing leadership as leading. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47 (4): 342-58.