Decision-making in Context: Swedish and Finnish Teachers’ Perceptions of Autonomy

Paulsrud, David; Wermke, Wieland

doi:10.1080/00313831.2019.1596975

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…As recent comparative research focussing on teacher autonomy has revealed, nation-specific ideas of a profession can be strongly rooted in the perceptions professionals have of themselves, and in what autonomy means for them (Errs and Kalmus, 2018; Paulsrud and Wermke, 2019), and it is therefore worthwhile to examine how teachers in different national contexts perceive their autonomy. Comparisons between Irish and Finnish teachers in particular are justifiable and worthwhile for three main reasons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ autonomy deconstructed: Irish and Finnish teachers’ perceptions of decision-making and control

Salokangas¹,

Wermke

Harvey

2019

European Educational Research Journal

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Teacher autonomy has been a popular topic of investigation over the past decades. This article contributes to the debate by casting light on Irish and Finnish teachers’ perceptions of their professional autonomy, drawing from teacher interviews conducted in both countries. The intersection of newly introduced curriculum reforms, differing education governance models and differing control regimes make Ireland and Finland fertile points of comparison. Teacher autonomy is understood in this article as a multidimensional and context-dependent phenomenon, and the conceptualisation is presented in an analytical matrix applicable to comparative research. Findings indicate that teachers in both countries consider themselves very autonomous in their classroom practice and in their educational decisions overall. However, where much of the school-level decision-making in Finnish schools concerning educational, social and developmental issues tends to be in the hands of teachers (either collegially or as individuals), in Irish schools the senior management, and especially the principal, is reportedly more involved. Possibly the greatest difference is the ways in which teachers’ work is controlled, and in how teachers perceive it; Finnish teachers report intensified external control from the civil society, whereas on top of parental pressures Irish teachers report also increasing pressures from the state agencies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ autonomy deconstructed: Irish and Finnish teachers’ perceptions of decision-making and control

Salokangas¹,

Wermke

Harvey

2019

European Educational Research Journal

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“…For example, it would be interesting to investigate questions such as whether external validation (global attention) to Finnish teachers' autonomy has contributed to Finnish teachers' perceptions of their work. Do, for example, Finnish teachers consider themselves to be more autonomous than their Swedish colleagues, even though the differences are not very significant (Paulsrud & Wermke, 2019)?…”

Section: Discussion and Concluding Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this article, building from existing conceptualisations that acknowledge teacher autonomy as a multidimensional phenomenon, we propose an analytical device, that, following Wilches' recommendation, brings existing conceptualisations together in the form of an analytical matrix, that can be applied in teacher autonomy studies. Our suggestion is a product of an extensive empirical research project on the nature of teacher autonomy from a comparative perspective involving teachers from different national contexts, which provides us with the resources for robust conceptual development and empirical application (Paulsrud & Wermke, 2019;Salokangas & Wermke, 2020;Salokangas, Wermke, & Harvey, 2019, 2020Wermke, Olason Rick, & Salokangas, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpacking autonomy for empirical comparative investigation

Salokangas

Wermke

2020

Oxford Review of Education

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Teacher autonomy has been a topic of growing interest over recent decades. However, what teacher autonomy means remains work in progress. Drawing from existing conceptualisations, which consider teacher autonomy as a multidimensional and context-dependent phenomenon this paper presents an analytical device applicable in international comparative studies. The conceptualisation is presented in the form of a matrix, which distinguishes different domains and levels of teacher autonomy. A sample of existing research is then utilised to demonstrate how the matrix can assist in cumulative knowledge building. The article demonstrates how the matrix can be applied, in particular, to empirical comparative research.

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“…Teacher autonomy can be defined as teachers' capacity to independently decide and determine their actions within the given contextual frame of constraints in which they operate (Wermke and Höstfält 2014;Paulsrud and Wermke 2019). Teacher autonomy thus is a multidimensional, complex, context-specific phenomenon existing at different levels (Wilches 2007).…”

Section: Teacher Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ perceptions of autonomy in the tensions between a subject focus and a cross-curricular school profile: A case study of a Finnish upper secondary school

Elo

Nygren-Landgärds

2020

J Educ Change

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Recent research has indicated global trends of decreasing teacher autonomy and increasing teacher accountability. Standardised national tests have been identified as one of many factors constraining teacher autonomy. Another trend influencing teachers’ scope of action is the profiling and branding of schools that compete for students. This qualitative case study concerns the general upper secondary level in Finland, the only level of education in the country with a high-stakes final examination—the matriculation exam. The upper secondary level is generally regarded as Finland’s most subject-focused level of education. In contrast to this subject-focused tradition, the case school for this research has developed a cross-curricular profile emphasising creativity, boundary crossing and an outward orientated approach. The study explores the teachers’ perceptions of how their autonomy is constrained in this context characterised by tensions between the cross-curricular school profile on one hand, and the subject-focused tradition and student evaluations on the other. Although one might expect these tensions to constrain teacher autonomy, the results show that the teachers, in fact, experience the cross-curricular school profile as increasing their individual autonomy. The study demonstrates that upper secondary teachers can experience extensive autonomy despite global trends of increasing teacher accountability and diminishing teacher autonomy.

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Decision-making in Context: Swedish and Finnish Teachers’ Perceptions of Autonomy

Cited by 29 publications

References 30 publications

Teachers’ autonomy deconstructed: Irish and Finnish teachers’ perceptions of decision-making and control

Teachers’ autonomy deconstructed: Irish and Finnish teachers’ perceptions of decision-making and control

Unpacking autonomy for empirical comparative investigation

Teachers’ perceptions of autonomy in the tensions between a subject focus and a cross-curricular school profile: A case study of a Finnish upper secondary school

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