Processes of reforming: The case of the Norwegian state school inspection policy frameworks

Abstract

State school inspection in Norway has undergone multiple reform initiatives from the state level, a system predominantly aimed at controlling legal compliance of school districts and individual schools. Rather than focusing on policy reform, this article draws attention to how enactment of state inspection policy has taken place through institutional and dynamic processes of reforming, within and across hierarchical levels in organisations. Theoretically, the study applies an institutional understanding of the actor-centred concepts of reforming and policy enactment. The article historically analyses how inspection policy frameworks in Norway have evolved from control and support, via mere compliance control, to more recently include modes of evaluation and potential support. Finally, the article suggests that, by focusing on the dynamic relations and processes of policy enactment, it is possible to fully capture the complexity of reforming state inspection of schools.

Principals’ Enactment of Policy on Research-based Education: Interpreting and Facilitating Policy in Local School Settings in Sweden

“…Our study is situated within the extensive field of research on policies associated with national educational reforms (Ball & Junemann, 2012;Gustafsson, 2017;Hall, 2018;Lundahl, 2005). In efforts to understand the complexity of principals' engagement in facilitating research-based education, our theoretical starting point is inspired by research underlining the importance of contextual aspects to fully understand policy processes.…”

“…The increased attention paid to research-based education illustrates how nation states adapt to global trends and reformative efforts to develop education through transnational processes of policy borrowing and lending (Steiner-Khamsi, 2012). The transnational influences are adjusted nationally (and locally) due to variations in prevailing political, socio-economic, and cultural conditions (Ball & Junemann, 2012;Hall, 2018;Moos, 2013;Steiner-Khamsi, 2012), resulting in various national initiatives to exploit research in education, new policies, and the establishment of organizations for this purpose (Levin, 2013;OECD, 2007). For example, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have similar approaches to the establishment of national knowledge brokering organizations and their major objective to strengthen links between research-based knowledge, policy, and practice (Adolfsson et al, 2018;Wollscheid & Opheim, 2016).…”

«A-skole» eller «B-skole»? Målstyring og lærerprofesjonalitet i Osloskolen

“…I lys av Maroys postbyråkratiske styringsmodeller, er den evaluerende staten kanskje den mest fremtredende i norsk sammenheng. Det benyttes i liten grad konkurransefremmende virkemidler, og desentralisering har i utgangspunktet vaert vektlagt fremfor sentralisering (Hall, 2018). Reformen har imidlertid utviklet seg over tid.…”

“…Imidlertid er både praksisen med nasjonalt tilsyn og iverksettingen av elevenes lovfestede rettigheter mer pragmatisk orientert i Norge enn i mange andre land (Hall, 2016). Det benyttes ikke alvorlige sanksjoner mot lavt-presterende skoler, og beslutningsgrunnlaget i vanskelige situasjoner gir rom for yrkesetiske vurderinger, som betyr at de også ivaretar profesjonsbyråkratiske verdier (Hall, 2018;Møller & Sivesind, 2016).…”