Within the educational literature, inter-organisational school networks are commonly considered instruments for administration, management, and school improvement, but are rarely scrutinised as objects of study themselves. Conversely, in organisational studies, this perspective is given more prominence. Adopting this perspective can provide insights into the possibility that schools are engaging unevenly in inter-organisational networks, with some…

The aim of this study was to capture the characteristics of teacher collaboration and aspects of teacher culture which hinder or enable co-teaching in Finnish schools where co-teaching has been implemented. The data of this multiple case study were collected in three Finnish primary schools where co-teaching between special education and class teachers has been…

This study unpacks team teaching in two case schools with ILEs, each characterised by distinct organisational structures. Teacher interviews provided data analysed through a model identifying a continuum of teacher interaction. Findings reveal that while co-location and coordination lay the groundwork for managing shared spaces, achieving pedagogical cooperation and collaboration requires deliberate strategies to realise…

This study examines the evolution of educational leadership in Sweden from a traditional model toward collaborative approaches as principals and deputy principals form new school leadership teams. Using a qualitative case study design, data were collected through interviews and observations within six leadership teams. (pdf)

Despite the recognition of the local education administration (LEA) as a pivotal actor in the enhancement of quality, previous research incorporating both the LEA and school principals remains scarce. The current study aims to enhance the understanding of different types of discursive contradictions in collaboration and explore the possible consequences of contradictions between the LEA…

Contemporary currents in school leadership increasingly focus on collaboration and participation. In Sweden, notions of “communal pedagogical leadership” emphasize teachers’ roles in shaping the desired school, introducing Collaborative Professional Learning (CPL) as an organizational necessity. This article provides a governmentality analysis of CPL manuals from 2019 to 2022, exploring the rationalities employed in its framework…

It has been argued that successful teacher collaboration is challenging to implement in a secondary school context, where teaching is based on subjects. However, collaboration between subject teachers and special education teachers (SETs) is important, especially in promoting inclusion. This is why we wanted to determine what is included in their collaboration in Finnish secondary…

Structured teacher collaboration has considerable potential to support teachers’ professional learning. The current article focuses on what characterises teachers’ decision-making processes during teamwork.