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Haglund, B. & Glaés-Coutts, L. (2023). Leading and supporting: principals reflect on their task as pedagogical leaders of Swedish school-age educare. School Leadership and Management, 43(1), 8-27
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Leading and supporting: principals reflect on their task as pedagogical leaders of Swedish school-age educare
2023 (English)In: School Leadership and Management, ISSN 1363-2434, E-ISSN 1364-2626, Vol. 43, no 1, p. 8-27Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Principals in Sweden face leadership challenges as pedagogical leaders of School-age educare Centers (SAECs). This study examines how principals identify both professional development needs as well as challenges they face in supporting the SAEC teachers. The empirical data is based on reflections from 29 principals and vice-principals from four different municipalities in Sweden, which were analyzed using a framework for successful school leadership (Leithwood, K., A. Harris, and D. Hopkins. 2020. “Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited.” School Leadership & Management 40 (1): 5–22) and thematic analysis. Within the key areas for development three main themes were found: personal professional understanding of SAEC, building collaborative cultures within and between SAEC departments, and increasing student participation and engagement. The participants further identified specific challenges in supporting the SAEC teachers: building a culture of collaboration between SAEC and the compulsory school, structuring planning and collaboration, and improving assessment practices in SAEC.The results highlight how by not prioritizing the work in SAECs has impacted their ability to lead the program; they emphasize their need to improve and develop the SAECs and their desire to change their leadership priorities.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis Group, 2023
National Category
Didactics
Research subject
Education, Didactics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-117147 (URN)10.1080/13632434.2022.2137725 (DOI)000874743200001 ()2-s2.0-85140837996 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-10-28 Created: 2022-10-28 Last updated: 2023-03-22Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. (2023). Rektors pedagogiska ledarskap från ett forskarperspektiv..
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Rektors pedagogiska ledarskap från ett forskarperspektiv.
2023 (Swedish)Other (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
Publisher
p. 13
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-120661 (URN)
Available from: 2023-05-11 Created: 2023-05-11 Last updated: 2023-05-31Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. (2023). The Principal as the Instructional Leader in School-Age Educare. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 22(4), 873-889
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The Principal as the Instructional Leader in School-Age Educare
2023 (English)In: Leadership and Policy in Schools, ISSN 1570-0763, E-ISSN 1744-5043, Vol. 22, no 4, p. 873-889Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

With the inclusion of school-age educare (SAEC) in the Swedish National curriculum in 2016, the principal’s role now includes pedagogical leadership in SAEC. This study consists of reflection responses provided by twenty principals in the project The Pedagogical task of School Age educare. Findings indicate that a minority of the participants have a good grasp of the instructional aspect of the SAEC program. As the Swedish national principal training program currently does not specifically address the SAEC program, principals are at a disadvantage when it comes to their ability to lead and develop this part of the Swedish school system.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis Group, 2023
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-108956 (URN)10.1080/15700763.2021.2019792 (DOI)000735883200001 ()2-s2.0-85122086388 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-01-11 Created: 2022-01-11 Last updated: 2023-11-08Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. & Bossér, U. (2022). Curriculum making in preschool: developing conversations arounda reflection tool to deconstruct curriculum language. In: Education between Hope and Happening – Developing Powerful Curriculum Theorizing in Challenging Times, 9:e Nordiska Läroplansteorikonferensen, Linnéuniversitetet, 20-21 oktober 2022, Abstracts: . Paper presented at 9:e Nordiska Läroplansteorikonferensen Linnéuniversitetet, 20-21 oktober 2022 (pp. 21-22). Linnéuniversitetet
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Curriculum making in preschool: developing conversations arounda reflection tool to deconstruct curriculum language
2022 (English)In: Education between Hope and Happening – Developing Powerful Curriculum Theorizing in Challenging Times, 9:e Nordiska Läroplansteorikonferensen, Linnéuniversitetet, 20-21 oktober 2022, Abstracts, Linnéuniversitetet , 2022, p. 21-22Conference paper, Oral presentation only (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Policy reforms in Sweden during the last decades have led to preschool now being included in the Swedish school system. This means that education in preschool, beyond the mandate of care, now includes teaching which is defined as goal-oriented activities (Curriculum for the Preschool, 2018; SFS 2010:800). While the most recent curriculum has been in place since 2018, the shift from care to education has been a long journey, where principals and preschool teachers often struggle to interpret the curriculum. At the center of this debate is the construct of teaching in preschool. While the curriculum contains content areas similar to school subjects such as language, mathematics and science, it states that care, development and learning should form a whole and that play is central to education, as per the Swedish preschool tradition. Thus, it is understandable that teaching is a disputed term in the preschool context as it has to be recontextualized from its traditional application in school (Melker et al., 2018). In a recent report, the Swedish Schools Inspectorate stated that teaching in preschool is not sufficiently goal-oriented and needs to be clarified (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2018).

To develop and strengthen evidence-based practices, the Curriculum for the Preschool states that “all members of the work team [should] systematically and continuously document, monitor, evaluate and analyze the results of the education” (2018, p. 12). Staff employed at Swedish preschools are licensed preschool teachers as well as early childhood educators who have completed a three-year high school education program. The variety of educational backgrounds among the staff can lead to disparate understandings of how to interpret and enact the prescribed curriculum, in terms of how goal-oriented activities could be implemented, documented and evaluated.

The present study is an ongoing action research project in collaboration with staff in two preschools who are looking to further develop evidence-based teaching practices through reviewing and revising a reflection protocol that they use in their regular planning and evaluation practice. This study draws upon an ecological view of teacher agency (Priestly et al., 2015) to understand the process of how the staff develop their professional knowledge. We view the staff as agents of change and seek to understand and describe their motivation as well as their process of developing practices based on research and evidence, framed by affordances and constraints of the context.

Notes from meetings between staff and researchers, as well as notes from staff meetings and a questionnaire that the participants filled out, have been analyzed thematically. Initial findings indicate that collegial discussions, centered around questions provided by the researchers, provided a common ground for deconstructing curriculum language and contributed to a shared focus on goal-orientation concerning children’s learning. Uncertainty of the meaning of evidence-based practices, as well as diverse interpretations of key concepts, seemed to constrain the staff’s collective agency in the process of developing teaching in preschool based on evidence-based practices. 

Curriculum for the Preschool. (2018). Swedish National Agency for Education. 

Melker, K., Mellgren, E., & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2018). Undervisning i förskolan – en fråga om att stötta och att skapa gemensamt fokus. Forskning om undervisning och lärande, 1(6), 64-86.

Priestly, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: what is it and why does it matter? In R. Kneyber & J. Evers (Eds.), Flip the System: Changing Education from the Bottom Up. Routledge.

SFS 2010:800. Skollag [Swedish Education Act]

Swedish Schools Inspectorate. (2018). Förskolans kvalitet och måluppfyllelse – ett treårigt projekt att granska förskolan. Skolinspektionen [Swedish Schools Inspectorate] 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Linnéuniversitetet, 2022
National Category
Pedagogy
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences, Education
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-117078 (URN)
Conference
9:e Nordiska Läroplansteorikonferensen Linnéuniversitetet, 20-21 oktober 2022
Available from: 2022-10-24 Created: 2022-10-24 Last updated: 2023-05-31Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. & Nilsson, H. (2021). Who owns the knowledge?: Knowledge construction as part of the school improvement process. Improving Schools, 24(1), 62-75
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Who owns the knowledge?: Knowledge construction as part of the school improvement process
2021 (English)In: Improving Schools, ISSN 1365-4802, E-ISSN 1475-7583, Vol. 24, no 1, p. 62-75Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

When Sweden began to experience a steady decline in student achievement results in PISA and TIMMS, the Swedish National Agency of Education initiated a model of collaboration with Swedish universities aimed at providing support to schools with falling student achievement scores. In this article, we examine how such projects can work at the local school level. Our focus is mainly on how knowledge construction can be realized for teachers and principals; we reflect on whose knowledge is valued, and we explore what role research texts play in school improvement. Working within the frames of both social and cultural processes, we looked at how teachers and principals are provided opportunities to develop and define their own professional understanding of school improvement. We found that knowledge construction of school improvement, as both a political and cultural process, needed to be based on local needs. The guidance of a knowledgeable other in interpreting research literature on school improvement can support such knowledge construction only when the local needs and history are part of the process.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2021
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-96522 (URN)10.1177/1365480220929767 (DOI)000542317700001 ()2-s2.0-85086643475 (Scopus ID)2020 (Local ID)2020 (Archive number)2020 (OAI)
Available from: 2020-06-19 Created: 2020-06-19 Last updated: 2023-03-24Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. (2020). University-Supported Networks as Professional Development for Teachers in School-Age Educare. International Journal for Research on Extended Education, 8(1), 66-79
Open this publication in new window or tab >>University-Supported Networks as Professional Development for Teachers in School-Age Educare
2020 (English)In: International Journal for Research on Extended Education, ISSN 2196-3673, E-ISSN 2196-7423, Vol. 8, no 1, p. 66-79Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

One of the most valued types of professional learning for teachers are forums that allow them to share their practices with other teachers. This paper examines how university-based learning networks support the professional development needs of teachers in School-Age educare. University- supported networks provide a more informal approach to professional learning and allow the teachers in School-Age educare to connect with other teachers in their field. The networks further provide the participants with an opportunity to be an active part of the research that is conducted at the university and a platform for developing a collective agency.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2020
Keywords
network; professional learning; school-age educare; teacher agency
National Category
Learning
Research subject
Education, General Didactics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-99665 (URN)10.3224/ijree.v8i1.06 (DOI)
Available from: 2020-12-22 Created: 2020-12-22 Last updated: 2023-03-22Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. (2019). Curriculum, professional learning and experienced teachers.. In: : . Paper presented at EuroACS19 conference, Maynooth, Ireland.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Curriculum, professional learning and experienced teachers.
2019 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other academic)
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-94220 (URN)
Conference
EuroACS19 conference, Maynooth, Ireland
Note

Ej belagd 20210414

Available from: 2020-05-07 Created: 2020-05-07 Last updated: 2023-05-31Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. (2019). Finding their flock: professional learning for experienced teachers. European Journal of Curriculum Studies, 5(2), 834-852
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Finding their flock: professional learning for experienced teachers
2019 (English)In: European Journal of Curriculum Studies, E-ISSN 2182-7168, Vol. 5, no 2, p. 834-852Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In a time of curriculum and school reform, how teachers interpret the curriculum and seek out professional learning becomes an important part of the enactment of teaching practices in schools. This research investigates how experienced Ontario elementary teachers use their personal and professional knowledge to define what they consider to be personal, purposeful and relevant professional learning; authentic professional learning (Mockler, 2013; Webster-Wright, 2009). The study uses a narrative approach, which takes a situated, holistic perspective in examining teachers’ lived experience and motivation for engaging in professional learning (Webster-Wright, 2009).

The findings show how experienced teachers seek out learning opportunities that honour their professional knowledge, integrity and identity. While looking for a sense of autonomy in their learning they also expressed a desire to work with other experienced teachers in order to collaborate, communicate and construct new learning. Their agency is fashioned through the interaction with others - their flock - when building their professional knowledge (Prieslty, Biesta, Robinson, 2015). As experienced teachers are a rich resource, capable of building up the educational profession, it becomes important for the educational system to capitalize on their professional capital, wisdom and knowledge.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Braga, Portugal: Institute of Education, University of Minho, 2019
Keywords
Professional learning, Experienced teachers, Teacher agency, Authentic learning
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-95232 (URN)
Available from: 2020-05-26 Created: 2020-05-26 Last updated: 2023-05-31Bibliographically approved
Stagg Peterson, S., McIntyre, L. J. & Glaés-Coutts, L. (2018). Collaborative action research in Northern Canadian rural and Indigenous schools: learning about young children’s oral language in play contexts. Educational action research, 26(5), 787-802
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Collaborative action research in Northern Canadian rural and Indigenous schools: learning about young children’s oral language in play contexts
2018 (English)In: Educational action research, ISSN 0965-0792, E-ISSN 1747-5074, Vol. 26, no 5, p. 787-802Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article reports on collaborative action research in twelve northern rural and Indigenous communities in four Canadian provinces. Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, grade one, and Aboriginal Head Start teachers worked with university researchers in three universities to create action research projects with the aim of supporting children’s oral language and writing through play in their classrooms. Inductive analysis of focus group data shows that teachers gained understandings about play as a context both for supporting and for authentic assessment of young children’s oral language. The building of trusting relationships, built through ongoing collaboration with colleagues within their schools and across four provinces, in addition to collaboration with university researchers over a number of years, was viewed as particularly influential to teachers’ professional learning. Additionally, teachers talked about the value of opportunities to contribute to the development of teaching and assessment tools. Participating teachers came to see themselves as making valuable contributions to professional knowledge beyond their northern communities. The 4R’s for conducting research in Indigenous contexts (reciprocity, respect, relevance, and responsibility) provide a framework for deriving implications from this collaborative research. It is important that the results of collaborative action research conducted in rural and Indigenous schools be widely disseminated to provide alternative perspectives to curriculum, research and practice that tend to be urban-oriented.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2018
Keywords
Collaborative action research, oral language, play, teacher professional learning, Indigenous culture, Northern Canadian Rural and Indigenous Schools
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-78302 (URN)10.1080/09650792.2017.1402686 (DOI)000453410000009 ()2-s2.0-85034776407 (Scopus ID)
Note

Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada  895-2012-1007

Available from: 2018-10-13 Created: 2018-10-13 Last updated: 2023-05-31Bibliographically approved
Glaés-Coutts, L. (2018). Teacher to learner and back again: a narrative inquiry into teacher voice in professional learning. (Doctoral dissertation). University of Toronto Press
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Teacher to learner and back again: a narrative inquiry into teacher voice in professional learning
2018 (English)Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

My research investigates how four experienced Ontario elementary teachers use their personal and professional knowledge to define what they consider to be personal, purposeful and relevant professional learning, or authentic professional learning (Mockler, 2013; Webster-Wright, 2009). Authentic learning is here understood to represent what the teachers themselves described as their lived experiences of ongoing professional learning, and what they identified as relevant and purposeful for their continued professional, as well as personal learning. I used a narrative approach, which takes a situated, holistic perspective in examining teachers’ lived experience and motivation for engaging in professional learning (Webster-Wright, 2009). The primary rationale for using narrative inquiry is to construct narratives of how experienced teachers describe authentic learning in the test-driven environment that dominates the Ontario educational climate today. It is important to cultivate a trust in what the teachers express. In honouring their voices, we may develop a deeper understanding of their perspective, as teachers’ professional learning is an important element of how teachers merge new knowledge with their professional practice for the purpose of improving student learning. I found that these experienced teachers seek out learning opportunities that honour their professional knowledge, integrity, and identity. While looking for a sense of autonomy in their learning they also expressed a desire to work with other experienced teachers in order to collaborate, communicate and construct new learning. As experienced teachers are a rich resource, capable of building up the educational profession in Ontario, it is vital for the educational system to capitalize on the professional capital, wisdom, and knowledge of experienced teachers. This method of understanding professional learning through the lens of experienced teachers proffers an alternative approach to gaining a deeper understanding that constitutes authentic professional learning for them.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
University of Toronto Press, 2018
Keywords
authentic, experienced teachers, knowledge, narrative, Ontario, professional learning
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences, Education
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-78308 (URN)
Supervisors
Available from: 2018-10-18 Created: 2018-10-13 Last updated: 2023-05-31Bibliographically approved
Projects
Fritidshemmets pedagogiska uppdrag; Linnaeus University; Publications
Wernholm, M., Ackesjö, H., Gardesten, J. & Funck, U. (2024). Mjuka förmågor - ett sätt att begreppsliggöra arbetet med "det sociala" i fritidshemmet. In: Sofia Lundmark & Janne Kongo (Ed.), Fritidsdidaktiska dilemman: (pp. 63-88). Stockholm: Natur & KulturPerselli, A.-K. (2023). Att transformera elevers intressen i fritidshemmets undervisning. In: NERA 2023: . Paper presented at NERA 2023, the 49th annual congress of the Nordic Educational Research As-sociation. Oslo, Norge, 15-17 mars,. , 49Glaés-Coutts, L. (2023). Rektors pedagogiska ledarskap från ett forskarperspektiv.. Ackesjö, H., Wernholm, M. & Gardesten, J. (2023). Soft skills – a way to conceptualize school-age educare’s teachers’ work with children’s social skills. In: NERA Conference 2023 15–17 March, Oslo.Digitalization and Technologies in Education – Opportunities and Challenges: . Paper presented at NERA. Glaés-Coutts, L. (2023). The Principal as the Instructional Leader in School-Age Educare. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 22(4), 873-889Wernholm, M. (2023). Undervisning i ett fritidshem för alla?. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 28(4), 64-88Perselli, A.-K. (2022). Att omsätta elevers intressen i fritidshemmets undervisning (1ed.). In: Helena Ackesjö, Björn Haglund (Ed.), Perspektiv på fritidshemmets pedagopgiska uppdrag (FriPU): Undervisning och ledarskap på fritids (pp. 23-30). Stockholm: IfousHaglund, B. & Ackesjö, H. (2022). Att synliggöra det osynliga och verbalisera det tystade. In: Helena Ackesjö & Björn Haglund (Ed.), Undervisning och ledarskap på fritids: Perspektiv på fritidshemmets pedagogiska uppdrag (pp. 97-100). Stockholm: Innovation, forskning och utveckling i skola och förskola (IFOUS)Ackesjö, H. (2022). Att utvärdera fritidshemmets verksamhet: en variationsrik praktik. In: Helena Ackesjö & Björn Haglund (Ed.), Undervisning och ledarskap på fritids: Perspektiv på fritidshemmets pedagogiska uppdrag (pp. 89-96). Stockholm: Innovation, forskning och utveckling i skola och förskola (IFOUS)Perselli, A.-K. & Haglund, B. (2022). Barns perspektiv och barnperspektiv: en analys av utgångspunkter för fritidshemmets undervisning. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 27(2), 75-95
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0003-3198-0112

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