This dissertation examines how principals in Swedish schools interpret and develop strategies for action within the tension between the ideal of inclusion and the demands of organizational and pedagogical differentiation. Grounded in a systems and neo-institutional perspective, the dissertation conceptualizes principals' leadership as a meaning-making and institutionally embedded process, in which interpretation, negotiation, and action are shaped in the encounter between structural conditions and professional values.

The dissertation draws on five sub-studies that illuminate how principals' leadership is constituted across different levels of the education system: policy and text analyses, conceptual-historical policy analysis, systematic literature reviews, and interviews with principals and other actors within governance arenas. Students with autism serve as an analytical example, foregrounding how the tension between inclusion and differentiation takes concrete shape in practice and why both school leadership and special education perspectives must be held together.

The cover essay applies institutional logics and sensemaking as analytical lenses to examine how policy signals and governance expectations are interpreted and made meaningful in principals' everyday leadership. The findings show that leadership can be understood as a continuous process in which policy and governance are translated within local contexts, forming the basis for developing strategies for action. These strategies constitute ways of managing competing institutional demands while simultaneously reshaping the conditions and scope for principal agency. Leadership thus emerges not as individual choice, but as an ongoing process of interpretation and negotiation within, and in response to, institutional frameworks.

The dissertation makes two interconnected contributions. First, it advances understanding of how systemic and institutional conditions shape principals' interpretive work and strategic action. Second, it bridges school leadership research and special education research, two fields that have largely developed in parallel despite addressing the same organizational challenges. By analyzing inclusion and differentiation as questions of leadership as much as pedagogy, the study demonstrates that decisions about placement, resource allocation, and school organization cannot be adequately understood without attending to the institutional logics and governance conditions within which they are made.

Den här artikeln undersöker hur svenska rektorer hanterar spänningar mellan inkluderingsideal och krav på pedagogisk och organisatorisk differentiering, med särskilt fokus på elever med autism. Autism aktualiserar ofta dilemman kring både pedagogiska och organisatoriska lösningar och blir därmed relevant för att synliggöra rektorers handlingsutrymme. Med institutionella logiker och meningsskapande som teoretiska linser fokuserar studien på rektorers tolkningar, medan skolchefernas perspektiv fungerar som kontext. Utifrån digitala intervjuer med åtta rektorer och sju skolchefer identifieras flera samexisterande och ibland motstridiga logiker; inkludering, differentiering, effektivitet, hållbarhet, relationell tillit och politik, som påverkar hur rektorer motiverar och genomför beslut. Meningsskapande framträder som en nyckelprocess för att integrera förväntningar i lokala strategier. Resultatet visar att rektorer ägnar sig åt pragmatiska balansakter formade av normer, förutsättningar och stöd. Studien är begränsad till ett mindre urval och inkluderar inte elevers eller vårdnadshavares perspektiv, vilket påverkar generaliserbarheten. Framtida forskning bör inkludera dessa röster och följa hur inkluderingsstrategier utvecklas över tid och i olika organisatoriska kontexter.

This study presents a literature review exploring how school leaders conceptualize and implement differentiation at the system level, with a focus on fostering inclusion in complex educational settings. Fifteen articles (n = 15) were thematically analyzed, resulting in two overarching themes: system and leadership practices, with sub-themes such as students' rights, principals' system mindset, and links between leadership and differentiated instruction (DI). A key finding is the connection between distributed leadership and DI, where shared responsibilities promote collaborative cultures that support inclusive teaching. The review highlights principals' central role in advancing DI and inclusion, requiring systemic understanding and responsive leadership. Challenges such as administrative constraints and teacher resistance underline the need for collaboration, professional learning and policy alignment. Methodologically, the review was inspired by Gough and Thomas's approach. The study addresses a research gap on system-level differentiation and emphasizes the importance of school leadership in bridging policy and practice to promote educational equity.

Research topic/aim: This presentation delves into questions within a thesis project, examining Swedish school managers and principals' decisions regarding school placements and organization for students with neuropsychiatric difficulties (NDD). It explores how school leaders perceive their responsibilities, organization, and exercise their leadership in relation to this. Students with NDD often tend to challenge school norms and structures (Lüddeckens, 2022). Research (Mand, 2009) suggests that students who are considered to have learning difficulties, which can often be seen in students with NDD (National Agency for Special Needs Education, 2023), are every so often labeled as "outsiders" by their classmates. Also, decisions often seems to result in these students being placed outside the regular classroom and school community. This action, Mand (2009) points out, risks exacerbating the problems of these students instead of solving them. Atkinson and Rowley (2019) shows that the process of then returning students to the regular school environments is complicated. It requires commitment, collaboration and long-term planning from all parties involved. Atkinson and Rowley (2019) emphasize that a "one size-fits all" approach is inappropriate and insufficient. Decisions must be made according to each unique individual and situation, they mean and stress the need for tailored, collaborative solutions, emphasizing individualized approaches. School leadership significantly impacts academic performance (Grissom & Loeb, 2011). Principals (and school managers), termed "builders of culture" and “agents of change” by Leo and Wickenberg (2013), can challenge negative norms and promote an inclusive environment.

Theoretical framework: Key concepts such as diversity and equity are used as theoretical concepts and guide the discussions on principals' responsibility to foster an inclusive school culture. 

Methodological design: Prior to this presentation, previous research in the area, policy documents and various societal discussions have been inductively and thematically analyzed in relation to the various central concepts that have arisen.

Expected conclusions/findings and relevance to Nordic educational research: The presentation offers insights into central concepts and dilemmas, informing ongoing thesis work. In the longer term, the results are anticipated to contribute valuable knowledge on organizing and leading inclusive schools in Nordic contexts for diverse student populations, including those with neuropsychiatric difficulties.

References

Atkinson, G., & Rowley, J. (2019). Pupils’ views on mainstream reintegration from alternative provision: a Q methodological study. Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties, 24(4), 339–356.

Grissom, J.A., Egalite, A. J., and Lindsay, C. A. (2021). How principals affect students and schools: A systematic synthesis of two decades of research. Research Report. Wallace Foundation.

Mand, J. (2007). Social position of special needs pupils in the classroom: a comparison between German special schools for pupils with learning difficulties and integrated primary school classes. European Journal of Special needs Education, 22(1), 7–14. 

National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools (SPSM). (2023). https://www.spsm.se/funktionsnedsattningar/neuropsykiatriska-funktionsnedsattningar-npf/ Received 2023-11-02.Leo, U., & Mogren, A. (2021). Leda lärande för hållbar utveckling. The Swedish National Agency for Education. https://larportalen.skolverket.se/api/resource/P03WCPLAR147221 Received 2023-10-13.

Lüddeckens, J. (2022) Dialectical dimensions on inclusive education - Involving students with autism spectrum conditions. [Licentiatuppsats, Malmö Universitet: Institutionen för Skolutveckling och Ledarskap]. DiVA-portal. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1695508/FULLTEXT01.pdf 

This systematic research review identifies approaches of inclusive education concerning adolescents with autism spectrum (ASC) without intellectual disability (ID). The definitions of inclusion, whose perspectives are taken into account, approaches, and the implications suggested for best practices are reviewed in the articles included in this study. The results show how inclusion is defined as a sense of social acceptance and an approach that physical placement in a regular class can lead to social participation. Taking into account students’ perspectives is seen as important. Implications for best practice include information on how to improve school personnel’s reflections on their responsibilities and expectations of students with disabilities and points to difficulties for teachers in meeting the diversity of students in the classroom.

Purpose: The aim of this case study is to describe what commitment and actions are needed in the Swedish school so that principals — within the Swedish school policy framework and with the goal of creating an inclusive school culture and practice — can positively affect schooling for students with disabilities, with a particular focus on students with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Three research questions guide the study: (1) What commitment and actions do principals consider important for developing an inclusive school for all students, with a particular focus on students with ASC? (2) How do the principals reflect on their own leadership in the development of inclusive education, with a particular focus on students with ASC? (3) Based on the results, what are the implications of the study in practice?

Design/methodology/approach: As part of a three-step data collection method, a snowball sampling was conducted in which n = 6 principals were initially interviewed and the data analyzed by an inductive thematic content analysis.

Findings: (1) Certain structures are needed when planning how to develop mutual values when organizing an inclusive school involving students with ASC, (2) the principals could, at times, feel a sense of loneliness in relation to their superiors and decision-makers and (3) more accountability from educators and greater consideration for the student perspective in decision-making are needed.

Practical implications: It was found that (1) certain structures are needed when planning how to develop mutual values when organizing an inclusive school involving students with ASC, (2) the principals could, at times, feel a sense of isolation in relation to their superiors and decision-makers and (3) more accountability from educators and greater consideration for the student perspective in decision-making are needed.

Originality/value: Index for inclusion and elements from the inclusive leadership model were used in the data collection and analysis.

This article examines how differentiation has been articulated in Swedish compulsory education policy since the 1960s, focusing on how the principalship has been constructed as an institutional site for governing differentiation. Drawing on policy and research corpora analyzed as coordinative discourse, three developments are identified: a redefinition of organizational and pedagogical differentiation; a transformation of the principalship from administrative manager to juridical guarantor; and a layering of equity ideals with logics of individualization, juridification, and marketization. These shifts reflect cumulative governance rearticulations, showing how tensions between inclusion, accountability, and marketization emerge as structural effects of accumulated rationalities.