This study explores discursive encounters between school leaders, teachers, and local education authority (LEA) officials within a local school improvement initiative in Sweden. Using a primary school case, the research examines how competing discourses, focused on results-oriented accountability and professional autonomy, are interpreted and enacted locally, and how this shapes interactions between teacher leaders, principals, and LEA officials. Drawing on field notes from a meeting and interviews with key stakeholders, the analysis employs critical discourse theory to investigate discursive patterns, tensions, and the emergence of shared understandings. Findings reveal that a results-driven discourse emphasizing measurability and accountability intersects with a counter-discourse valuing collective processes, professional judgement, and holistic teaching practices. This intersection represents a process of hybridization, producing ruptures and moments of mutual understanding that reconfigure the "chain of effects'. The study demonstrates how dialogue-driven hybridization can transform competing discourses into shared resources for school improvement.
Mental health challenges are increasing among young people, making it important to understand how educational environments can support well-being and existential development. This study examines changes in mental health and meaning in life among students attending Norwegian folk high schools (FHS), a non-formal, residential model emphasising community and personal growth. Using an independent-samples pre-post design (nT1 = 670, nT2 = 833), we compared FHS and university students across a school year with validated measures (SCL-10, MAPS) and regression analyses.FHS school students showed significant improvements in mental distress and meaningfulness, whereas university students showed no change. Screen time, time in nature and gender identity predicted distress and meaning-related outcomes. More than 70% of FHS students reported reduced screen time, compared to fewer than 30% of university students.Findings suggest that FHSs may offer a protective environment for existential development amid pressures of digitalisation, performance and disconnection.
This study aimed to explore teachers' practices in reading and writing education for students with disorders of intellectual development (DID) to enhance understanding of teacher practices and the students' educational context. An electronic survey was distributed to teachers of grades 1-10 across Norway; 263 teachers were included. The most frequently reported approaches were a combination of synthetic and analytical methods (62%) and the logographic method (54%). Most teachers used teacher-made learning resources (57%), while few reported the use of reading and writing technology functions (2-34%). On average, the teachers "often" organized reading and writing education outside the students' classrooms. These results indicate a need to develop reading and writing resources for students with DID through research-practitioner partnerships, ensuring inclusive research-based interventions that are useful for practice. Today's digital society has the potential to make this possible.
Civil society organizations increasingly complement public education in disadvantaged areas. Yet little is known about narrative-based literacy programs in Swedish welfare contexts. This qualitative study examines teacher perspectives on two programs delivered by a Swedish nonprofit in compulsory schools. Drawing on self-determination theory and literacy frameworks, the study uses semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers to explore how narrative pedagogy supports motivation and literacy development. Findings indicate that readers and structured narrative frames enhance engagement, particularly for multilingual learners. A key finding emerged: while external narrative structure enabled pupil autonomy during program delivery, teachers struggled to maintain these motivational conditions without ongoing scaffolding. Sustaining these practices requires protected time, materials adapted for diverse learners, collegial structures, and deliberate handover processes through which teachers can make the underlying pedagogical thinking their own. The study identifies implementation conditions critical for equity-oriented civil society programs in Swedish education.
This study investigates the relationship between admission policies to upper secondary education and various forms of school segregation in Norway. Using a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) approach, we analyze whether the transition from proximity-based school admissions to performance-based admissions (free school choice) has led to increased segregation based on ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and academic performance. The study focuses on the counties encompassing Oslo and Bergen as case studies, with control groups consisting of counties that maintained geographically regulated admission throughout the observation period. Our findings indicate that free school choice contributed to increased segregation in the dimension of academic ability. However, although segregation in the other dimensions has increased substantially over time, we find no clear evidence linking this trend to the school choice reforms. We discuss possible explanations and implications for education policy.
This study examined whether schooldays in school gardens are associated with higher levels of basic psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation compared to regular school days, and whether participation in a school garden program improves overall school motivation. Experiences of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and intrinsic motivation were measured among 827 pupils (9-12 years) on schooldays with and without school garden activities. General school motivation was measured pre- and post-program among 718 participants and 638 nonparticipating control pupils. Pupils reported small increases in autonomy, competence, relatedness, and intrinsic motivation during days with 4-5 h in school gardens compared to regular schooldays. No significant differences were found for relatedness and autonomy on days with only 2.5 h of gardening. Participation in the program did not significantly influence overall school motivation. School gardens foster pupils' daily motivation and needs satisfaction, especially with at least 4-5 h of engagement.
Interdisciplinary approaches in education are increasingly recognized as essential for addressing complex challenges, like sustainable development (SD). Policy documents emphasize integrating SD into curricula and recommend interdisciplinary pedagogies to foster comprehensive understanding. In response, authorities in several counties have promoted interdisciplinary approaches within national curricula. This study explores how interdisciplinary work is experienced by science teachers and students, using SD as educational context. A central aim was to compare teachers' and students' perspectives to gain nuanced understanding of its practical application. Data were collected through interviews with three science teachers and seven focus groups with their students. Template analysis revealed that teachers interpret interdisciplinary topics differently, and students' perceptions sometimes diverge from those of their science teacher regarding interdisciplinary work with SD. Findings highlight the critical role of collaborative planning and incorporating students' voices in creating coherent and engaging learning experiences, emphasizing the need for strategies that strengthen interdisciplinary teaching.
The article explores the contributions of k & uuml;me mogen (good living) to the well-being of Mapuche children during their schooling years in La Araucan & iacute;a, Chile. It focuses on Indigenous students living in boarding schools and examines how their identities are valued within these institutions. Although Chile's public policies emphasize the recognition and promotion of Indigenous identity, the study finds that such principles are rarely applied in practice. Using a qualitative and descriptive methodology based on Indigenous research - specifically the dialogical kishu kimkelay ta che approach ("no one learns in isolation") - the study involved Mapuche elders, traditional educators, community authorities, and parents. The findings highlight the urgent need to incorporate k & uuml;me mogen principles to promote culturally relevant well-being and strengthen sociocultural identity. The article concludes that ensuring Mapuche children's well-being requires revitalizing their identity within educational spaces by integrating Indigenous and formal school worldviews.
Different teaching approaches in mathematics classrooms can influence student engagement and motivation. This study explores the impact that the Thinking Classroom teaching approach has on students' motivation by examining the case of Zoe, a 16-year-old student who initially found mathematics boring and difficult. Traditional teaching methods were found ineffective in engaging her. When exposed to the Thinking Classroom approach, Zoe's motivation and engagement increased. The study employs self-determination theory to analyse Zoe's motivation through competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Data were collected through video recordings, field notes, and interviews with Zoe and her teacher. During the Thinking Classroom lessons, Zoe demonstrated high levels of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The study suggests that incorporating Thinking Classroom can have a positive impact on students' attitudes towards mathematics, although Zoe's motivation returned to previous levels after the Thinking Classroom lessons ended. The findings underscore the potential benefits of alternative teaching methods in mathematics.
The aim of this study is to investigate the qualities of prospective primary school teachers' small-group discussions in science. The empirical data comprise students' discussions in small groups (N = 15) and students' pre- and post-tests (N = 50). Analyses of the discussions were conducted according to four levels of tentative sense-making. Out of 15 groups, only 6 arrived at the correct conclusion regarding the phase changes of water during their discussions. The groups that succeeded exhibited higher-quality levels of tentative sense-making during their discussions. Additionally, students in these groups showed improved post-test results compared to their pre-tests. The findings have implications for how we organise and use small group discussions when teaching science and in teacher education to improve science education and practice.
Neurodivergent children have a disproportionately high rate of involuntary school absenteeism (ISA), understood not as truancy but as the inability to attend. This study explored how child-related, family-related, and school-related factors were associated with ISA in 274 adolescents diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and Tourette syndrome. Research on ISA rarely consults children, contributing to epistemic/testimonial injustice. We complement children's perspectives with parents' reports. In addition to ISA experiences, reported outcomes include dropout, current full-time school attendance, and school-related fear. ISA rates were similar across diagnoses. We therefore relate observed outcomes to shared divergence from an increasingly narrower child norm, and that this supports treating the group collectively for the analysis. Parents' socioeconomic characteristics were not associated with ISA, but school-related factors generally were. Friends at school, caring teachers, and academic mastery were associated with positive outcomes. Standard advice and interventions provided for ISA may be inadequate for neurodivergent children.
Recent research in Norway has increasingly identified a consistent pattern in student achievement: while boys and girls perform similarly on externally graded exams, girls tend to outperform boys in teacher-assigned grades. Girls appear to benefit more from classroom-based assessment, whereas boys achieve comparatively higher results under blind grading. However, the existing knowledge base is limited, as previous studies rely on older datasets, focus primarily on compulsory schooling, and lack access to comprehensive register data from upper secondary education. This study addresses these gaps by analyzing recent aggregated register data from the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training's Grade Statistics for Upper Secondary Education, 2024-2025. The dataset includes gender-disaggregated information on teacher assessments ("standpunkt") and written exams across 12 upper secondary subjects. A total of 366,665 grade records were analyzed. Subjects were selected based on the availability of both teacher and exam grades within the same school year and represent a broad range of disciplines from first-year upper secondary (Vg1; approximately grade 11) core subjects to third-year (Vg3) program-specific courses. Mean differences, grade distributions, and effect sizes (Cohen's d) were calculated to compare assessment types. Paired t-tests were used to test the significance of differences, and cumulative link models were employed to estimate the probability of receiving higher grades based on assessment type and gender. Across all subjects, teacher assessment was substantially more favorable than the written exam, and gender differences were markedly larger in teacher assessment than on exams. While gender gaps on exams were small or negligible, teacher-assigned grades consistently favored female students. The article discusses how these findings, together with current policy developments and new admission rules for higher education, highlight the relevance of considering blind grading practices in school-based assessments such as mock exams and term tests.
