Ulf Brinkkjær

School Boards in Denmark

The Danish state is successively moving towards global competition and European collaboration and, consequently, numerous changes are being made to the public sector and the way it is governed. Relations between the state and public institutions are becoming less defined by democratic, public sector governance and more defined by business-like, market place governance. As well as this, new forms of governance are emerging. Another significant change is the trend towards treating schools as freestanding, self-governing institutions that are monitored directly by the ministry and not indirectly by municipalities. Simultaneously, municipal administration is becoming increasingly hierarchical. This move to the three-layered corporate model, in which power is made more hierarchical but is less subject- or cause-oriented, is viewed by some as professionalisation. The transformation of the public sector produces new relations, positions and influences. An example of this is the task and composition of political boards and their future expectations. School boards are engaged in adjusting structures and finances and educational concerns.

Introduction to Teachers' Career Trajectories

Teachers’ career trajectories and work lives are at the centre of this anthology, with the contributions exploring a variety of aspects related to choosing and having a career in teaching. Whilst the focus is therefore primarily on teachers themselves and not so much on the schools or the educational systems in which they are employed, there can be little doubt that extensive reforms of the organization of schooling during recent years have had a significant impact on the teaching profession. The comprehensive studies of teachers’ careers by Lortie (1975), Sikes et al. (1985), Huberman (1993), and Fessler & Christensen (1992) provided new knowledge which remains influential to this day. However, since these results were published, innumerable studies have documented that teachers’ work has changed dramatically. We therefore feel that the time is ripe for a book which can provide the reader with an overview of current leading research into teachers’ career trajectories and work lives. The various contributions collected here offer different perspectives on teachers’ career trajectories and work lives both regarding the methodological approaches used in the empirical studies described and concerning the themes discussed. By presenting different perspectives, the anthology not only provides insight into many of the issues facing educational policymakers, but, perhaps more importantly, the challenges teachers deal with in their everyday working lives. Despite considerable differences in both the organization, and the pedagogical traditions at the centre of their national educational systems, many countries would appear to be facing similar problems and challenges concerning teachers’ careers, professional develop ment, recruitment and retention, etc. This may explain why, even though the various contributors present different national contexts, the issues described resonate far beyond national boundaries. In this introduction, we will begin by examining the concepts of teachers’ career trajectories and work lives and by outlining what characterizes this field of study. Thereafter we will describe the key issues affecting the teaching profession, presenting the various chapters along the way.

Danish Superintendents as Players in Multiple Networks

The Danish educational sector is increasingly being drawn into the general public governance, in line with other municipal sectors. Thus it has been influenced by transnational thinking, by hard and soft governance approaches and by social technologies with international inspiration and origins. Municipal governance and administration is being restructured to fit new concepts. As a consequence, schools superintendents’ position and relations are changing as the system moves from welfare-state thinking towards competitive-state thinking. The results of our surveys to schools superintendents, school board members and school leaders illustrate aspects of the new situation confronting superintendents located at the midpoint of governance chains and networks. The division of labour between political and administrative responsibilities is at the forefront of the images of emerging and changing networks of political, administrative and educational practitioners.

Superintendent Leadership in Hierarchy and Network

School superintendents are coupled hierarchically with the top apex of municipality organization through their membership of leadership teams and through personal ties to the top municipal manager, which provides opportunities to take part in strategic decision-making processes beyond the educational sector. Superintendents are also vertically linked to their school leaders through strong and dense network ties. Along the horizontal axis superintendents are active network players with peers, for example through superintendent associations or more frequently mentioned through personal ties to superintendent colleagues. Superintendents are linked to school boards through strong formal ties. In this chapter, the formation and utilization of network ties within the hierarchy by superintendents is analyzed in concert with horizontal network with peers. School board networking within hierarchy and with the political power center of the municipality is analyzed. Finally, the use that school leaders make of the network in relation to superintendents is discussed.