Over the last 20 years systematic quality work has become the main tool for developing Swedish schools (Håkansson & Adolfson, 2022). According to the Education Act (2010:800), quality work – at the local educational authority level as well as in the schools themselves – should be conducted in a systematic and continuous way, with respect to planning, follow-up, analyses, and actions taken to develop education. By continuous assessments and evaluations, the goal of the systematic quality work is to identify and address issues that need improvement for students to achieve the educational goals (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2012a). A review of the literature reveals the problematic aspects of evaluation practices and quality management, such as the risk to focus on what is measurable rather than what is desirable as well as the diverse definitions of quality (Lundström, 2015). However, what the local quality systems consist of, how they have been designed, and what practices and perceptions of quality they entail is less understood.

Previous research has primarily focused on individual schools’ quality work (Håkansson, 2013; Jarl, et al., 2017) , while less attention has been paid to the way the local educational authorities conduct systematic quality work. Thus, the aim of this study is to fill this knowledge gap by investigating how the ideas of systematic quality work in the Swedish Education Act's requirements are interpreted, translated, and materialized at the local education authority level.

The following research questions will guide our study:

1. How do local educational authorities interpret and translate the systematic quality work regulations and requirements in the Education Act?

2. How do these interpretations och translations materialize in the local quality work practices?

Theoretically we approach the phenomena of systematic quality management within the Swedish school sector from an organizing (Czarniawska, 2014) and practice-oriented perspective (Gherardi, 2019; Nicolini, 2009; 2012). These theoretical perspectives provide us a framework to analyse how the institutionalized ideas (as mental images that are well spread within the society) of systematic quality management - through authorities, policies, regulations, and quality models - are translated and materialized (Czarniawska & Joerges, 1996) into the local quality work organization and practices. The latter refers to the practices of doing and saying something related to the ideas of systematic quality management in different social contexts and time (Gherardi, 2019; Nicolini, 2009; 2012). Although the national guidelines involve the entire school system, these are interpreted, translated, and materialized by actors operating in a local context, which means that quality is understood in different ways and that the systematic quality work is conducted in different ways. An organizational perspective also includes aspects related to the tensions that arise when different interests and logics collide (for example between political, administrative, and professional interests and logics; see Czarniawska, 2014).

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedIn this project five Swedish municipalities have participated in a study of what systematic quality work means at a local education authority level and what practices materialize from the national regulations. At the heart of the study is the recognition that quality systems are locally designed to meet the national requirements, thereby allowing diverse interpretations and translations to occur.

The local education authorities can be understood as mediators, partly between state and municipal control, partly between needs and agendas at different levels in the chain of command. This understanding also characterizes the design of the study. The empirical data has been collected through three complementary methods: document studies, observations, and interviews. The document studies consist of analysing different central documents, e.g., quality reports, provided by the local education authorities covering the past two years. We have also observed meetings related to the systematic quality work (so called “quality-dialogues”). Besides the local education authorities, the key actors in these meetings were the principals, assistant principals, and teacher representatives of the school being followed up. 

The interviews were conducted with key persons in five different local Swedish education authorities individually by the authors. The duration of the interviews was approximately one hour, and they were conducted either face-to-face, via Zoom, or telephone. The interviews were based on an interview guide including questions about the participants’ role, their experiences, and activities in relation to the systematic quality work, the expected and actual effects, as well as challenges and potential for improvement of systematic quality work. The interviews were recorded with informed consent and were later transcribed verbatim.

All the research material described above is now gathered and will be analysed during the Spring 2023. As a tool for data analyses, we will apply Bacchi´s (2012) method “What is the problem represented to be?”.

Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsEqual education for all is includes three fundamental aspects: equal access to education, equal quality of education and the compensatory nature of education (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2012b). All students should receive an equivalent education, regardless of the area they live in, the socio-economic conditions they come from, or their functional variations. But study after study shows that Swedish students' schooling is not equal, and that who you are and where you live play a decisive role in the quality of the education you receive. Many of the last decade's school policy reforms and targeted initiatives have had as their overarching goal to address this lack of equality, so far with few concrete results. In order to break this trend, there has been an increasing focus on the local educational authorities’ responsibility for the individual school's shortcomings, quality, and development. Furthermore, lack of equality is a problem within rather than between different local educational authorities. Although there is paucity of research, the limited results show that schools are often isolated with their problems and that there is a lack of supportive structures and a functional systematic quality work (Jarl, et al., 2017; Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2021).

The paper will present results from the ongoing study, results that we believe will have relevance both in the Swedish, Nordic and in a wider European context. Through our investigation we will contribute knowledge regarding how the National Educational Act's requirements for systematic quality work are interpreted, translated, and materialized at the local level, and how this in turn shapes, promotes or hinders the quality work of individual schools.

Introduction

As part of the welfare sector, Swedish schools have undergone several reforms during the past few decades resulting in increasing and often conflicting demands on principals. Additional to implementing new grading systems and curricula, the sector has been impacted by market-oriented logic (new public management), resulting in a mix of professional and bureaucratic governance structures. Many of these reforms demand daily responses because principals are the key actors in both organizing and leading pedagogical practices, being the head of business and main respondent to local political initiatives. Hence, principals’ work environments have gradually deteriorated, with many experiencing high stress levels, which has led to high turnover and difficulty recruiting and retaining principals.  

Aim

Using JD-R theory as the point of departure, the aim of this study is to examine principals’ organizational and social work environment and attempt to answer the following research question: which job demands and job resources are related to principals’ job satisfaction and their intention to leave the job, and how do these job demands and job resources relate to changes within the institutional landscape as a result of the major political reforms the Swedish school sector has undergone over the last few decades?  

Method

We use a mixed methods approach combining responses to questionnaires (466 participants) and interviews (15 participants).  Participants were principals who were members of the school leader section (Lärarförbundet Skolledare) of the Swedish Teachers Union.  

Results

The questionnaire responses indicated that job resources such as role clarity, influence, meaningfulness, and social community with senior managers were related to job satisfaction, while a lack of job resources (influence, social community with senior managers) and role conflict were associated with higher intention to leave the profession. The interviews deepened the understanding of the shift in institutional logic within the school sector that has created boundaries between principals’ professional and managerial roles in accordance with new public management thinking. The separation of their professional and managerial roles has contributed to the development of a blind spot in principals’ organizational and social work environments. This is a problem for principals and a risk factor for the organizations themselves because stress and ill-health experienced by leaders tend to affect the entire organization. 

As part of society, religious organizations are exposed to contextual conditions and challenges. However, adapting to external conditions is an act of balance since too much compromising may risk having a negative effect on employees' perception of organizational authenticity and, in turn, employees' well-being and attitudes toward work. In this study, we examined how specific characteristics of the work, in terms of job demands (role conflict and emotional demands) and job resources (influence at work and social community at work), as well as employees' credence in the organization's ability to respond to change, relate to employee well-being within the Church of Sweden. In total 2,112 employees (58% participation rate) answered a web-based survey. The results of regression analyses showed that job resources and credence in the organization's ability to respond to change provided a clear contribution to the explanation of variance in work engagement and, especially, job satisfaction. However, the contribution of job demands was less clear. Moreover, to further the understanding of the association between employees' credence in the organization's ability to respond to change and employee well-being, the mediating effect of job resources was tested. The results showed that the association between credence and well-being is in part mediated by job resources. In sum, the study demonstrate that employees' credence in the organization's ability to respond to change is important to consider for understanding employee well-being within religious organizations. In conclusion, our study suggest that organizations that are built up on strong values and institutionalized beliefs, such as religious and faith-based organizations, need to tread carefully in the process of adapting to conformal pressure for change. This, since the actions and choices of the organization are important for employees' credence in the organization and, in turn, employee well-being. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

During recent years, urban farming has increasingly been regarded as an important strategic approach to sustainable urban development. The aspects that urban farming are said to aim towards spans the whole spectrum of urban sustainability – from access to healthy food to increased biodiversity and social cohesion (Cockrall-King 2012; Bendt, Barthel & Colding 2013). While projects and inspirational activities have largelly focused on farming itself, less attention have been directed towards organizational aspects. Managing and developing urban farming initiatives (often organized as non-profit organizations) means that organizations needs to navigate between and collaborate with a range of partners, many of whom are part of public administration. The diverse character of the organizations involved, and the different aims that these organizations have with urban farming initiatives, means that there will be colliding and contrasting institutional logics and rationalities. This may lead to conflicts, but can also promote innovation (Coule & Patmore 2013). Both for public administration and for urban farmers, access to knowledge is crucial to reach the aims of the initiative. Also, it is not uncommon that several public administration bodies have interest in the urban farming. A common response is to form loosely organized networks which include a wide range of actors. Sometimes, these networks may also achieve more formal status, such as the Guelph Wellington Food Round Table, in which the University play an important role (Hayhurst, Dietrich-O'connor, Hazen & Landman 2013) or the Toronto Food Policy Council, initiated by the health department of the City of Toronto (Blay-Palmer 2009). An interesting example of local governance, is Malmö Stadsodlingsnätverk. In 2011, environmental coordinators in one of the City of Malmö’s departments decided to call for a network meeting, where anybody who had an interest in urban farming could participate. Five years later, this loosely coordinated network is still active. It includes public servants, urban farmers, non-profit organizations, activists and others (Larsson 2015). This form of organizing in the field of sustainability is interesting in several ways. By not having a formal role, it is difficult to use the structure to excercise power. Rather, the structure enables an exchange of knowledge between peers. Relevant knowledge and engagement are the factors that give participants legitimacy. With no administrative structure, knowledge sharing can be extremely efficient but at the same time difficult to plan or control. Using concepts from Svensson & Von Otter (2001) this may be regarded as a network- or activation strategy. A key question, however, is to what extent this networked or activation strategy will work if urban farming in Malmö continues to grow and take new forms, such as more commercially oriented activities. Formalizing the structure might lead to a situation where competing institutional logics become more pronounced, and may lead to less knowledge sharing and de-legitimize the network. The aim of our presentation is to discuss aspects of organizing for sustainability, using examples from urban farming. We suggest that these forms of organizing, which have taken similar form in different contexts, may also be relevant for other fields of urban sustainability, where cross-sector collaboration and knowledge sharing are crucial. References: Bendt, Pim; Barthel, Stephan & Colding, Johan (2013). Civic greening and environmental learning in public-access community gardens in Berlin. Landscape and Urban Planning. No. 1, pp. 18-30. Blay-Palmer, Alison (2009). The Canadian Pioneer: The Birth Generics of Urban Food Policy in Toronto”.  Journal of International Planning Studies. No. 4, pp.401-416.  Cockrall-King, Jennifer (2011). Food and the City. Urban agriculture and the new food revolution. New York: Prometheus Books. Coule, T. & Patmore, B. (2013). Institutional logics, institutional work, and public service innovation in non‐profit organizations. Public Administration, vol. 91, no. 4, pp.980-997. Hayhurst, R., Dietrich-O'connor, F., Hazen, S. & Landman, K. (2013): Community-based research for food system policy development in the City of Guelph, Ontario. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 18:5, 606-619 Larsson, A. (2015). Odling över gränser. Malmö: Stadsområde Norr Svensson, L. & von Otter, C. (2001). Projektarbete: Teori och praktik. Med sagan om diamanten som sprängdes, Stockholm: Santérus.

The literature on social innovation is growing quickly, covering many aspects of the phenomenon. However, in this chapter, we argue that organizational aspects of social innovation is a topic that deserves more attention. Using institutional theory, more specifically, the concept of legitimacy, the aim is to look at why project grants have become an important way of organizing social innovation processes, especially those that are structured around cross-sector collaboration. The argument is illustrated by five examples of initiatives working with social innovation and social entrepreneurship in the Region of Skåne in southern Sweden.

Föreliggande studie är genomförd av Anders Edvik och Fredrik Björk (verksamma vid Malmö högskola). Studien belyser en i tiden allt vanligare organiseringsform: Projekt. Omfattande ekonomiska resurser satsas numera på idrottsrörelsen och då ofta i form av projektanslag. Idrottsföreningarnas förmåga att initiera, genomföra och avsluta projekt blir därför av betydelse då projekten både utgör en möjlighet till utveckling och en temporär verksamhet som fordrar resurser. För en idrottsförening kan projekt, såsom Handslaget och Idrottslyftet, vara ett tillskott för verksamheten som möjliggör extra satsningar på exempelvis avlönade tränare och/eller införskaffande av utrustning. Tvärtemot detta kan projekt även vara kostsamma då arbetet många gånger fordrar administrativa insatser. Föreliggande studie visar att idrottsföreningarnas projektkompetens hänger i hög grad samman med enskilda föreningseldsjälar. Det saknas organisatoriska stödstrukturer som underlättar projektarbetets olika delar, vilket kan leda till bristande långsiktighet i verksamheten och en sårbarhet för föreningen. Studien visar även att projekt kopplas samman med tidigare och/eller pågående satsningar som görs i samarbete med exempelvis skolan. Detta innebär att projekten utgör tillskott snarare än belastning för föreningen, och där projekten vävs samman med externa samarbetsaktörer. I detta sammanhang bör projekt inte förstås som isolerade företeelser avgränsade i tid och från övrig verksamhet, utan som en möjlighet till utveckling av verksamheten. Samverkan och integration av kunskap är väsentligt i stärkandet av föreningens projektkompetens. Detta gäller både tillvaratagandet av kunskap som finns utanför den egna föreningen samt den som medlemmar, föräldrar, tränare har och som finns inom densamma. Eldsjälar är en drivkraft, men organisatoriskt stöd underlättar för denna kraft att utvecklas.

Föreliggande utvärderingsrapport utgör en uppföljning av samverkansprojektet: ”Ingen faller mellan stolarna”. Projektet har drivits av Malmö stad sedan år 2010 med stöd av Socialstyrelsen och har varit stadsdelsövergripande. Målet med projektet har varit att uppnå samarbetsformer mellan Individ- och Familjeomsrog (IoF) samt Vård- och Omsorg (VoF) som gör att personer som är, eller riskerar att bli, hemlösa och vars problematik berör båda verksamheterna ska kunna ta del av förbättrade och samordnade insatser.