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The complexity and contradictions of Finnish superintendents’ work

Ian Hardy (School of Education, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
Petri Salo (Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Abo Akademi, Vaasa, Finland)

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN: 0957-8234

Article publication date: 23 November 2017

Issue publication date: 10 May 2018

256

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the governance of educational reform, as an interpretive process – “interpretive governance” – through a case study of five superintendents living in a predominantly Swedish-speaking region in Finland.

Design/methodology/approach

To foreground superintendents’ perspectives on reforms as simultaneously reflective and constitutive of governance processes, the research applies and extends Rhodes’ (2012) notions of “network governance,” “meta-governance” and “interpretive governance.” Interpretive governance, an underresearched area, is construed as particularly important for developing better insights into how school reform is understood by key actors involved in its enactment.

Findings

The research identifies what are described as three “deliberative” dimensions of interpretive governance; these modes of governance are elaborated as “dialogic,” “directive” and “defensive” in nature.

Originality/value

The study reveals senior educators’ interpretations of governance as multifaceted, and argues that these complex modes of deliberation need to be taken into account to better understand how school development is understood and enacted in municipal and school settings.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under Grant No. FT140100018.

Citation

Hardy, I. and Salo, P. (2018), "The complexity and contradictions of Finnish superintendents’ work", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 56 No. 3, pp. 297-314. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-06-2017-0066

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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