Contextual Influence on School Leader Problem Framing: The Role of Perceived Organizational Image and Identity in Making Sense of Policy-Related Problems

Abstract

Problematic aspects of implementing policy are not simply a product of the policy message, but rather are constructed by the actors engaged in the process. This qualitative interview study addresses the role of school leader’s organizational identity beliefs in constructing policy problems and demonstrates how these perceptions seem to play an important role in making sense of a national reform demand in the Swedish school system. My findings show that beliefs regarding the hierarchical position of the managed school program, and conceptions of the program’s construed external image, influence how policy problems and solutions are framed by the school leaders.