Reform planning strategies: a micro-policy case of Norwegian school principals

Abstract

This paper investigates how Norwegian school principals prepared to carry out the LK20 reform process. The importance of school principals and middle-level leaders as enactors of change efforts results from their close ties to teachers and teacher classroom practices. This suggests that without negotiation and support from micro-policy actors, such as school principals, reforms are unlikely to be realized as intended and are therefore likely to fail. The present study was based on interviews and video observations of principals and leader team meetings. The findings demonstrate that school principals’ interpretations of policy intentions through their enforcement of curriculum reform demands are closely connected to their schools’ organizational contexts. The planning process involves recycling previous plans and customizing them to new ones. Opportunities and challenges are illuminated when school principals provide counter-discourses in the planning process.