Newly appointed principals’ descriptions of a decentralised and marked adopted school system: An institutional logics perspective

Abstract

This article explores newly appointed principals’ descriptions of a decentralised and market adopted school system. An institutional logics perspective is applied to analyse how logics visible at the national level evoke images among principals at the local level. Empirical data consist of 66 examinations from the National Principal Training Programme in Sweden, in which principals were required to discuss the forms of school system governance by using a ‘cross model’ outlined by Berg. Regarding the relationship between centralisation and decentralisation, principals generally tended to recognise and support the recentralisation logics. Observing the relationship between regulation and market orientation, many principals questioned the prevailing market logics. Concerning reforms to underpin school improvement, principals mostly suggested stronger state governance and further reregulation reforms. These institutionalised depictions, which favour the ‘strong state’ together with a quite compact resistance towards market orientation, are relevant to consider both from national and international perspectives.