Spindeln i nätet, En kvalitativ studie över hur rektorer i fristående skolor uppfattar sitt uppdrag

The aim of this study is to investigate the role and position of the principal in private, publicly funded schools in Sweden, and how they themselves interpret it. The Swedish school system has undergone several major changes during the past twenty years, and the results of these changes are still a frequently discussed and often appear on the political agenda. I have performed interviews with principals in private but publicly funded schools, to detect different views and concerns regarding how the Swedish school system is led and controlled. I strive to find various perceptions concerning legislation and economic conditions, and how principals act and lead their schools according to these. To interpret the interviews I use four different categories of governance. These four areas are juridical, economic, ideologic and evaluation and control, and they represent the management of the school from the government in a publicly funded, decentralized system. When adopting these four frames on my interviews, a pattern appears. One of the conclusions is that no matter the school’s mode of operation, the economic governance and motives are critical in the principals implementation. One can not generalise the results, but merely observe how the governance of schools is perceived in the final link in the control chain