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This study investigated the process of implementing professional development plans (PDPs) as a tool for teachers’ continuing professional learning in Finnish Lapland. The PDP model was developed th...

When teaching is considered as a collaborative activity, the aim of research projects in schools needs to exceed the individual and personal levels and aim to contribute to research-informed reflection of a team of teachers. Within this multiple case study, we adapted the graduation research project within a primary teacher education programme, trying to bridge the personal level (where student-teachers show their individual competence) and the collaborative level (where the graduation research project aims to inspire practice of several teachers within a school). In this redesign of the graduation research project, the concepts of boundary activity, ownership, meaningfulness and dialogue were helpful. However, our study shows that connecting graduation research projects with school development is not just a matter of redesigning a part of the curriculum, but that it requires new perspectives and new qualities of student-teachers, research supervisors from the university and actors within the school.

Based on experiences from a number of large scale data- and research-informed school development projects in Denmark and Norway, led by the author, three hypotheses are discussed: that an effective way of linking research and practice is achieved (1) using a capacity building approach, that is, to collaborate in the practical school context through a problem-based learning approach (the capacity building hypothesis); (2) that data- and research-informed professional competence support and development of learning environments will increase the professional capital (individual, social and decisional capital) of teachers and school leaders (the output effect hypothesis); (3) that data- and research-informed professional competence support and development of learning environments will have a positive impact on students' learning achievements and well-being (the outcome effect hypothesis). Referring to correlational analyses of data from one of the school development projects, the outcome effect hypothesis is supported.

In this article a study is presented in which teachers describe the working situation at their school. The aim of the study was to find out in what respects the school needed to be developed. The study was a case study and the method for collecting data was focus group dialogues. All teacher teams at a Swedish secondary school participated. The teacher teams focused on structural problems for the school. When analysing the activity in the team dialogues, problems on the group level also appeared. The necessity of teacher dialogue when initiating school development is observed and the functioning of the group is recognised as important.

In an increasing manner, schools are challenged with the task of making pupils masters of their own learning so that they are able to approach and deal with their tasks independently. Such a promotion of learning competences implies the promotion of competence in subject knowledge and method competence, as well as in social and personal competence. The present article analyses the question of how the acquisition of learning competences may be enhanced at school and at the level of educational systems. A study (2002–2004), commissioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation was to provide relevant information in this respect, the results of which are presented in this contribution. After a technical definition of the term of ‘learning competence’ the author explains how the schools of the inquiry split up these general categories of learning competences into partial areas of competence and/or dimensions, subsequently determining these as set goals for their future work on school development. The improvement of lear...

Summary The position and duties of a school principal should be rapidly changing along with the changes in the policy of school development. School‐based curriculum and staff development are the main components of the present policy. If an individual school is the basic unit of development then the role of the principal is crucial in leading pedagogical activities within the unit. This study, carried out in Finland, attempts to consider how principals see their work now. The results show that the principals’ still see their most important tasks in organisation (resource provider) and in maintaining a good climate in school.