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International research documents a variety of approaches for fostering the professional development of principals. These studies mainly draw upon survey and interview data. Less attention has been paid to observing professional development processes. This article aims to examine how professional learning is played out empirically in the interactions among members of a school improvement team in a Norwegian context by paying special attention to school data as the departure for professional development of principals. Cultural Historical Activity Theory frames the analysis. The findings suggest that video clips of teaching practices stimulate engagement among team members and, hence, mediate professional learning processes beyond the situations presented in the workshops. These video clips triggered analyses of how to understand and improve teaching practices. In addition, external facilitation seemed crucial for anchoring the analysis theoretically, and for highlighting implications for leadership in the workshops.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how successful school leaders in Norway frame their public identity and how their narratives may be understood in relation to different discourses on leadership. Design/methodology/approach: The approach draws upon a theoretical perspective which asserts that there is a profound connection between identity and practice, and between identity and the construction of a number of narratives (Wenger; Bourdieu and Wacquant). The author has combined analyses of public discourses on school leadership with findings based on the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) to analyze the school principal's construction of a public face. Findings: The study demonstrates how the public identity and face of a school principal is multiple, subjectively constructed and intersects with public discourses. Moreover, it highlights why principals need greater capability to lead their schools in a dynamic context by being the figure head and representing the organization (Mintzberg). The ISSPP study has constructed many accounts of principals' thinking about successful leadership and achievement. The principals' stories partly intersect with public narratives of heroic leadership, but by highlighting their work in teams, they primarily intersect with the notion of distributed leadership. A striking feature was the principals' commitment to making a difference for the kids and their hard work within the system to balance all of the demands placed on their shoulders in order to ensure more equitable learning environments for all students. Research limitations/implications: The study indicates the importance of principals being reflexive about their own positions. There is a need to locate personal experience within wider relations of power. The creation of educational biographies may serve as an approach to helping principals understand how and why they learned in the past and what motivates them to pursue new educational opportunities. Originality/value: A focus on identities and their development can tap the complexity of school leadership in a tumultuous, high-stakes environment of accountability. (Contains 1 note.)

Chain of care for patients with intentional self-harm was important in the Norwegian national action plan to prevent suicide. In this study there were two aims: (1) to calculate the potential effects of chain of care on reducing suicide rates, and (2) to assess whether suicide rates decreased more in areas where chain of care had been implemented than in other areas. We observed no differences in changes in suicide rates between areas with and without the intervention. The calculated potential effects of chain of care on national suicide rates were very small, even under unrealistically favorable conditions.

This article aims at providing insight into ways of constructing leadership for learning within a Norwegian context. The focus is on how a Norwegian principal talks about educational leadership and learning. The principal's story is juxtaposed with references to how her deputies and a group of teachers frame their experiences about leadership for learning at this particular school. In this instance, the sharing of leadership is considered successful because those wishing to share in the leadership of the school have learned first to share in the leader's vision of leading. A main argument is that in constructing her story about leadership for learning the principal is also negotiating who she is for others as well as for herself, and her identity construction is work in progress. (Contains 1 table and 3 notes.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how success has been sustained over time in schools which were identified as being successful five years ago. Design/methodology/approach: Three schools were selected for a revisit, and the sample included two combined schools (grade 1-10) and one upper secondary school (grade 11-13). In two schools the same principals were still in post, and in the third school there had recently been a change in principalship. Interviews with the principal and a group of teachers at each school were the major source of new data. Questions that guided the study: What structural and cultural changes can be identified within the schools compared with five years ago? What factors might help sustain success over time? Findings: The learning-centred approach identified earlier had been sustained in the schools during the five years. All principals focused on multiple ways of influencing staff motivation, commitment and working conditions, teamwork was a vital characteristic, and they also reported on their struggle to sustain and promote equity and social justice. For the two schools with principals still in post one could hardly detect any change in preferred strategies, but for the third school with the new principal there was a significant change. Although his ethos was closely connected to that which existed at the school five years ago, his leadership approach and the agenda for school improvement were different. As such, the study provides an example of how principals have the power to set the tone and the agenda for school development even though leadership practice is an interactive process involving many people. Originality/value: The paper provides knowledge about sustainable leadership in a context where new expectations are raised towards schools, and principals are in particular challenged to respond to new and sometimes contradicting expectations. (Contains 1 note.)

This article provides a cross-national perspective on successful school principalship in three countries derived from an analysis of case studies in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The ISSPP aims to investigate the characteristics, processes and effects of successful school leadership across eight countries (i.e. Australia, Canada, England, the United States, China, Denmark, Sweden and Norway). Examples from the USA, Norway and China (Shanghai) were selected to illustrate cross-national differences related to the societal purposes of education, the structure and funding of different national educational systems and the influence of particular governmental educational policies (i.e. accountability-oriented policies) on the leadership practices of individual school principals. Variations in selection criteria and research procedures were also noted. Recommendations for further research using a cultural framework include analysing multiethnic schools to identify culturally specific leadership practices as well as developing further ISSPP case studies in non-Western contexts. (Contains 1 note.)

This article explores discourses of leadership and learning within a Norwegian context. It is inspired by critical discourse analysis. The analysis draws upon, and compares, some findings from two studies. The first is a textual analysis of policy documents. The second is a case study of school leadership and how principals and teachers talk about leadership and learning. One claim made here is that a language of education has increasingly been replaced by a language of learning which also has implications for our understanding of educational leadership. As educators, we have contributed to the focus on learning within the discourse of education. Bringing this concept into play has also allowed for a reinterpretation of the educational process in terms of an economic transaction. The Norwegian discourse of learning and leadership at a policy level echoes the international discourse of learning and leadership. However, at the school level a different discourse still seems to dominate. In the discussion, I raise the question about how long the local school will be able to resist complying with an economic way of thinking about education, and highlight some implications for educational leadership. (Contains 9 notes.)

This article explores the meaning of an education based on democratic values and the implications for school leadership in practice. Based on findings from a case study in a Norwegian upper secondary school, the study describes democratic school leadership in practice, with particular attention to the distribution of power and leadership in the school, student voice in the decision-making process, their opportunities for open dialogues, and the conditions that must be in place for students to develop as citizens. (Contains 4 footnotes.)

This article aims at presenting some of the findings from the Norwegian part of the "Successful School Leadership Project". In order to adequately capture the complicated and dynamic nature of leadership in the participating schools, a distributed and micro-political perspective on leadership is chosen. The Norwegian team has been investigating elementary as well as secondary education, but we will for this presentation emphasize some general aspects of leadership in upper secondary education. Three upper secondary schools will be presented and used as examples in our discussion. Our findings underscore how school leadership is an interactive process involving many people and players. Geographical location, school history and size point to a variety of challenges, but in all schools we could identify success as a result of a continuous team effort. Leadership analysed within a distributed perspective can be described as an organizational quality in these schools. The many faces of distributed leadership in upper secondary education can best be comprehended in the light of the schools' historical, cultural, political and social context. The study also demonstrates how trust and power within distributed leadership of an organization were closely interrelated.

Purpose: This paper aims to identify what counts as successful school leadership within a Norwegian context. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses multi-site case study methods as a methodological approach. In selecting cases the first strategy included schools appointed as "good practice schools" by the Ministry of Education and Research. The second strategy was to obtain a desired variation based on different factors like school size and structure, rural/urban representation and principals' gender. Findings: Leadership in the case schools are almost entirely practiced through collaboration and team efforts, and a learning-centered approach is the focal point for the schools' philosophy as well as for its practice. Respect of the individual student and colleague in the building of professional communities of practice seems to be a guiding norm of conduct. In addition, school leaders that are successful in fulfilling a moral enterprise based on democratic principles and values, manage to deal with the types of dilemmas that are at the core of working with people in a school. Originality/value: The study shows how successful leadership is an interactive process involving many people and players.

Focuses on the modes of inquiry used in a study of how Norwegian headteachers frame their personal lives and explores some alternative approaches to analysis, especially of content and form. Results show how explorations of the form and structure of headteachers' life stories raise more complex juxtapositions and questions about the meanings of professional competence. (SLD)

The article aims at exploring the negotiation of meaning and manifestations of successful leadership in multiethnic schools in Norway. Two culturally diverse schools are examined. Both schools have received public recognition as being successful in their work with multicultural education. In Norway, there is a strong commitment to comprehensive education and social justice, inspired by social democratic politics for promoting equity (Møller 2006). In analyzing the cases a critical multicultural perspective is applied (Kalantzis and Cope 1999; Ryan 2003). Learning in and for democracy is based on multiple meanings that are socially constructed and takes into account the moral purpose of education (Furman and Shields 2005). Based on the findings, we will argue that the principal plays a pivotal role for including all stakeholders in work for democratic schooling. A caring approach through a focus on possibilities and respect, not on deficits, is crucial [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the penetrance of BRCA1 mutation on families with inherited breast-ovarian cancer in Norway. Lifetime risks for breast and ovarian cancer in BRCA1 mutation; Variation in the ratio of cancer according to the position of gene mutation; Factors causing inherited breast-ovarian cancer.

Background: The aetiology behind chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the onset of CRS and several common occupational exposures over time., Methodology: An adult random population from Telemark, Norway, comprising 7,952 subjects, who answered a comprehensive respiratory questionnaire including questions on CRS and occupational exposure first in 2013 and again in 2018., Results: New-onset CRS during the five-year follow-up was independently associated with occupational exposure to hair-care products, cleaning agents among women, super glue, strong acids, cooking fumes and wood dust., Conclusion: In this random population cohort from Norway, exposure to several common occupational agents, such as hair-care products, super glue and wood dust, was associated with the onset of CRS. It is important that physicians who see patients with CRS inquire about workplace exposure.