Ways of seeing the role of an advanced teacher in relation to school development in Sweden

Ways of seeing the role of an advanced teacher in relation to school development in Sweden In today’s schools, the teachers’ work and professional knowledge are increasingly challenged and questioned, and politicians tend to seek quick solutions to the schools’ so-called crisis. One such solution was the implementation of a career position reform for advanced teachers in 2013.The 2013 career position reform for advanced teachers (SKOLF 2013: 147) allows schools to apply for state funding to establish careers for teachers in primary and secondary schools. Fully developed, the reform will include 17,000 teachers in 2016/2017. The reform includes a small number of lecturers (with a doctorate degree), but the project in which this study is carried out is restricted to research on the career positions of advanced teachers. The reform was introduced to offer support to individual teachers and their careers as well as contribute to school development. To what extent this is achievable depends on many different factors; including the conditions created for and by the teachers selected for this position, which, among others factors, is dependent on how the reform is interpreted by various actors. Research on School Effectiveness (see for instance Sammons, Hillman, & Mortimore, 1997)has contributed to knowledge of the characteristics of effective schools, namely schools that, in comparison to other schools, achieve good results. The starting point of the research is that something can be learned from schools that have proven to be successful. When effectiveness research starting points are transferred to local school practices, it seems essential to first identify effective teachers, teachers who, compared to others, achieve particularly good results with their students. And secondly, to work to ensure that their knowledge and teaching methods will be spread throughout the school. One way to interpret the reform is by equating the advanced teacher with the effective teacher, who has access to and can transfer knowledge to their colleagues on how to achieve good results. On the other hand, more process- and learning-oriented research about the development of schools has contributed to knowledge relevant for teachers learning in Professional Learning Communities (DuFour, 2004; Louise, 2006; Stoll & Louise, 2007; Wald & Castleberry, 2000), for teachers’ engagement in knowledge building processes based on every day practices as grounds for development (Thelin & Scherp,