Att leda det professionella lärandet

Sammanfattning: School leaders of today wrestle with vast challenges in an increasingly complex and changing world. Several research projects have been conducted the past years to identify and explain what is essential and important when it comes to develop and improve professional learning in today's schools. But how do school leaders put this into practice and implement it into their daily lives? Furthermore, what help do they get from first teachers? In this essay, I will immerse myself into what research says about professional learning, and the approaches and experiences four (4) school leaders and four (4) first teachers have had when leading the development of professional learning in their schools. It is crucial to have a systematic and investigative approach to how to successfully develop and personalize learning for different contexts and conditions. It is also essential to develop expertise in how to build trust and confidence by understanding each other’s’ perspective and learning processes. As a leader you must understand not only the students learning needs but also the teachers and your own needs. This different perspective seems essential to successfully meet the challenges of tomorrow. Research says that there are no simple, nor general, solutions or models to apply, but rather understand and interpret the context you are in and then link it to scientific methods and/or proven experience. This requires a high level of expertise and understanding of those who are set to lead this activity but also a distributed leadership shared by several, rather than just a few. Today’s complex challenges require an interaction and cooperative approach between different professions and, not the least, that we dare to share our educational leadership with the first teachers and other co-workers.