Ledarskap för ihärdighet : En studie om lärarledarskap som främjar elevers ihärdighet i samhällskunskapsämnet på gymnasiet

Sammanfattning: The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine teachers’ possibilities of developing student grit through leadership within upper secondary school social sciences. The theoretical foundation of his thesis is composed of the theory of grit developed by Angela Duckworth and Christer Stensmo’s theory of teacher leadership. According to Duckworth grit consists of an individual’s ability to continually work toward a goal despite setbacks and can be increased by developing interest, practice, purpose, and hope. According to Stensmo teacher leadership consists of planning, control, motivation, individualization, and grouping. In order to study how teacher leadership can be used to develop student grit this thesis uses interviews with five certified social science teachers which were asked how the tasks of teacher leadership can be fulfilled in order to develop student interest, practice, purpose and hope. The results of the interviews concluded that there is an inherent problem with developing grit within a school context as grit is an intrinsically internal ability. Therefore, the teachers perceived a leadership based on a high degree of teacher control with a relatively limited degree of individualization and grouping to be a viable option in order to develop student grit. In accordance with the teachers’ perceptions this style of leadership needed to be based on pre-active, interactive, and post-active planning in order to set clear goals, adapt the education based on unforeseen events and improve the quality of the education.