ABSTRACT

This study takes the policy idea of the standards-based curriculum as a point of departure. Drawing on discursive institutionalism and pragmatic institutionalism, the study’s purpose is to critically examine school principals empirically as translators, enacting Sweden’s standards-based curriculum into local schools’ practices. The data were collected through interviews with principals from four compulsory schools in different geographical regions of Sweden, selected through purposive sampling. Røvik’s ‘translator competence’ framework and Schmidt’s ‘sentient agents’ framework were used as analytical tools. In the empirical material, examples of school principals as knowledgeable, creative, patient and strong translators were identified, interpreted as their ‘background ideational abilities’. Discourses on ‘foreground ideational abilities’ also were identified in the principals’ experiences as translators through their critical and deliberative reflections on the standards-based curriculum. By integrating discursive institutionalism and pragmatic institutionalism into the study, ideas and discourse, as well as agency and contextual and normative experiences, were interpreted as important aspects of policy translation. This provided opportunities for a broader understanding of school principals’ translations of the standards-based curriculum, which hopefully also can help develop the theoretical and methodological discursive institutional approach within education research.

摘要

本研究以标准课程的政策理念为出发点。该研究的目的是利用话语制度主义和务实制度主义，批判性地考察作为翻译者的校长，将瑞典基于标准的课程纳入当地学校的实践。这些数据是通过对瑞典不同地理区域的四所义务教育学校校长的访谈而收集的，这些学校是通过有目的的抽样选出的。罗维克的“翻译能力”框架和施密特的“有感知力的代理”框架被用作分析工具。在实证材料中，学校校长作为知识渊博、富有创造力、耐心和强大翻译家的例子被识别出来，解释为他们的“背景思维能力”。通过校长对基于标准的课程的批判性和深思熟虑的反思，在校长作为翻译的经历中也发现了关于“前景构思能力”的论述。通过将话语制度主义和务实制度主义融入研究中，思想和话语，以及能动性、情境和规范经验，被解释为政策翻译的重要方面。这为更广泛地理解校长对基于标准的课程的翻译提供了机会，这也有望有助于发展教育研究中的理论和方法论话语制度方法。通过将话语制度主义和务实制度主义融入研究中，思想和话语，以及能动性、情境和规范经验，被解释为政策翻译的重要方面。这为更广泛地理解校长对基于标准的课程的翻译提供了机会，这也有望有助于发展教育研究中的理论和方法论话语制度方法。通过将话语制度主义和务实制度主义融入研究中，思想和话语，以及能动性、情境和规范经验，被解释为政策翻译的重要方面。这为更广泛地理解校长对基于标准的课程的翻译提供了机会，这也有望有助于发展教育研究中的理论和方法论话语制度方法。