Leading School-Age Educare in Sweden Regimes of practices and principals' subjectivities

Linnéa HolmbergEva Kane^*

• Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

How do primary school principals with responsibility for Swedish school-age educare (SAEC) describe their work? By understanding the principals' practice as a site of power relations in terms of regimes of practices and, through this, explore principal subjectivities, it becomes possible to reveal which types of educational leadership for school-age educare are normalised and made possible. In an analysis based on answers from primary school principals in a qualitative survey, a discursive production of a nebulous leadership subject emerges; a bland and nebulous leader enabled, and at the same time constrained, by the power relations within the regime of practices. This leadership terrain is not easy to navigate, and seems to be based on an attitude that revolves around the idea that good enough is enough. This leadership style is changeable as well as varied and at the same time apparently marked by an unwillingness to shoulder all the responsibility for SAEC, and consequently seeks support in different ways from different directions, transforming responsibility into a collective project driven by joint forces. It is also leadership that constantly needs to adapt its commitments to the needs of others, which in turn leads to a reactive rather than proactive leadership style. Finally, it is leadership that appears legitimate, even though adequate knowledge about SAEC sometimes seems to be lacking, to some extent pointing towards an abdicated leadership. For a different type of educational leader for school-age educare to emerge, a changed regime of practices is required, one that allows the primary school principals to perform their leadership in ways that today does not seem possible.