Organisational routines for school improvement: exploring the link between ostensive and performative aspects

Abstract

This article explores organisational routines introduced in schools and preschools in a Swedish municipality and analyses the relationship between ostensive and performative aspects of improvement work. We take our theoretical point of departure in organisational psychology and an organisation development (OD) perspective by integrating the coupling mechanisms of decoupling, assimilation and accommodation to former research. The analysis shows that the ostensive and performative aspects of organisational routines must be closely connected if improvement initiatives are to impact daily practice. For this to happen, leaders of improvement work must design and operate development programmes that go beyond decoupling by also enabling assimilation and at least partial accommodation. The findings from this study provide a theoretical contribution to understanding the relationship between ostensive and performative aspects of organisational routines; in other words, the ways in which organisational routines play out in practice.

Notes on contributors

Mette Liljenberg is a senior lecturer at the Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg. Box 300, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research interests are in the area of school improvement, school organisation and school leadership. She has a special interest in distributed leadership. Her most recent article ‘Teacher leadership modes and practices in a Swedish context – a case study’ was published in School Leadership & Management, 36(1), 21–40, 2016.

Daniel Nordholm is a senior lecturer at the Department of Education, Uppsala University, Uppsala. Box 2136, 750 02, Uppsala, Sweden. In his previous research he has focused on educational leadership, local education authorities and organisational development. His recent publication is ‘State policy directives and middle-tier translation in a Swedish example’ in Journal of Educational Administration, 54(4), 393–408, 2016.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

Because the paper is an equal collaboration, the order of the authorship is alphabetical.