Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine learning and employee-driven innovation (EDI) in the public sector, with a particular focus on the interplay between employee engagement and organisational conditions. Design/methodology/approach: The material consists of qualitative interviews with 23 participants from three municipal sites of…

This study highlights how 20 Swedish principals, school managers and architects involved in planning, construction and reconstruction of primary and secondary school buildings at regional, municipal and local levels represent good learning environments. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, the analysis focuses on how the stakeholders understand…

Purpose: From a workplace learning perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between conditions for learning and stressful work and, to analyse the learning conditions that support the management of stressful work. The model of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) is adopted as an indicator of stressful work by measuring the…

With growing international interest in diversifying sites for pedagogical work within the doctorate, doctoral programmes of different kinds are being developed in different disciplinary, institutional and national settings. However, little is known about how the pedagogical work of these programmes is designed and enacted, and with what effects.…

The number of doctorates being awarded around the world has almost doubled over the last ten years, propelling it from a small elite enterprise into a large and ever growing international market. Within the context of increasing numbers of doctoral students this book examines the new doctorate environment and the challenges it is starting to face.…

Futurum in Sweden is described here as a school that does not have any classrooms, there is nothing like a timetable, no school bells can be heard, the students do not have any school bags, and teachers are without desks. Futurum is a radically new school that merges creative architecture with modern learning and teaching methods. This article…

Traditional non-computerized learning environments are typically founded on an understanding of learning as acquiring silence for an effective "individual learning process". Recently, it has also been reported that the high expectations for the impact of computer-based technology on educational practice have not been realized. This paper…

Described is a visit to the Fajans School in Falkenberg, Sweden, a single stream elementary school with an integrated nursery and day care center. Serving 220 children, the Fajans school does not grade according to age or ability. The nursery school provides 47 day care places, plus 18 in a part-time day nursery and 30 for children 7-12 years old…

The Centre for Educational Research and Innovation Studies on innovation have tried to evaluate what is happening in different member countries to achieve a balance between organized processes for change and free initiative of the individual school or teacher, and to establish effective institutions in the different national circumstances. The aim…

The "folkehojskoler," innovative Scandinavian secondary schools based on radical humanistic ideas, are examined from both empirical and philosophical perspectives, focusing on three elements: ideology; the student experience; and the teaching culture. Implications for goals, objectives, assumptions, forms, and practices in American…

This monograph presents an overview of reports from a 4-year intensive research study of internal life among 3 Swedish compulsory schools and includes discussion of a 10-year follow-up study of 12 senior-level compulsory schools. The 4-year project sought to understand innovative processes, but because few innovations were observed, research…