"We have been so focused on educational development that we've forgotten the fundamental conditions needed for schools to actually function," says Professor Morten Øgård at UiA.

Together with researcher Linda Hye and Professor Emeritus Harald Baldersheim, he mapped out previous research on municipalities' responsibilities as school owners.

The report 'Lokal skolemyndighet – jakten på systembalanse' (Local school authorities – the pursuit of system balance) was commissioned by the Norwegian School Heads Association and is being launched during Arendalsuka.

Stig Johannessen, leader of the Norwegian School Heads Association, says the report reveals that leaders in kindergartens and schools often stand alone.

"To succeed with inclusion, learning and ensuring that all children are seen and heard, it is crucial that municipalities support leaders in kindergartens and schools. What the report reveals must be followed up with action," says Johannessen.

The researchers examined four main areas: employer responsibility, financing, organisation and development of schools. The findings show that some areas are much more researched than others.

"There is a plethora of research on educational development. However, we found only four studies focusing on municipalities' employer responsibilities," states Linda Hye.

The researchers find this concerning, given the work environment for school leaders:

• 70 per cent of headteachers say that the workload is unreasonably high
• 67 per cent lack a job description
• 60 per cent do not receive clear feedback on their performance
• 45 per cent feel neither appreciated nor supported by the municipality as leaders

"Headteachers and middle managers face an unreasonably high workload. This is an employer responsibility. Yet, research has shown little interest," says Hye.

Øgård believes pedagogical research environments have dominated the field for too long. He says that the current school system lacks the prerequisites to function holistically.

"You can put in all the pedagogy you want, but it won't lead to organisational development or fresh thinking. We need learning and innovative organisations, and for that, we need the basic organisational, structural, cultural and managerial foundations," he says.

The largest schools in Agder have over 350 staff members and 1500 students, making them some of the region's largest workplaces.

"These are very large organisations. If we fail to organise them properly, the resources we invest will just slip through our fingers," says Øgård.

However, there is little knowledge on what constitutes effective school leadership. Much research only describes what municipalities do, not whether it is effective.

"We don't need more mere descriptions of what is being done in schools. We need to discover the right path forward," Hye says.

The report uncovers what researchers call a broken value chain in Norwegian schools. Municipalities struggle to create effective meeting places between politicians, administration and schools.

"Local politicians are often perceived as detached from the realities in schools. Local school policies are not exactly hotly debated," says Hye.

The researchers want more disciplines to be included in school research. They believe that economists, legal scholars and organisational researchers can contribute important knowledge.

"Municipalities manage billions and are responsible for the future of hundreds of thousands of students. We need to know how they can best uphold this responsibility," Øgård says.

Hye and Øgård are also editors of the forthcoming book Veier til effektiv skoleledelse (Paths to effective school leadership), due in November.