How does principal leadership shape how schools’ function and ultimately how students perform? This research theme brings together research on the role of principals in Swedish schools, from instructional leadership and teacher collaboration to principals’ discretion room as managers, as well as the potential of leadership training for principals. Together, these projects address how principal leadership in schools works, how it can be developed, and what conditions enable principals to make a lasting difference.
Research
The Center for Educational Leadership and Excellence (CELE) explores how schools can be better led and supported to help students thrive. Our research looks at leadership, policy and how schools are organized. Some projects are run by our team at SSE, others in collaboration with partners in Sweden and abroad.
Understanding School Leadership to Improve Outcomes
Student Mental Health in Schools
Mental health among children and adolescents is declining in Sweden and internationally. But what does "mental health" really mean, and what role do schools play? This research theme brings together studies that examine student mental health from different angles - combining insights from psychology and economics to understand how schools shape the well-being of young people. Together, these projects highlight that schools are not merely settings where youth mental health unfolds during adolescence, but that schools can be active contributors to students' mental health and psychological well-being - positive as well as negative - in ways that current policy and practice have yet to fully account for.
