Ruth Jensen

• Ottesen, Eli; Jensen, Ruth; Halvorsen, Bård & Vinje, Pia (2025). Democracy as a central value in a national curriculum: Working with school leaders and teachers to connect values with practice in Norway. In Heinz, Manuela; Rodriguez, Maria Jesus & Ruairc, Gerry Mac (Ed.), Professional Learning for Diversity, Equity and Democracy: Big Ideas for Better Schools. Routledge. ISSN 9781032629292. p. 128–145. doi: 10.4324/9781032629292-10. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter provides insights into a professional learning initiative for democracy education in Norway. The 2020 curriculum renewal for primary and secondary schools in Norway aimed to link the curriculum content closer to the country’s central values. This chapter discusses this new orientation, focusing on democracy as a central educational value. While promoting democracy has long been a goal of Norwegian schools, the realisation of education about, through and for democracy has proven demanding. As part of the ‘Big Ideas for Better Schools’ project, we designed, carried out and evaluated a professional learning programme for teachers and school leaders in a rural school. We describe the participants’ experiences from the programme and discuss how models for action research and change can be used with school leaders and teachers. Grounded in analyses of the workshop materials and data collected through a teacher interview and pupil surveys, we identify and discuss critical considerations, including the role of conceptual models as tools for collective discourses and professional learning, the need for time and leadership and the importance of dealing with past experiences, ongoing actions and hopes and concerns about the future.

• Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Jensen, Ruth & Helstad, Kristin (2025). Langvarige partnerskap som mulighetsrom for utviklingsarbeid i ledelsesverksteder. Uniped - Tidsskrift for universitets- og høgskolepedagogikk. ISSN 1500-4538. 48(2-3), p. 153–164. doi: 10.18261/uniped.48.2-3.7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Partnerskap mellom universitets og høyskolesektoren og ansatte i skolen representerer en sentral styringsintensjon når det gjelder å støtte skoler i utviklingsarbeid. I denne artikkelen rapporterer vi fra et utviklings- og forskningsprosjekt hvor det ble inngått et partnerskap mellom tre videregående skoler og to universiteter over en toårsperiode. Formålet med artikkelen er å bidra med kunnskap om hvordan skoleledere og forskere har erfart deltakelse i partnerskap i det vi omtaler som ledelsesverksteder, hvor målet har vært å styrke skoleledernes arbeid med å realisere intensjonene i læreplanverket. Analysene bygger på intervjuer med rektorer og forskere som deltok. Oppmerksomheten har vært rettet mot hvilke erfaringer rektorene har fra deltakelse i ledelsesverksteder som arena for partnerskap og reformarbeid, og hvilke refleksjoner forskerne gjør seg etter å ha intervenert i ledergrupper med spesifikke verktøy for å trigge ledelse av reformarbeid. Analysene viser at partnerskapet har hatt relevans for begge parter. Både skoleledere og forskere ser positivt på bruken av verktøy som speil på ledernes praksis for videre refleksjon, men begge parter erfarer bruk av teori som utfordrende. Siden de viktigste formålene til institusjoner som skole og universitet er delvis ulike og skolesektoren og universitets- og høyskolesektoren har ulike roller i samfunnet, argumenterer vi for å vie mer oppmerksomhet til hvordan komplementære roller kan gi næring til kollektiv læring gjennom langvarige partnerskap.

• Hall, Jeffrey & Jensen, Ruth (2025). Nasjonal forventningsstyring og frafall i grunnopplæringen – politikeres og statstjenestepersoners refleksjoner, Fullført og bestått – lovende og frafallshemmende praksiser for å beholde elevene i opplæringsløpet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202815141. Full text in Research Archive
• Skedsmo, Guri; Jensen, Ruth & Hall, Jeffrey (2025). Lovende og frafallshemmende praksiser – muligheter og utfordringer, Fullført og bestått – lovende og frafallshemmende praksiser for å beholde elevene i opplæringsløpet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202815141. p. 195–201. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Hall, Jeffrey (2025). Skolenes strategiske arbeid for å beholde elevene: aktørene, her og nå-arbeidet, praksisene og tilpasningene, Fullført og bestått – lovende og frafallshemmende praksiser for å beholde elevene i opplæringsløpet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202815141. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2024). Teoretisk grunnlag. In Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (Ed.), Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215071558. p. 34–45. Full text in Research Archive
• Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland & Jensen, Ruth (2024). Forskningsdesign og metoder. In Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (Ed.), Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215071558. p. 46–59. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2024). Relevant forskning. In Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (Ed.), Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215071558. p. 25–45. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2024). Utforskning av problemsituasjon - en myriade av verktøy i spill. In Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (Ed.), Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215071558. p. 116–136. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (2024). Bokens konklusjoner. In Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (Ed.), Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215071558. p. 195–200. Full text in Research Archive
• Laursen, Ronni & Jensen, Ruth (2024). The governance of teachers’ time allocation and data usage through a learning management system: a biopolitical perspective. Critical Studies in Education. ISSN 1750-8487. doi: 10.1080/17508487.2024.2373239. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper examines the intricate relationship between state ambitions and institutional disciplining in the context of managers and teachers’ time allocation and data usage. Using a specific learning management system (LMS) as a case study in Danish public elementary schools and drawing on Foucault’s theory, we examine how governance through the LMS, constituted as disciplinary power and surveillance techniques, shapes time allocation and data usage in schools. Our study is based on an analysis of policy documents and qualitative interviews, identifying discourses about educational ambitions and intentions with the LMS. Our analysis has three perspectives. First, we argue that the Danish state’s educational ambitions are characterized as biopolitics grounded in economic imperatives and the need for a well-educated population. Second, we argue that the enactment of a mandatory LMS in schools manifests as governance to secure state ambitions. Finally, we argue that the disciplinary power and surveillance techniques embedded in the design of the LMS shape teachers’ time allocation and data usage in accordance with state ambitions. Thus, our analysis contributes a theoretical perspective to develop a critical understanding of how state ambitions for governance through digital tools shape possibilities for practice among actors within the educational field.

• Hall, Jeffrey Brooks; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Jensen, Ruth (2023). Organisational arrangements, resources and tensions in the enactment of a renewed state curriculum: the entrepreneurial role of principals and superintendents. Journal of Educational Administration & History. ISSN 0022-0620. doi: 10.1080/00220620.2023.2175801. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper examines how superintendents and school principals enact national policy reform expectations and what characterises their local organisational arrangements. Furthermore, the paper investigates how superintendents and school principals deal with tensions as entrepreneurs. The study builds on qualitative interview data from two municipalities in Norway. Analytically, the study draws on institutional theory, more specifically, on entrepreneurship, which to a limited degree has been applied in educational and empirical studies. The superintendents and principals interviewed referred to various local arrangements and resources that were partly adapted and changed through reform work to better fit local needs. Such arrangements included intra and interorganisational dependency and cooperation with several actors and organisational resources. Superintendents and principals seemed to partly break away from existing patterns of interaction. The entrepreneurial work entailed dealing with several tensions emerging within and across institutional boundaries in the process of enacting national reform policies.

• Jacobsen, Hilde Marie Madsø; Jensen, Ruth & Lejonberg, Eli (2023). Tracing ideas about mentoring newly qualified teachers and the expectations of school leadership in policy documents. International Journal of Leadership in Education. ISSN 1360-3124. doi: 10.1080/13603124.2023.2218110. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The practice of mentoring newly qualified teachers (NQT) has gained international attention in research over the past few decades, but little attention has been paid to ideas about mentoring NQT as they are presented in policy documents. Such ideas are important, as they represent what lies behind certain specific policy initiatives and measures. Consequently, this study aimed to provide insight into ideas about mentoring NQT, and to clarify expectations of school leadership regarding such issues conveyed in Norwegian policy documents. Discourse analysis inspired by theories on discursive institutionalism and governance was conducted on five policy papers. The documents were selected from a national educational level in Norway, where the emphasis on mentoring NQT has increased significantly over the past few decades. Three core ideas became visible through analysis: mentoring as a matter of institutionalization, of cultivating career-long collective learning and development, and of boundary work across institutions. Our analysis demonstrates how these ideas are made thinkable and calculable to practitioners and are expected to be used as instruments for practice, as well as how they can be institutionalized into practices of mentoring and, thus, practicable in the Norwegian context. The indicated expectations of school leadership are discussed.

• Jensen, Ruth & Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth (2023). Policy work in educational leadership courses: university teachers’ interpretations, translations and engagements. Journal of Educational Administration & History. ISSN 0022-0620. p. 1–16. doi: 10.1080/00220620.2023.2272931. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigates policy work in educational leadership courses at universities. It analyses the types of engagement present in university teachers’ policy work and in their interpretations and translations of policy intentions into teaching designs and practices. The study illustrates policy work as a phenomenon and draws on the theory of policy work; it examines one case from Norway and one from California. The data has been analysed through discourse analysis. Observational data and materials from teaching practices constituted the supporting data, while contextual interviews with university teachers formed the main data. In both cases, various types of engagement were identified, which reflected academic freedom and different policy contexts. The analysis also revealed that university lecturers use their professional discretion and experience when interpreting and translating policy intentions into teaching designs and practices. This has implications for higher education administration, especially for the achievement of coherence across programmes and courses.

• Jensen, Ruth & Ottesen, Eli (2023). Recursive and adaptive processes in strategic work: municipality leaders’ and school leaders’ accounts of their work for educational reform. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy. doi: 10.1080/20020317.2023.2178839. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this study is to contribute insights into strategic work in an educational reform context. Empirical data were collected from four cases in Norway, where the national educational authority recently initiated a renewal of the national curriculum for primary and secondary education. The theory of strategy as practice was the analytical framework applied in this study. The aims were to investigate municipal and school leaders’ accounts of strategic work and the relationships between strategic work at the municipal and school levels. The informants experienced they had leeway to decide on how to realize the national reform in their local contexts. In their processes of strategic work, they included both well-known strategies and practices that had worked previously and structures and procedures that were adapted to the situation at hand. We found a smooth alignment between recursive and adaptive processes across the organizational levels. The informants implemented their perceptions as the intention of the national reform in many ways. In demonstrating the complexity of educational reform work, the findings of this study showed that the SaP approach may be used to make valuable theoretical contributions to our understanding of reform work in education.

• Jensen, Ruth & Ottesen, Eli (2022). Unfolding Teaching Practices in Higher Education Courses: Cases from School Leadership Programs. International Journal of Educational Research. ISSN 0883-0355. 112. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2021.101919. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article provides insight into teaching practices in higher education. The empirical data are from master's programs in educational school leadership at universities in Norway and the United States (California). We employed a case study approach to investigate how teaching practices unfolded at the two sites. The data comprised textual materials and video data from two cases. Using Actor–Network Theory, we identified the key entities (social and material) that constitute the teaching practices. While the entities were fairly similar in the cases, the resulting relationships between them, while appearing distinctive, differed. Insights into how teaching practices unfold can offer valuable knowledge when evaluating existing programs and designing new programs in higher education.

• Jensen, Ruth (2021). Exploring causal relationships qualitatively: An empirical illustration of how causal relationships become visible across episodes and contexts. Journal of educational change. ISSN 1389-2843. doi: 10.1007/s10833-021-09415-5. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Causal relationships are traditionally examined in quantitative research. However, this article informs the discussion surrounding the potential use of qualitative data to explore causal relationships qualitatively through an empirical illustration of a school leadership development team. As school leadership development is supposed to offer continuing development to practicing school leaders, it brings into question the issue of causal relationships. This study analyzes audio and video recordings from 10 workshops involving a team of principals, municipality leaders, and researchers who met over two years to support the principals in leading a local school improvement program. The process data are organized into episodes and analyzed in three layers of causation an interpretative layer, a contradictory layer, and an agentive layer grounded in cultural-historical activity theory. When tracing a problem statement across episodes and relating the processes to events in a principal’s practice, causal relationships became visible across the episodes and contexts. The argument, then, is that the results are achieved in the processes. As such, process data can reveal causal relationships that quantitative data cannot.

• Trujillo, Tina; Møller, Jorunn; Jensen, Ruth; Kissel, René Espinoza & Larsen, Eivind (2021). Images of Educational Leadership: How Principals Make Sense of Democracy and Social Justice in Two Distinct Policy Contexts. Educational Administration Quarterly. ISSN 0013-161X. doi: 10.1177/0013161X20981148. Full text in Research Archive
• Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Jensen, Ruth & Møller, Jorunn (2021). Looking back and forward: a critical review of the history and future progress of the ISSPP. Journal of Educational Administration. ISSN 0957-8234. doi: 10.1108/JEA-04-2021-0088. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose The purpose of the article is to examine knowledge about successful principalship and discuss the methodology that has emerged throughout the history of the International Successful School Principals Project (ISSPP) and their implications for future progress. Design/methodology/approach Historical analysis is used as a strategy for establishing the background, the expansion and the progress of ISSPP as a long-standing international research network and to discuss the development of three research strands and methodological variations over time. The analysis provides a basis for pointing at some areas that need more attention in the future. Findings The findings suggest multiple images of the meaning of key concepts in the project and multiple theoretical and methodological orientations. There is a need to pay more attention to methodologies to make the successful cases more comparable and also to clarify the underlying assumptions of the different approaches. Originality/value Successful school principalship is a complex phenomenon. Therefore, future studies of successful schools and leadership would benefit from the use of knowledge that draws on sociology, cultural studies and politics.

• Larsen, Eivind; Møller, Jorunn & Jensen, Ruth (2020). Constructions of professionalism and the democratic mandate in education A discourse analysis of Norwegian public policy documents. Journal of Education Policy. ISSN 0268-0939. doi: 10.1080/02680939.2020.1774807. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Although previous research has contributed to the body of literature in education for democracy by addressing deficits in policies in equalizing students’ life chances, less attention has been paid to how accomplishing a democratic mandate in education is constructed and legitimized by educational authorities in national policy documents. In this article, we report findings from a project that examined this issue. The aim is to provide insight into how professionalism is constructed and legitimized within and across key education policy documents in the wake of a major national educational reform in Norway. We identify possible discursive shifts and examine what tensions are at play via textual analysis of selected policy documents, with a methodology inspired by a critical approach to discourse analysis. Theories on professionalism and democratic leadership serve as an overarching framework. The findings suggest (1) there are tensions between the use of performance data and education for democracy; (2) little attention is given to professionalism as a deliberative activity; and (3) there is increased emphasis on fulfilling students’ individual rights. We argue that introducing a language of performance expectations has permitted the reinterpretation of what it means to be a professional educator in a social democratic welfare state.

• Jensen, Ruth (2020). Professional development of school leadership as boundary work: patterns of initiatives and interactions based on a Norwegian case. International Journal of Leadership in Education. ISSN 1360-3124. doi: 10.1080/13603124.2020.1716998. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research on the professional development of school leadership often highlights the value of partnerships across institutions. Increasingly, partnership has been labeled boundary work. However, few empirical studies have been conducted on school leaders’ professional development as boundary work. The aim is to contribute empirical insight into the phenomenon based on a specific case and present findings from a qualitative study. The study is grounded on audio and video data collected over a 2-year period in a team of participants from schools, a local educational authority, and a university in Norway. This enables attention to the minute details of participant discursive initiatives and interactions. The third generation of the cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) is the chosen theoretical framework. Through extensive coding of discursive individual initiatives during 10 meetings, the analysis revealed 13 types of initiatives and their patterns of distribution across the three institutions. The interaction analysis shows how the different initiatives contributed to an expansion of the problem-spaces being worked on and how the issues of leadership, power, and authority emerged in the interactions. Attention to the initiatives and the interactions is essential to ensure that boundary work aids school leadership development in the future.

• Jensen, Ruth (2019). Bruken av pedagogiske verktøy i skolelederutdanning - eksempler fra to utdanningskontekster, Styring og ledelse i grunnopplæringen. Spenninger og dynamikker.. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202605544. p. 179–194. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug (2016). How school leadership development evolves: crossing timescales and settings. Journal of Workplace Learning. ISSN 1366-5626. 28(6), p. 338–354. doi: 10.1108/JWL-06-2015-0048. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2016). School leadership development: What we know and how we know it. Acta Didactica Norge. 10(4), p. 48–68. doi: 10.5617/adno.3898. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Lund, Andreas (2013). Horizontal dynamics in an inter-professional school improvement team. International Journal of Leadership in Education. ISSN 1360-3124. 17(3), p. 286–303. doi: 10.1080/13603124.2013.794302. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Møller, Jorunn (2012). School data as mediators in professional development. Journal of educational change. ISSN 1389-2843. doi: 10.1007/s10833-012-9197-y. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Hammersvik, Charles (2011). Lederutvikling med videosekvenser som "triggere" for læring. In Møller, Jorunn & Ottesen, Eli (Ed.), Rektor som leder og sjef - om styring, ledelse og kunnskapsutvikling i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215017976. p. 202–224. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

• Skedsmo, Guri; Jensen, Ruth & Hall, Jeffrey (2025). Fullført og bestått – lovende og frafallshemmende praksiser for å beholde elevene i opplæringsløpet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202815141. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (2024). Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 9788215071558. 216 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Karseth, Berit & Ottesen, Eli (2019). Styring og ledelse i grunnopplæringen. Spenninger og dynamikker. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202605544. 223 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2018). Profesjonelt arbeid i grensesoner. Skoleforbedring på tvers av virksomheter. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202482480. 176 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Profesjonelt arbeid i skolen innebærer ofte samarbeid i team på tvers av virksomheter, i det vi kan kalle grensesoner. Slikt arbeid kan gi mange gevinster, men medfører også utfordringer for de involverte. I denne boka tematiseres arbeid i team der deltakere fra ulike profesjoner arbeider med skoleforbedring. Boka presenterer internasjonal forskning og empiriske analyser og resultater fra to forskningsprosjekter, samt metodologiske tilnærminger i prosjektene. Den gir innsikt i de prosessene som karakteriserer profesjonelt teamarbeid med skoleforbedring i grensesoner. Kulturhistorisk aktivitetsteori gir det teoretiske rammeverket for analyser av samtaler i prosjektteam. Analysene viser hvordan arbeidet blir innovativt, og hvordan det kan gi avtrykk i skolers praksis. I tillegg tematiserer boka hvordan redskaper tas i bruk, hvordan arbeidsfordeling tar form, og hvordan ledelse konstitueres og utøves. Boka henvender seg til alle som er interessert i profesjonelt arbeid i grensesoner og i skoleforbedring som forskningsfelt. Den vil være spesielt aktuell for forskere ved universiteter og høyskoler, men også for studenter og ansatte i skolen.

• Jensen, Ruth & Kranmo, Astrid Lill (2015). Att utforska praktiken i förskolan. Studentlittertur. ISBN 9789144105321. 192 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Aas, Marit (2012). Å utforske praksis- videregående. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202338077. 227 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Aas, Marit (2011). Å utforske praksis - grunnskolen. Cappelen Damm AS. ISBN 9788202338060. 199 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Kranmo, Astrid Lill (2010). Å utforske praksis. Barnehage. Cappelen Damm AS. ISBN 9788202322250. 191 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Buli-Holmberg, Jorun; Jensen, Ruth & Guldahl, Tone (2007). Refleksjoner om opplæring i et læringsstilperspektiv. N.W. Damm & Sønn ASA. ISBN 9788204123107. 189 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2004). Å mestre mangfoldet. En bok om læringsstiler. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788204094254. 142 p. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

• Hall, Jeffrey & Jensen, Ruth (2025). Dropout in upper-secondary education as a “wicked problem”: Legislation, policy, and the expectations of experts at the state level. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2025). Skolenes strategiske arbeid for å beholde elevene – aktørene, her og nå-arbeidet, praksisene og tilpasningene. Full text in Research Archive
• Hall, Jeffrey & Jensen, Ruth (2025). Nasjonal forventningsstyring og frafall i grunnopplæringen – politikeres og statstjenestepersoners refleksjoner. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Helstad, Kristin (2024). Introduksjon. In Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (Ed.), Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215071558. p. 15–24. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Helstad, Kristin & Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken (2024). Forord. In Jensen, Ruth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (Ed.), Ledelsesverksteder - arena for utforsking av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215071558. p. 11–12. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Helstad, Kristin; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland (2024). School Leadership Workshops as an Arena for Research-Practice Partnership. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2024). Ledelsesverksteder som arena og metode for utforskning av utviklingsarbeid i skolen. Full text in Research Archive
• Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Helstad, Kristin; Jensen, Ruth & Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken (2024). The potentials and challenges of Change Lead as an arena and method for expansive learning in school leadership teams. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland & Helstad, Kristin (2024). The institutional and Strategic work of School Leaders and Teachers to accommodate students’ needs in Secondary Education. Full text in Research Archive
• Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Jensen, Ruth & Helstad, Kristin (2024). How do principals work to retain students in upper secondary education? Full text in Research Archive
• Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Jensen, Ruth & Helstad, Kristin (2024). The potential of change lead as a method for expansive learning in leadeship teams in upper secondary schools. Full text in Research Archive
• Heie, Magnus; Hall, Jeffrey Brooks; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Jensen, Ruth (2023). Ledere i skolen fungerer som entreprenører for å få innført nye læreplaner. [Internet]. https://www.uv.uio.no/ils/forskning/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/ . Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken & Helstad, Kristin (2023). Leading Reform work with Change Laboratories in Upper Secondary Schools - an Innovational Approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Helstad, Kristin (2023). Introducing and Examining Formative Interventions in Upper Secondary Schools in a Reform Context. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland & Helstad, Kristin (2023). School Leadership Development as School University Partnership – Tracing Relationships Across Episodes. Full text in Research Archive
• Heie, Magnus; Hall, Jeffrey Brooks; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Jensen, Ruth (2023). Hvordan jobber rektorer for å innføre nye læreplaner? [Internet]. https://forskning.no/ledelse-og-organisasjon-partner-skole-o. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland & Helstad, Kristin (2023). The strategic work of school leaders and teachers to retaining students. Full text in Research Archive
• Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland & Jensen, Ruth (2023). Multiple perspectives of Succsessful School Principalship New Cases in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Hall, Jeffrey Brooks; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Jensen, Ruth (2022). Organizational tensions in the planning and enactment of the renewed state curriculum: the entrepreneurial role of school principals and superintendents in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken & Jensen, Ruth (2022). Formative interventions as a tool in leading reform work in upper secondary schools. A design and situational approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2022). Innovasjon som prosess- et teoretisk, metodologisk og praktisk blikk. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2022). Leading reform work in upper secondary schools. Full text in Research Archive
• Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken & Jensen, Ruth (2022). Developing School Leadership Practices. The Change Laboratory as a Tool in Leading Reform Work in Upper Secondary Schools – Tracing the Objects in Formative Interventions. Full text in Research Archive
• Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken & Jensen, Ruth (2021). Formative Interventions in Leadership Teams in Upper Secondary Schools. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Helstad, Kristin & Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken (2021). Leading Reform Work in Upper Secondary Schools- Change Laboratories as Method (ChangeLead). Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Helstad, Kristin & Ødegaard, Kjersti Løken (2021). Formative Interventions in School Leadership Teams in Upper Secondary Schools. Full text in Research Archive
• Hall, Jeffrey Brooks; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Jensen, Ruth (2021). School principals and school superintendents as institutional entrepreneurs: Handling organizational tensions in the planning and enactment of the renewed state curriculum. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2021). Correction to: Exploring causal relationships qualitatively: An empirical illustration of how causal relationships become visible across episodes and contexts (Journal of Educational Change, (2021), 10.1007/s10833-021-09415-5). Journal of educational change. ISSN 1389-2843. doi: 10.1007/s10833-021-09427-1. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth (2020). Leading Reform Work in Upper Secondary Schools- Change Laboratories as Method (ChangeLead). Full text in Research Archive
• Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth & Jensen, Ruth (2019). Experiencing the Use of Tools in School Leadership Programs in Two Different National Policy Contexts. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Karseth, Berit & Ottesen, Eli (2019). Ledelse og styring i grunnopplæringen - spenninger og dynamikker, Styring og ledelse i grunnopplæringen. Spenninger og dynamikker.. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202605544. p. 13–20. Full text in Research Archive
• Ottesen, Eli; Karseth, Berit & Jensen, Ruth (2019). Styring og ledelse i grunnopplæringen - spenninger og dynamikker, Styring og ledelse i grunnopplæringen. Spenninger og dynamikker.. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202605544. p. 211–218. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2019). Partnerships between Educational Leaders and Researchers– how a Methodology Emerged. Full text in Research Archive
• Trujillo, Tina; Møller, Jorunn; Jensen, Ruth; Kissel, Rene & Larsen, Eivind (2018). Images of Educational Leadership: How Principals Make Sense of Democracy and Social Justice in Two Distinct Policy Contexts. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2017). A Cross-national Study of Tool Mediation in School Leadership Development Programs. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug (2017). Causation in Qualitative Research: An Empirical Example from the Perspective of CHAT. Full text in Research Archive
• Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug & Jensen, Ruth (2016). Case based Teaching and Learning in School Leadership Development. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug (2016). The role of qualitative research as a basis for developing school leadership - Causality in qualitative research. Full text in Research Archive
• Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug & Jensen, Ruth (2016). Authentic cases derived from school practices: Learning resources in school leadership development. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug (2016). How "soft power" becomes visible in leadership development of principals. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth; Helstad, Kristin & Møller, Jorunn (2016). Skolelederutdanning og ledelsesutvikling i skolen. Acta Didactica Norge. 10(4), p. 1–6. Full text in Research Archive
• Aas, Marit; Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug; Helstad, Kristin & Jensen, Ruth (2015). Cased based instruction in school leadership education: Exploring how principals deal with complex leadership challenges. Full text in Research Archive
• Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug & Jensen, Ruth (2015). The use of authentic cases in school leadership program. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2014). Entering the `black box´ of informal leadership development. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2014). How Leadership Development Evolved in an Inter-professional Team: Crossing Timescales and Boundaries. Full text in Research Archive
• Aas, Marit & Jensen, Ruth (2014). Ledelse av læringsarbeid. Å utforske praksis. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2012). Tripartite Collaboration in a School-District-University Boundary Zone. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2011). Reflection in a Boundary Zone. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2011). Leadership for learning. How do video sequences mediate professional development. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2011). Boundary touching in a tripartit partnership. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth & Ottesen, Eli (2008). Distributed Leadership. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2006). Educational leaders of learning communities focusing on teaching and learning. Full text in Research Archive
• Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Jensen, Ruth; Hall, Jeffrey Brooks; Abrahamsen, Hedvig Neerland; Kleveland, Heidi Merete & Olsen, Rolf Vegar (2022). Underveis med nytt læreplanverk: Ledelse, styring og støtteressurser. Det utdanningsvitenskapelige fakultet. ISSN 9788293847090. Full text in Research Archive
• Ottesen, Eli; Colbjørnsen, Tor; Gunnulfsen, Ann Elisabeth; Hall, Jeffrey Brooks & Jensen, Ruth (2021). Fagfornyelsens forberedelser i praksis: Strategier, begrunnelser, spenninger. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 9788293847021. Full text in Research Archive
• Jensen, Ruth (2014). Leadership development as boundary work. Inspired moments and longitudinal efforts. Doctoral thesis for the PhD. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
• Hammersvik, Charles; Jensen, Ruth & Møller, Jorunn (2007). En lærende skole. Skoler i utvikling - mange tilnærminger til organisasjonslæring. Utdanningsdirektoratet. Full text in Research Archive
• Hammersvik, Charles & Jensen, Ruth (2005). Pedagogisk ledelse i et relasjonelt perspektiv : et aksjonsforskningsopplegg. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  1. Problemstilling: Hvordan kommer pedagogisk ledelse til uttrykk i en skole som iverksetter aksjonslæring- på organisasjonsnivå, ledernivå, teamnivå og elevnivå? Teoribakgrunn: • Pedagogisk ledelse i et relasjonelt perspektiv: C.C.Wadel (Fuglestad og Lillejord 1997, C.Wadel 2002, 2003) • Læring i organisasjoner: C.Wadel (2002) • Praksisfellesskap: Etienne Wenger (Lave og Wenger 2003) Bakgrunn og hensikten med oppgaven: Vi ville undersøke hvordan pedagogisk ledelse i et relasjonelt perspektiv, forstått som læringsledelse, kommer til uttrykk med tanke på læring og utvikling i skolen. Praktisk betydning: Oppgaven vil være relevant i forhold til skoleledelse og læring i organisasjonen. 2. Metode: Aksjonsforskning. Kvalitativt forskningsintervju. Observasjon. Logg. 3. Data/kilder: En skole: leder, lærere og elever. 4. Hovedkonklusjon: Kombinasjon av formell og uformell læringsledelse har skapt engasjement om skolens aksjon. Innovativ administrative ledelse ser ut til å gjøre en i stand til å ta hensyn til hva som er gode læringsprosesser og at disse kan utvikles i takt med de behov som dukker opp. Det at det er et mangfold av læringsforhold skaper mange læringsarenaer. Når disse kobles sammen og drives av en aktiv leder, gir det mulighet for gode refleksjonsprosesser. For at en skal få gode refleksjonsprosesser viser det seg at å forhandle om mening i forhold til gjensidig engasjement, felles virksomhet og felles repertoar har potensialet i seg til endring og utvikling. Et “ytre øye” som utfordrer feltet kan fungere som en katalysator på læringsprosesser som går utover skolens blinde felt. Pedagogisk ledelse som tar tak og tilrettelegger systemisk for at læring skal skje, ser ut til å ha positiv virkning på utvikling av produktiv kunnskap.

View all works in NVA