“Law and order” in schools? A comparative study on legal regulations of the social interaction between teacher and students in Finland and Sweden.

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“Law and order” in schools?

A comparative study on legal regulations of the social interaction between teacher and students in Finland and Sweden.

Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier. Examensarbete i utbildningsvetenskap inom allmänt utbildningsområde, 15 hp.

Supervisor: Wieland Wermke

Susanna Yilmaz Ruhmén

Examinator: David Kronlid

Rapport nr:

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Abstract

The following thesis investigates differences and similarities in the social aspect of teachers’ professional work, as described through teachers’ rights and responsibilities regulated in national school law of the social interaction teacher-student in Finland and Sweden. This thesis is written as a pilot-study in the Swedish Research Council project concerning teacher autonomy in Sweden, England, Finland and Germany. Teacher autonomy is seen as a multidimensional concept in recent research made, and in an analytical matrix developed by Wermke and Salokangas (2016) teacher autonomy can be analyzed on different levels and in different domains of teachers’ professional work. This thesis connects to the social domain in the analytical matrix, which concerns disciplinary policies in the social interaction between teacher and students and thus explores the social part (or dimension) of teacher autonomy. The methods adopted in this thesis are content analysis and comparative method where documents on a national level (i.e. school law) and local level (i.e. rules of conduct) from Finland and Sweden are analyzed. Three terms (i.e. rights, responsibility and offensive actions) guide the analysis together with three analytical questions drawing on Ingersoll’s (2003) research where decisions concerning the social aspect of schooling was proven to be the most important area of teachers’ decision-making power.

The results of the investigation indicate that there are both similarities and differences in how the social aspect of teachers’ work is described on national and local level in Finland and Sweden. On national level for example, both Finnish and Swedish teachers can take disciplinary measures to maintain a safe study- and classroom environment, although it is more regulated in the Finnish school law. The investigation also shows that there is a clearer connection between the national level and the local level in Finland, a connection which cannot be perceived in the Swedish case. Lastly, the possibility of reporting teachers divides the two countries apart where in Sweden this is described in the school law, which is not expressed in the Finnish school law.

Keywords: Teacher autonomy, national school law, rules of conduct, content analysis, comparison,

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1.0 Introduction

During the end of the 20th century alongside the great change in school system from being state governed to governed and controlled by the municipality, teachers in Swedish schools were said to become more professional, take more responsibility and be given more freedom in their work than before (Sjöberg, 2011). The vision of the Swedish school being the best school in Europe, capable of competing internationally with great results, paved the way for a changed view of the teacher role (Ibid, 2011). However, Carlgren (2010) means that the idea of making the teaching profession more “professional” to raise its status in society is contradictory with the market adjustment that has been made on schools. Standardization through testing, accountability with results are aspects that restrict teachers to be professionals in their work (Ibid, 2010). Even though the decentralization of Swedish schools diminished political control over teachers work, the market adjustment and freedom of choosing schools brought about implicit demands which affect and control teachers’ work (Sjöberg, 2011). The intended goal of making teachers more professional has according to Sjöberg (2011) and Carlgren (2010) instead become a change where professionalism is diminishing.

At the same time, Swedish results from PISA-testing have gone down and shown a negative trend since the decentralization. In year 2000 Swedish 15-year old’s performed above the OECD average in test results compared to the testings in 2012, where the Swedish results were under average in all three areas; mathematics, reading comprehension and science literacy. The increased individualized teaching, where students work on their own, the lack of quality in teaching as well as students’ decreased interest in reading for leisure are a few plausible causes found to the decline in the results (Skolverket, 2013).

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The decentralization, as aforementioned, was meant to make teachers more responsible, but also more “free” in their work. Teacher autonomy is therefore of great importance to study on different levels, to discern what kind of autonomy or “freedom” teachers really have in their work, alongside accountability and control. Ingersoll (2003:49) stresses the importance of the social dimension of schooling that has long been considered a great part of education alongside the acquisition of academic skills and knowledge. Social relations as well as social activity in the classroom are implicit and often called the “hidden curriculum”, where norms and behaviors are transmitted to students from teachers. Ingersoll claims that academic achievement and the social aspect of behavioral growth, social relations etc. are equally important of teachers’ work and outcomes of schooling (Ibid, 2003:50, 52). However, the social dimension has received very little attention in educational research, where the academic instruction and methods of teaching have been the main focus, even though teachers and the public view e.g. behavior and discipline as important issues (Ingersoll, 2003:52-54). When it comes to social relations and the social aspect of teachers’ work, terms as in loco parentis, moral education and nurturing (fostran) are also concepts that have come into question when it comes to student behavior and how the teacher should act as well as what responsibility the teacher has in the teacher-student relationship. Landahl (2006) claims that the teacher’s social work constitutes two parts, to nurture and to care for students. In the Swedish national curriculum, Lgr-11, it is also expressed that students should be nurtured into (fostrade) becoming: tolerant, generous, responsible etcetera.

Since discipline and creating a safe work environment in Swedish schools have been the main objectives in today’s public discussions to come about the problems of disorder and improve the quality of teaching, it is of great importance for future teachers to know what is allowed by law to do in terms of disciplinary actions to create the safe environment that is sought-after. However, at the same time it is sometimes difficult to know where the boundaries between disciplinary measures and offensive actions are drawn, and how the teacher is protected to act in his or her profession without risking law suits or legal implications. It is also interesting to discern whether the Finnish school law is expressing the same as the Swedish school law in terms of how teachers’ rights are described in the social aspect of their work, since evaluations and research concerning the Finnish schools show that classroom environment in Finland is associated with a calm and quiet climate, which Swedish schools in general are said to lack.

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to the social aspect of teachers’ work and what is seen as offensive actions. In the aforementioned article, the president of the teachers’ union Läraranas Riksförbund believes that the reason for many teachers’ worries are due to lack of knowledge in what rights they have if they receive a report (Bergling, 2017). Carlbaum’s (2016) study of the development of complaint systems in Sweden since the 1990’s shows that filed complaints have increased since the introduction of the Child and School representative (CSSR) and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) as well as through legislation. Complaints filed before 2006 were mostly related to special support measures, however today the complaints made are in majority related to degrading treatment, where this type of complaint has tripled between 2003 and 2010 and in 2015 the SSI received 4035 complaints which is quite a lot in comparison to 1995 where 300 filed complaints were made (Carlbaum, 2016).

How teachers are allowed to act by law when it comes to the social aspect of their work is therefore important to establish and point out in since it frames and draws the boundaries for what is possible to do in terms of maintaining order in the classroom without risking complaints or reports, which is a highly valid argument in the discussion of teachers needing to improve the quality of teaching by taking disciplinary measures.This thesis will therefore explore the social dimension of

teacher autonomy and more specifically how teachers are allowed to act by the school law when it comes to the social aspect of their work and more specifically in the relationship/interaction with the students.

1.1 Thesis outline

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1.2 Aim and purpose

The aim of this thesis is to investigate differences and similarities of the social aspect of teachers’ professional work and responsibility in Sweden and Finland and what scope of action teachers have by school law, in the two countries, to maintain a safe and calm study environment with focus on limits for offensive actions. The aim and purpose of this thesis can be expressed through the following questions;

1. How are teachers’ and students’ rights and responsibilities described in Swedish and Finnish documents on national (i.e. the school law) and local level (i.e. rules of conduct) when it comes to the social aspect and the relationship between teacher and students?

2. What differences and similarities can be detected in how the social aspect of teachers’ work is described in Swedish and Finnish documents on national and local level?

3. What differences and similarities are there in how the legal descriptions on national level are transformed into the local level in two schools in Sweden and Finland?

In section Method and material, the documents used in this investigation will be presented as well as further questions for analysis that will be used when analyzing the text material of the

investigation. The aforementioned questions are the overall research questions of this thesis that will be answered in the discussion/conclusion.

1.3 Research project of teacher autonomy

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1.4 Limitations

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2.0 Background

In this section, a brief outline of how the school systems of Sweden and Finland work in general and how the procedure of reporting someone (i.e. teachers) for offensive actions is done in both countries will be accounted for.

2.1 The education system of Finland

2.1.1 Basic education, upper secondary and higher education

The basic compulsory education is nine years long in Finland, between 7-16 years of age, with a compulsory pre-primary year for 6-year-olds since August 2015. The basic education is single structured, where no division is done between primary- and lower secondary levels. Assessment is done throughout the school year either by written grades or grades by numbers from 4-10, where 10 is the highest grade given, and 4 means the student has failed in the subject. Grades are given from the first year of compulsory education and throughout all levels of education. There is also education support for children with learning disabilities or other impairments to help them take part in mainstream education. However, there are also special classes or special schools if needed for children who cannot participate in the regular school. The municipalities are responsible to make sure children get the support needed. After successfully completed compulsory education, students can continue a three year long general- or vocational upper secondary education where national tests are done year three, before graduating (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016).

After upper secondary education, there is possibility to carry on to higher education in either polytechnic (practical professional skills) education or university education, if qualifying with grades or test results from matriculation test as well as entry tests. Finland also has adult education available for unemployed, or people wishing to receive a degree later in life. The education policy in Finland includes free education for everyone as well as the goal of equal opportunities to education for all citizens. Quality, efficiency, equity and internationalization are key words that lie in the foreground of Finnish education policy (ibid,2016).

2.1.2 Evaluation of education and possibility to report

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education and culture 2017-01-06, http://www.minedu.fi: Finnish Education Evaluation Centre, 2017 www.karvi.fi/en/). Since there is no existing inspectorate in Finland, reporting a teacher or making complaints regarding a teacher is usually done at school level through contacting the principle responsible at the school where the teacher works. However, it should be emphasized that the Finnish teachers have a remarkable confidence in the Finnish society in general, and therefore complaining at or reporting teachers is more rarely than commonly done (Communication with the project leader of teacher autonomy and responsible for Finland, Maja Salokangas, 2017).

2.2 The education system of Sweden

2.2.1 Basic education, upper secondary and higher education

The basic compulsory education in Sweden is nine years long. Many also decide to enroll their child in one year of preschool class education at the age of six, however this is voluntarily. There are both independent as well as municipal schools in compulsory education, with the freedom of choice where to admit your child. Beside the regular compulsory education there is compulsory education for children with learning disabilities (nine years long), a special school for deaf and blind children (ten years long) as well as a sami school (eight years long). Assessment is made throughout the year usually in written form after each semester. However, grades are only given in compulsory school from year 6 and onwards. The national grading system consists of a scale from A-F, where the grades A, B, C, D and E are passing grades while F means you have failed. National tests are given in year 3, 6 and 9 in some subjects in compulsory school and in certain courses in upper secondary schools. After completed compulsory education there is a three year long upper secondary education with 18 different national programs to attend, both vocational as well as further studies preparing for university education. At this level, there is also a special program for youths with learning disabilities. Adult education is offered at both compulsory level as well as upper secondary lever for e.g. immigrants. There are also folk high schools, which are independent adult education colleges with different programs, courses and specializations which are often one year long, but can be shorter or longer (Skolverket, 2016).

After completed upper secondary education (either in a national program at an upper secondary school, adult education or specific core courses from a folk high school) one can move on to higher vocational education or university education by applying for admittance. In order to study at this level of education, grades from upper secondary level is a basic requirement, however no guarantee for admittance. A selection is made to all courses and programs at university level. The basic education at university level is three years long, advanced level is one to two years and research level is two to four years long (Skolverket, 2016).

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2.2.2 Evaluation of education and possibility to report

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3.0 Previous research

In the following section previous research relating to teacher autonomy and the social dimension of teacher autonomy will be presented. The concept of in loco parentis, moral education and nurturing

(fostra) will be explored as well, since it connects with the social dimension of teacher autonomy,

and the notion that teachers act in the place of the parents when caring for the student at school. Since this thesis is a part of a research project, some of the literature serves as a basis for the project and has been used in this thesis. Literary searches have been made on the databases:

Libris, DiVA and Google Scholar independently but in consultance with the supervisor.

3.1 Teacher autonomy

3.1.1 Autonomy: definition

Longman dictionary (www.ldoceonline.com, 2017-04-29) defines autonomy in two ways: 1. The

freedom for an organization to govern itself and 2. An ability or opportunity into making own

decisions without any external control. Autonomy has been defined in several ways and within education it has more often been viewed as multidimensional, which will be elaborated on below. In this thesis, autonomy is viewed in relation to a teacher’s possibility to act, or the scope of action a teacher has within the social aspect of their work as permitted by the school law which connects to Ballou’s (1998) definition of autonomy where besides defining autonomy as “self-governing”, Ballou views autonomy being “the capacity of an agent to determine its own actions through independent choice within a system of principles and laws to which the agent is dedicated” (Ballou, 1998: 105).

3.1.2 Teacher autonomy as a multidimensional concept

In research studies, teacher autonomy is defined as a multidimensional concept with different dimensions and/or domains to describe teachers’ work in general. Wermke & Höstfält (2014) explain autonomy from a governance perspective, dividing it into two dimensions; institutional and

service dimension, where the first mentioned points to the autonomy of an occupation as a whole

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horizontal dimensions are: classroom-related, school-related and profession. The first dimension concerns teachers’ possibilities of action within the classroom, the second dimension on the other hand, focuses on “the school as the arena” (Wermke & Salokangas, 2015: 5) and the third dimension refers to teachers as a group and their profession, where autonomy is viewed as an asset in their work. The vertical dimension comprises of four different domains, which present different areas of teachers’ work where autonomy can be formed: educational domain: social domain, developmental

domain and administration domain (See table 2 below). The analytical matrix or device, “helps to

separate and analyse the conflated phenomena of autonomy and show relationships between their dimensions.” (Wermke & Salokangas, 2016:7). As marked out in the table below, this thesis will explore the social domain (b) where discipline policies will be analyzed at a national and a local level in the social relations/interaction between teacher and students.

Table 2: Analytical matrix of teacher autonomy (Wermke &Salokangas, 2015:6)

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and normative decisions in schools. His findings point to a reduced tendency of conflicts when teachers have autonomy in the social aspect of teaching, which also proved in his research, to be more important than autonomy and decision-making power in instruction- or academic related issues (Ingersoll, 1996: 171-173).

3.1.3 Teacher autonomy as context dependent

In research concerning teacher autonomy, many studies stress the importance of viewing teacher autonomy as context dependent. How the perceived autonomy among teachers versus the actual possibilities of autonomy look like may vary from school to school, between municipalities and countries. Teacher autonomy can therefore be viewed differently both locally in a municipality as well as nationally due to different steering traditions and cultural contexts (Ingersoll (1996) and Mølstad (2015) and Mausethagen & Mølstad (2015) in Wermke&Salokangas, 2015:4). Wermke & Salokangas (2016) also stress that teachers’ quality and quantity of autonomy might vary in different contexts in their work, and applying the analytical matrix as aforementioned, where both different domains and levels come forth, autonomy can then be discussed more easily, using different terms.

Wilches (2007) research also shows that teacher autonomy is multifaceted and dependent on many different factors, where the context in which the teacher is active plays an important part. In his research two levels of analysis of autonomy is made: subjective and objective levels, four domains are acknowledged where teachers may have control as well as factors of environmental and personal kind which influence their decision-making. The research findings, when it comes to the subjective level of autonomy, or teachers’ sense of autonomy, show that the level of experienced autonomy differs depending on the situation, educational context as well as the working conditions in which the teacher is active. The teacher’s personal beliefs as well as the teacher’s level of competence also matters when it comes to the sensed autonomy according to studies reviewed by Wilches. When it comes to the objective level of autonomy, control over school related matters and curricular questions, studies show that teachers’ autonomy is highly affected in these areas depending on work load, time, salary, educational policies, institutional centralized structures etcetera where accountability presents itself as more work for the teacher. Wilches concludes that teacher autonomy needs to be examined empirically with diversity in theories and across different disciplines for a better understanding of its complex nature (Wilches, 2007).

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other countries in having a superior teacher education and teachers, who have a higher level of autonomy in their work.

3.2 In loco parentis, moral education and nurturing

In loco parentis

Eriksson (1999) draws on Van Manen’s pedagogical tact in her study concerning teachers’ pedagogical actions, which, according to Eriksson (1999), connects to the moral and the normative part of a teacher’s work. Van Manen claims that the relationship teachers should have to their students is what is called in loco parentis, which means that the teacher should be or act as a parent to his or her students. Several qualities are mentioned as important for teachers to have besides academic knowledge and a sense of responsibility as well as a sense of love and caring are two of them. Little (1990) also confirms the notion of teachers having special qualities and talents which she connects to the teacher-student relation, which is personal, emotional and “at the heart of schooling” (Little, 1990: 513-514). Moreover, what distinguishes a skilled teacher is being able to create situations that are pedagogical, meaning situations where students learn something and they only occur in the actions of the teacher. However, the teacher’s theoretical knowledge is not solely what makes situations pedagogical, personal traits as well as how the teacher reflects upon the surrounding world are also factors that influence how a teacher acts (Van Manen in Eriksson, 1999: 17, 20 21).

Moral education and nurturing

Besides academic instruction, transmitting moral values or providing some sort of moral education has been associated with school since during the interwar period in Sweden. The term socialization started to appear after the 1950s, where child rearing became a question of adapting the child to fit into society, which became evident closer to modern time when specific values started to appear in the national curriculum and school became to nurture (fostra) students in accordance with these specific values presented (Larsson,2010:13). Socializing students into society has also been discussed internationally in connection to teaching democracy, where moral education should, according to McDonough (2010), incorporate teaching the term dissent and what it entails, with the purpose of attaining loyal disagreement , where students learn to be loyal for example to their employer without accepting everything that is decided or said, but are capable of being critical in a productive way, where keeping a dialogue and improving matters is learned to be more strategically benefitting than just being critical. In turn, learning dissent and what it means will help students maintaining social relationships as well as reduce tensions between loyalty and sedition, which is the goal of moral education (McDonough, 2010).

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(fostra) and caring (omsorg). The first mentioned term concerns educating students to come about their lack of norms or sense of values and the last-mentioned term concerns keeping students from misery. From the beginning, caring meant to prevent diseases and to care for the student’s physical health, while caring today concerns the student’s mental health, which is due to the fact that the gap between school and the student’s family has been reduced as well as work within the psychological sphere has been extended. In turn, this development has brought about the change of school dealing with students’ bad conditions in the home, which was entirely the family’s responsibility and affair before. The study also showed that nurturing, as a result, has developed from being visible in the relationship or interaction between teacher and student into a result which instead should be discerned in the interaction between students (Landahl, 2006).

3.3 Summary of Previous research

Within previous research teacher autonomy is defined as a multidimensional concept where different dimensions and levels have been presented by Wermke & Höstfält (2014) as well as by Wermke & Salokangas (2016) where their analytical matrix with four dimensions as well as three levels drawing on research made on teacher autonomy by e.g. Ingersoll (1996), Frostensson (2015), as well as Gewirtz & Cribb (2007) serves as an example of how o conceptualize teacher autonomy aiding empirical research to relate to different dimensions of autonomy to each other. Ingersoll’s (1996) research also proposes dimensions of autonomy where the social dimension or aspect is emphasized as the most important in reducing school-conflict and building well-functioning schools.

Moreover, previous research also suggest that teacher autonomy should be analyzed in the light of its specific context, since teachers’ perceived autonomy can vary both on a national as well as a local level due to different steering traditions and cultural contexts (Ingersoll (1996) and Mølstad (2015) and Mausethagen & Mølstad (2015) in Wermke&Salokangas, 2015:4). Wilches (2007) divides autonomy into a subjective and objective level which both are highly dependent on different factors, where the context plays an important part. The subjective level entails teachers’ sensed autonomy which is dependent on factors as personal beliefs and level of competence and the objective level is affected by external factors as salary, work load, educational policies etc. Lastly, Simola (2005) and Heller Sahlgren (2015) point to social, cultural and historic aspects of a country’s context as important when conducting comparisons of different nations.

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4.0 Theoretical framework

In this thesis, Ingersoll’s (2003) social dimension of teacher autonomy will be used as theoretical framework when carrying out the investigation. The analytical questions formulated in the section

Method and material are derived from Ingersoll’s research where a social dimension of teacher

autonomy was prominent. In the following section, Ingersoll’s research focusing on the societal functions in school will be presented and connected to the analytical questions used in the investigation of this thesis. Ingersoll’s research consists of in depth-interviews with teachers and administrators from four secondary schools in Philadelphia and analyses of different large-scale surveys from schools in America. The studies have been conducted under a ten-year period and are rooted in organization theory of power and conflict (Ingersoll, 2003:17-22).

4.1 Ingersoll’s social dimension of teacher autonomy

According to Ingersoll (1996; 2003), most of educational research has been focusing on academic instruction and curricula as the core of learning and educational outcomes and turned little attention to the societal functions of school. Drawing on earlier social scientific studies of Durkheim, Dewey, Parsons among others, Ingersoll puts forth that the social function of school is crucial and one of the main purposes of education, as he states that:

[…]From a societal perspective, one of the main purposes of schooling is to socialize the next

generation. The chief insight underlying this viewpoint is that what students learn in schools has much to do with the character of relations among and between students and teachers-what is sometimes called the climate of schools-as it does with the content of the academic curriculum. (Ingersoll, 2003:192)

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Moreover, from an organization theory point of view, the teaching profession is special and complex in its nature due to its clients, objectives and products. Not only is academic knowledge the main objective and academic achievement the product, but socialization in itself with learning values, norms and behavior is also a product in this sense. At the same time having students as clients presents challenges, since it is a heterogenous group of children and adolescents that are obligated to be in school (Ingersoll, 2003: 138-140). Problems also arise when regulations and rules come into play for teachers to follow, as Ingersoll states:

Rules can never cover all the issues and contingencies that arise in work like teaching, where there is little consensus and much ambiguity surrounding means, and ends.

For each issue governed by rules, there are equal numbers of issues for which no rules exist. It is difficult to significantly reduce uncertainty and ambiguity-the very point of bureaucracy-in work that is inherently uncertain and ambiguous. (Ingersoll, 2003:142)

Student discipline is a part of the social aspect of teachers’ work that can present difficulties when it comes to the responsibility and control that teachers have or do not have in this area. Some rules of conduct might be set by the management of the school, however the responsibility of reinforcing them falls upon the teacher. Teachers are also restricted by law, when it comes to classroom management and for example punishment for misbehavior of students. Similarly, teachers are often expected to act in the place of parents, ‘in loco parentis’, however there are limitations for teachers in this aspect, and boundaries can be uncertain and ambiguous. It is because of the special relationship teachers have with their students that the teaching profession is different from other professional occupations as for example lawyers and physicians. Since the responsibility of the teacher goes beyond a mere “market transaction” and involves how students behave and perform and the consequences thereafter, they are caught “in the middle” (Ingersoll, 2003:144-147, 183-184). The role of teachers, as Ingersoll puts it:

“[…] lies in between those of administrators and students and in between those of parents and their children. They do not decide on objectives and tasks, nor do they carry them out; they are responsible for seeing that others do so.

Teachers are a good example of the man (or woman) in the middle.” (Ingersoll, 2003:184)

Ingersoll (2003) also puts forth that the amount of power and control teachers have will also affect the relationship they have with their students either positively or negatively. Teachers who have little power and control will also have less credibility, which will affect the relationships with students negatively. Tensions will arise, since the teacher may adopt authoritarian methods in such cases in the effort of completing their work, which in turn will have an impact on the relationship to the students (Ingersoll, 2003:211). However, with more power, accountability must also follow, and a balance must exist between them, because, as Ingersoll states:

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Moreover, Ingersoll’s research suggests that a balance between organizational control and employee autonomy, where the possibility of both having teachers and principals with a high level of power can result in a more effective work place. Giving teachers more power does not mean that the principal has less to say or decide upon, and can, on the contrary, be valuable for the school (Ingersoll, 2003:245-246).

The social dimension of teacher autonomy that has been outlined above according to Ingersoll’s research sets the frame of the investigation of this thesis. The analytical questions presented in Method and material that will be used in the analysis of Finnish and Swedish school law draws on Ingersoll’s idea of the importance of the societal functions in school and the relationship between teacher and students, in particular, as crucial for a positive learning climate. The investigation of this thesis will focus on the teacher and his or her responsibility in the social interaction with students and especially where the limits in the social interaction are drawn legally when it comes to offensive actions. Ingersoll (2003) emphasizes the uncertainty and ambiguity connected to the teaching profession and in the social interaction with students when it comes to student discipline and when conflicts arise. What measures the teacher can take in discipline and classroom management by law, and what impact the rules of conduct have concerning this issue will affect the climate in school and in the classroom as well as learning outcomes, according to Ingersoll’s theory.

4.2 Summary of Ingersoll’s theory

Ingersoll puts forth through his research that the social function of school, which has received very little attention in research, is the most important part of education. In his research, it was proven that the more power teachers had within social issues as discipline and drawing up rules etc., the fewer problems the school had with misbehavior and conflicts between all different groups at school (i.e. students, teachers, staff, management). From an organization perspective, socialization is also a product in learning values, norms and behavior, but it is also according to Ingersoll a problematic area, due to the clients being young adolescents and due to the teachers’ occupation being ambiguous, where situations occur to which there is no existing rule. The law also sets boundaries for the teacher to act even though the in loco parentis relationship is

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5.0 Method and material

The investigation in this thesis will be carried out through comparative method and content analysis. The methods adopted are of qualitative and descriptive nature, seeking to discern differences and similarities between Sweden and Finland when it comes to the social aspect of their work, through laws and rules of conduct. The methods and material used in this investigation will be described and evaluated in the following section.

5.1 Content analysis

The investigation of this thesis will first adopt a qualitative content analysis to carry out the investigation since content analysis can be used when analyzing the meaning of a text both in quantitative as well as qualitative studies, where the content is described in a systematic manner (Boréus & Bergström, 2012: 24,50). The method is suitable when trying to find patterns in, as well as to get an overview of, a larger text material for further comparison (Boréus & Bergström, 2012:51, 87). In this thesis, the contents of the Finnish and the Swedish national school laws as well as rules of conduct from two schools will be analyzed, where the three terms: rights,

responsibility and offensive actions/treatment will be searched for in the documents and together with

three analytical questions (see section 5.4 Terms and analytical questions) they will make up for the content analysis.

Initially, the content analysis started off with more than three analytical questions, but after having had a first glance at the documents, the questions were narrowed down as well as remade where the contents of the documents also guided the analysis. This is a common step to do in a qualitative content analysis, where an openness towards the text material is adopted for the results to be valid and reliable (Hallsén, lecture on document analysis, 2016). To clarify, it is not a quantitative search for the three terms, to see how often or if they occur, but the speech of or the meaning of these three terms and how they are expressed in or come forth in the documents. The terms will be further defined in the section 5.4 Terms and analytical questions below. The choice of a qualitative content analysis has been made to discover underlying themes of the documents (Hallsén, lecture on document analysis, 2016) and to see similarities and differences between Finland and Sweden, if the same themes can be said to come forth in both countries.

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5.2 Descriptive study as a comparative method

Comparative method within social science is more often of qualitative nature, seeking to examine similarities and differences in and across macrosocial units (Ragin, 1987:6). The goals are to explain as well as to interpret macrosocial variation (Ragin, 1987:5). Studies adopting comparative method do not only seek to understand e.g. societies, but also wish to explore the significance of them, often through investigating one aspect of a society (Denk, 2002:8). Denk (2002:8) divides comparative studies into three categories; descriptive, explanatory and predictive studies.

Descriptive studies aim to give an understanding of political events or contexts in one or several countries by describing its circumstances using either typology or terms as democracy to unveil similarities and differences. Explanatory studies on the other hand, go a step further in their investigation seeking not only to describe political events or aspects in different countries, but also explaining what causes e.g. similarities and differences between societies. Predictive studies use advanced theories and analyses to predict future outcomes by looking at earlier circumstances and causes(Ibid:8). In this thesis the first category, the descriptive type, will be adopted, where three terms and three analytical questions will be used to carry out the investigation. The material that will be compared is documents on a national and a local level in Sweden and Finland, where similarities and differences in descriptions will be explored.

5.3 Material and selection

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The school laws of Sweden and Finland have been analyzed and read in their entirety, to discern where in the laws the social interaction between teachers and students is described, and if they permeate the laws and are found widespread, or if they are isolated to certain chapters or clauses. The Swedish school law consists of 29 chapters and 206 pages, and has been read in a printed version from 2016. The Finnish school law is divided up into two laws, the law of basic education (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning) and the upper secondary school law (gymnasielagen), which consist of nine and seven chapters, respectively. Both Finnish laws have been read in digital versions on the webpage www. finlex.fi, translated into Swedish.

The rules of conduct from one school in Sweden and one school in Finland have been acquired through the VR-project concerning teacher autonomy within which this thesis is a part of, and is founded on Andreassons’s (2017) master thesis, where an ethnographic study of two teachers in Sweden and Finland was made, and which schools the rules of conduct were collected from. The Swedish school has preschool classes and grades 1-9 (ages 7-16), and is situated in the inner city of a big city region in Sweden. The Finnish school also has grades 1-9, but is situated in the suburbs of a big city region in Finland. Both schools are governed by the municipality and have approximately a thousand students each attending school (Andreasson, 2017).

The set of rules of conduct from a Swedish school contains six general rules that are valid for everyone at school, however it is written in the rules of conduct that each class also establishes their own, separate rules as a complement to the common rules of conduct that only concerns the specific class and not everyone at school. The rules of conduct from one school in Finland consists of two separate sets of rules of conduct, one sheet of rules containing thirteen rules that are valid for all schools in the municipality and one set of rules that the student council has established which contains twelve rules valid for all students at the school. However, the two sets of rules valid at the Finnish school have several similar rules, and the rules set up by the student council have simplified several of the common rules from the municipality.

Table 1. Documents selected for investigation on two different levels

Level Sweden Finland

National (law) School law School law Local (school) Rules of conduct

from one school

Rules of conduct from one school

5.4 Terms and analytical questions

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ansvar (responsibility) and kränkande behandling (offensive actions or treatment) and will be further defined

below.

Terms for analysis:

When analyzing the documents three terms will frame the investigation, which will be searched for in the documents to answer the overall research questions together with the analytical questions. Rättigheter (rights) will be seen as how the students are being protected by the school law in the social interaction with their teachers, as well as what kind of treatment they are entitled to. Teachers’ rättigheter (rights) will be seen as how teachers are allowed to act by the school law (how they are protected by the school law in terms of how they can act) in the social interaction with the students, where the type of measures teachers can take to maintain a calm and safe study environment serves as an example. Ansvar (responsibility) is defined by Nationalencyklopedin (2017) as the obligation to see to that an activity or business work and to deal with the consequences if it is not done. In this thesis Ansvar (responsibility) will be seen as the students’ and the teachers’ obligations in terms of how they should behave in the social interaction with each other, where the implication also can be of moral kind and not just legal. Lastly, kränkande

behandling (offensive actions or treatment) will be seen as a behaviour that offend a student’s dignity

(SFS 2010:800, kap. 6, paragraf 3). Questions for analysis:

1. How are students described in terms of rights and responsibilities in the social interaction with teachers and students?

2. How are teachers described in terms of rights and responsibilities in the social interaction with students?

3. What possibilities are there to lodge complaints against teachers?

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6.0 Results and analysis

In this section, the results from the investigation will be presented. The results from the analysis of Swedish and Finnish school law will first be presented and then the results from the rules of conduct from both schools in Sweden and Finland. Lastly, the results will be cross-examined for comparison and analysis.

6.1 The Finnish and Swedish school law

The findings from the Swedish and Finnish school law will be presented together under each analytical question respectively. Representative quotes from the text material will be used when analyzing and answering the analytical questions.

1. How are students described in terms of rights and responsibilities in the social interaction with teachers and students?

In chapter 7 in the Finnish law of basic education (duty of learning and the student’s rights and obligations), clause 29 and in chapter 5 (the student’s rights and obligations), clause 21 of the Finnish upper secondary school law (Gymnasielag 21.8.1998/ 629), it is written that students and anyone who participates in education has the right to a safe study environment. It is stated in the law of basic education that a special plan should be developed by the one who is in charge of providing education:

1) I samband med att läroplanen utarbetas ska utbildningsanordnaren utarbeta en plan för att skydda eleverna mot våld, mobbning och trakasseri samt verkställa planen och övervaka att den iakttas och genomförs. I samband med att läroplanen utarbetas ska utbildningsanordnaren utarbeta en plan för användning av disciplinära åtgärder och fostrande samtal och de tillhörande förfaringssätten och ge anvisningar för hur planen ska användas. […] I avsikt att främja den interna ordningen i skolan, ostörda studier samt trygghet och trivsel i skolan ska

utbildningsanordnaren godkänna en ordningsstadga eller meddela andra ordningsbestämmelser som ska tillämpas i skolan eller på någon annan plats där undervisning ordnas. […] får innehålla sådana regler om praktiska arrangemang och ett korrekt uppförande som är nödvändiga för tryggheten och trivseln i skolan […] (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning, kap.7 paragraf 29)

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are further expressed in a separate law, connected to the school law, called “The law of student- and study care” (Lagen om elev-och studerandevård):

2) Med elevhälsa anses främjande och upprätthållande av de studerandes studieframgång, goda psykiska och fysiska hälsa och sociala välbefinnande […] (Lagen om elev-och studerandevård, kap.1, paragraf 3)

3) Med generellt inriktad elevhälsa avses i denna lag en verksamhetskultur och åtgärder som innebär att man inom hela läroanstalten främjar de studerandes inlärning, välbefinnande, hälsa, sociala ansvarstagande, växelverkan och delaktighet samt en sund, trygg och tillgänglig studiemiljö. […] Alla som arbetar med studerande vid läroanstalten samt de myndigheter och anställda som ansvarar för elevhälsotjänserna ska i sina uppgifter främja de studerandes välbefinnande. (Lagen om elev-och studerandevård, kap.1: paragraf 4)

In this particular law, it is emphasized several times that the student’s learning, well-being, and health should be promoted. However, this is expressed with different vocabulary in different clauses. In quote no. 2),” student health” is explained to comprehend maintaining of the students’ academic achievement, good mental and physical health and social well-being. In the following clause, quote no.3), student health in a more general sense should promote the students’ learning, well-being, health and their ability to take social responsibility etc. Consequently, students’ social well-being should be promoted, but also their ability to take responsibility in social activities. The law also explicitly states that “everyone” who works with students at school, as well as other authorities who are in charge of student care should promote the students’ well-being. When it comes to the students’ responsibilities in the social interaction with their teacher it is written in chapter 7, clause 35 called “obligations of the student” in the Finnish school law, that students should participate in the education they are admitted to and do their work honestly and behave in a correct way:

4) En elev ska utföra sina uppgifter samvetsgrant och uppträda korrekt. (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning, kap.7 paragraf 35; Gymnasielagen, kap. 5 paragraf 25 här är “elev” utbytt mot “studerande”)

However, what is viewed as ”correct behaviour” according to the law is not explicitly stated. Continuing down in the clause there are directions concerning damage caused by students on school property, which gives clues to what incorrect behavior might be. It is also more evident what is not allowed to do in school in clause 36, which concerns discipline.

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further expressed in the clause where it is stated that everyone who works within education should promote human rights and work against offensive treatment as in the following quote:

5) Var och en som verkar inom utbildnigen ska främja de mänskliga rättigheterna och aktivt motverka alla former av kränkande behandling. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 1 kap: s.17)

Moreover, it is stated in clause 10, chapter 1 that “the child’s best” should be the starting point and special consideration for the child should be taken. Considering social relationships, it is written in clause 2 of chapter 10 (Basic education) that one of the purposes with education is to promote social contacts and relationships for an active participation in society:

6) […] Utbildningen ska främja allsidiga kontakter och social gemenskap och ge en god grund för ett aktivt deltagande i samhällslivet. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 10 kap: s. 60)

The social aspect is further developed in chapter 15 (General regulations concerning upper secondary school) where it is written in clause 2 concerning the purpose of education that social fellowship should be promoted, but also the students’ abilities to accumulate and deepen their knowledge together with others, as in the following quote:

7) Utbildningen ska utformas så att den främjar social gemenskap och utvecklar elevernas förmåga att självständigt och tillsammans med andra tillägna sig, fördjupa och tillämpa kunskaper (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 15 kap:s. 93)

Not only should students have the possibility to interact with others, but the education and knowledge provided should also be acquired through the interaction with others. In chapter 5 (Safety and study peace), clause 3 (Working environment) it is stated that the education should be arranged in a way that ensures a safe and calm school environment for the students.

8) Utbildningen ska utformas på ett sådant sätt att alla elever tillförsäkras en skolmiljö som präglas av trygghet och studiero (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 1 kap: s.38)

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9) Om en elev […] vid upprepade tillfällen stört ordningen eller uppträtt olämpligt eller om eleven gjort sig skyldig till en allvarlig förseelse, ska rektorn se till att saken utreds. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800 5 kap: s.39)

10) I grundskolan, specialskolan och sameskolan får rektorn besluta att stänga av en elev helt eller delvis om 1. det är nödvändigt med hänsyn till övriga elevers trygghet och studiero, 2.[..] det finns andra särskilda skäl med hänsyn till elevens beteende […] (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800 5 kap: s40)

11) I gymnasieskolan […] får huvudmannen besluta att helt eller delvis stänga av en elev om […] 2. Eleven stör eller hindrar utbildningens bedrivande, 3. Eleven utsätter någon annan elev eller av utbildningen berörd person för kränkande behandling, eller 4. Elevens uppförande på annat sätt inverkar negativt på övriga elevers trygghet och studiero. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 5 kap: s.41)

In the aforementioned quotes, it is evident that students are not allowed to behave in ways that disturb the lessons, threaten the safety and study peace of other students or treat students or other people concerned in education (i.e. teachers) in offending ways, as expressed in parts of quote no. 11. Therefore, in the Swedish school law, it is implicitly stated that students should behave in a good manner, which could be seen as a responsibility on the student’s part in order to not risk suspension or other consequences to not be able to remain in school. There are no responsibilities of the student expressed in the Swedish school law in an explicit manner, however as aforementioned there are parts where an implicit demand can be discerned and the attendance of the student is also one of them. In chapter 7 (School duty and the right to education), in clause 17 and in chapter 15 (General regulations concerning upper secondary school, in clause 16, it is expressed that students should participate in the activities arranged to give education and a valid reason must be given if a student does not attend. The demand or responsibility of participating in the educational activities also affect the social interaction and relationship to the teacher, and can therefore be seen as an important part of the student’s responsibilities when it comes to the social interaction at school.

Students’ rights in the social interaction between students and teachers are further expressed in the Swedish school law in chapter 6 (Measures against offensive treatment). The purpose of the chapter is, as stated, to prevent children and students to be offensively treated. In clause 7 it is written that the head of the school has an obligation of taking measures against offensive treatment of children and students, as in the following quote:

12) Huvudmannen ska se till att det genomförs åtgärder för att förebygga och förhindra att barn och elever utsätts för kränkande behandling. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 6 kap:s.45)

The head also has an obligation of making sure that a special plan against offensive treatment is being drawn up every year:

13) Huvudmannen ska se till att det varje år upprättas en plan med en översikt över de åtgärder som behövs för att förebygga och förhindra kränkande behandling av barn och elever […]

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responsibility of presenting proof that offensive treatment has not occurred. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 6 kap:s.46).

Summary of the answers to question 1.

In the Finnish school law the students’ rights include the right to a safe study environment, which should be secured by the education provider drawing up a plan against violence, bullying and harassments as well as rules for maintaining the internal order at school and a plan for the use of disciplinary measures and rearing conversations. Students’ rights in the Finnish school law are also expressed in the law of student-and study care where it is stated that the students’ learning, social well-being, social responsibility and health should be promoted. In the Finnish school law, it is stated regarding the students’ responsibilities that students should do their tasks truthfully and behave in a correct manner.

In the Swedish school law the students’ rights include education which is built upon human rights and basic democratic values as well as encouraging social contacts and relationships. Moreover, the students are entitled to a safe and calm school environment and the head of the school is responsible for drawing up a plan every year against offensive actions or treatment as well as see to that rules of conduct exist. In the Swedish school law, it is not explicitly expressed that the students are responsible to behave in certain ways. However, there are measures described in the events of disruptive and violence students, which indicates that there is certain behavior which is not allowed. The demand of attending lessons and other activities connected to education can also be seen as the responsibility on the student’s part.

2. How are teachers described in terms of rights and responsibilities in the social interaction with students?

In chapter 7, clause 36 of the Finnish school law, regulations concerning disciplinary matters are described and 36 b addresses teachers’ rights in their actions in the social in the classroom and at school in general. How teachers are allowed to act, will serve as an answer to what rights they have in the social interaction with students as described in the school law, and as means of maintaining order and a safe study environment. In clause 36 b (The same is expressed in the upper secondary law), called Removal of a student who is acting in a disturbing way and is jeopardizing safety it says:

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förbjudet att använda maktmedelsredskap för att avlägsna eleven […] (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning, kap.7 paragraf 36 b)

The school law gives teachers rights in acting to maintain order and safety in the classroom and at school, when a student is behaving in a disturbing way and refuses to leave by giving them the right to remove these students from the classroom or any other event at school. It is also evident from quote no. 14) that teachers and the principal have the right to use means necessary to remove the student if he or she is making resistance to leave. However, the way in which teachers and the principal remove the student, must be “defensible” in terms of the age of the student, the seriousness of the situation and the resistance made, as well as an evaluation of the seriousness of the whole event occurred. Moreover, the teacher and the principal can act together or by themselves, but cannot use any “tools of force” to remove the student. The protection teachers have by law to act also protects the student at the same time. Teachers are only protected, if the force being used is defensible and not more violent than the situation demands, which in many situations can be difficult to decide. Similarly, teachers and the principal also have the right to seize dangerous objects or material from a student as well as the right to inspect the students’ clothes on the outside, or examine objects the students bring to school and lockers or spaces students use at school:

15) Skolans lärare och rektor har rätt att under arbetsdagen granska de saker som en elev har med sig och de förvaringsutrymmen i skolan som eleven förfogar över och att utföra en ytlig granskning av elevens kläder för att omhänderta ett förbjudet föremål eller ämne som avses I 29§ 2 mom. och med vilket den egna säkerheten eller någon annans säkerhet kan äventyras […]

Eleven ska meddelas orsaken till granskningen innan den utförs. […] (Lagen om grundläggande

utbildning, kap.7 paragraf 36 e)

The way the inspection should be carried out is also stated in the clause, which also prevents the students from being “offended” in any way:

16) Granskningen får utföras endast av en person som är av samma kön som eleven. Vid

granskningen ska förutom den som utför granskningen även en annan myndig person som hör till skolans personal närvara. På elevens begäran ska en person som hör till skolans personal och som eleven utser närvara vid granskningen om denna person är tillgänglig. Avvikelse från det sätt att utföra granskningen på som föreskrivs i 3 mom. får dock göras om det på grund av ärendets brådskande natur är absolut nödvändigt med tanke på säkerheten. (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning, kap.7 paragraf 36 e)

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17) Skolans lärare och rektor ska meddela om trakasserier, mobbning och våld som skett i skolan

eller under skolvägen […] (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning, kap.7 paragraf 29)

In the separate law of student- and study care, teachers’ responsibilities towards the students in the social aspect of their work is generally expressed, and teachers, among other staff at school are mentioned as a group “Everyone who works with the students…” and more generally stated that students’ social well-being, health and so forth is promoted within the educational establishment (see quote no.3). Consequently, teachers’ responsibilities toward the students in the social interaction are only expressed straight forward when it comes to offensive actions from other students as in quote no. 17), however nothing is mentioned when it comes to teachers’ behavior towards students, more than that the students’ social well-being and health should be promoted. In conclusion, the responsibility the teacher in Finland has in the social interaction towards students from analyzing the school law is to notify if harassment, bullying or violence has occurred, as well as to show students respect and to help create a safe study environment.

In the Swedish school law chapter 5 (Safety and study peace), clause 6 it is stated under the headline Disciplinary and other special measures- general authorities for principle and teacher that teachers and the principle have the authority to ensure the students’ safety and study peace or stop a student’s disruptive behavior by taking actions as: detention, ordering out students, temporary transfer, temporary replacement, suspension and seizing objects:

18) Rektorn eller en lärare får vidta de omedelbara och tillfälliga åtgärder som är befogade för att tillförsäkra eleverna trygghet och studiero eller för att komma till rätta med en elevs

ordningsstörande uppträdande. […] får det beslutas om utvisning, kvarsittning, tillfällig omplacering, tillfällig placering vid en annan skolenhet, avstängning och omhändertagande av föremål (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 5 kap: s.38)

However, it is also written in connection to quote no.18, that measures of the kind described aforementioned are only allowed to be taken if they are reasonable in terms of their purpose and circumstance (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 5 kap: s.38). Moreover, special regulations and procedures surrounding the measures described in quote no.18 are further emphasized in clause 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17-20 and 22-24, where ordering out, detention and seizing objects are described as in the following quotes:

19) I grundskolan, grundsärskolan, specialskolan, sameskolan, gymnasieskolan och

gymnasiesärskolan får en lärare visa ut en elev från undervisningslokalen för högst återstoden av ett undervisningspass, om 1. eleven stör undervisningen eller på annat sätt uppträder olämpligt, och 2. eleven inte har ändrat sitt uppförande efter uppmaning från läraren (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 5 kap, 7§ :s 39)

20) Under samma förutsättningar som i 7 § får en lärare eller rektor i grundskolan […] besluta att en elev ska stanna kvar i skolan under uppsikt högst en timme efter att skoldagens undervisning har avslutats eller infinna sig i skolan högst en timme innan undervisningen börjar. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 5 kap,8§: s.39)

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som har omhändertagits enligt 22§ ska återlämnas till eleven senast vid den tidpunkt skoldagen är slut för eleven. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 5 kap,22–23§:s 42)

It is evident from quotes no. 19-21 that the teacher has the right to take measures if a student disturbs lessons or behaves inappropriately, even though it is not clarified or defined what an inappropriate behavior entails. Ordering out a student from the classroom can only last until the lesson has ended and detention can only last up to one hour either after school or before school starts. Similarly, seized objects must be returned to the student at the end of the school day, if the object is not a dangerous or by law forbidden object. Concerning the teacher’s responsibilities in the social interaction with students it is stated in the school law in chapter 6 (Measures against offensive treatment), in clause 9 Ban against offensive treatment that the head of the school or the staff are not allowed to treat children or students in a degrading or offensive manner:

22) Huvudmannen eller personalen får inte utsätta ett barn eller en elev för kränkande behandling. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 6 kap, 9§:s, 45)

In clause 5 of chapter 6 it is also expressed that the staff has a responsibility to follow the obligations expressed in the chapter, and the head of the school has the responsibility to make sure the staff follows them. Not only is it forbidden in the law as staff or head of a school to treat children and students in an offensive manner, there is also an obligation stated to inform and report cases of offensive treatment as a teacher or staff, if such cases come to their knowledge, as in the following quote:

23) En lärare, förskollärare eller annan personal som får kännedom om att ett barn eller en elev anser sig ha blivit utsatt för kränkande behandling i samband med verksamheten är skyldig att anmäla detta till förskolechefen eller rektorn […] (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 6 kap, 10§:s 45)

Moreover, it is written further down in 10§ that the head of the school has a responsibility to as soon as possible investigate reported cases of offensive treatment and to take measures to make sure such treatment or actions will not occur again. In conclusion, the responsibility the teacher has in Sweden in the social interaction with students is to ensure a safe study environment and maintain study peace in the classroom as well as report cases of offensive treatment, where it is forbidden as a teacher to offend a student or child at school in any way.

Summary of the answers to question 2.

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in the Finnish school law concerning teachers’ responsibilities towards their students in the social interaction more than that they have a duty to notify or inform parents or a legal representative if harassments, bullying or violence has occurred in school or on the way to school.

Similarly, it is stated in the Swedish school law concerning teachers’ rights that teachers (and the principle) are allowed to take measures as: detention, ordering out students from the classroom, temporary transfer or replacement, suspension and seizing objects to ensure study peace and other students’ safety or to stop a student’s disruptive behavior. However, the measures taken must be reasonable in terms of their purpose and what the situation demands. When it comes to the teacher’s responsibilities in the social interaction with the students, they have a duty to report cases where students have been offensively treated in any way to the principle at school. Teachers also have, according to the Swedish school law, a responsibility to act towards students in a nonoffending way. It is explicitly stated in the Swedish school law that teachers or school staff may not offend a child or student at school.

3. What possibilities are there to lodge complaints against teachers? In the Finnish school law (law of basic education, upper secondary law and the law of

student- and study care) there is nowhere written or expressed how complaints towards a teacher can be made or where they should be directed at. However, in chapter 8, clause 37 of the law of basic education, where regulations concerning staff is treated it is stated that every school should have a principal who “answers for the activities” (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning, kap.8 paragraf 37):

24) Varje skola där det ordnas utbildning enligt denna lag skall ha en rektor som svarar för verksamheten. (Lagen om grundläggande utbildning, kap8, paragraf 37)

Given the ambiguity and the lack of information in the school law concerning lodging complaints, the only direction concerning this matter is that the principal is the one who should answer to complaints, since he or she is responsible for the staff and the activities at school. In the Swedish school law, on the other hand, it is written in chapter 27, clause 4 that the Teachers’ Disciplinary Board investigates teachers and their right to have their license or if a warning should be issued on the request and report from the Schools Inspectorate:

25) Lärarnas ansvarsnämnd prövar efter anmälan av Statens skolinspektion frågor om lärares och förskollärares fortsatta rätt att inneha legitimation och om varning ska meddelas. (Skollagen, SFS 2010:800, 27 kap, 4§:s, 172)

“Law and order” in schools? A comparative study on legal regulations of the social interaction between teacher and students in Finland and Sweden.