Empowering Teachers in Times of Change. The Swedish Comprehensive School System

Abstract

Relative autonomy refers to the space that teachers have or can create to make choices regarding the curriculum of schooling. In order to transform conflicts and to cope with the tensions that arise in time of change, teachers are urged to make constructive use of their relative autonomy. In this paper some of the conflicts and tensions that exist today are discussed in the context of the Swedish comprehensive school system. Two models are presented and discussed that can help to empower teachers to meet the challenges inherent in change.