Planlægning af arbejdstid i gymnasiet: Fortællinger og forhindringer

Abstract

In recent years the Danish High Schools (gymnasier) has been subject to different reforms and savings decided by the government. The reforms have changed the way in which the teachers have to carry out their work and the savings has resulted in layoffs and thereby fewer teachers to teach the same number of classes. This means that many teachers find their work is busier than before, and they feel they have to work more. In this thesis I have investigated what dominant narratives on the amount of work that can be found in three Danish gymnasier and how these narratives effect the way in which the core task is carried out. The investigation has been carried out as semi-structured interviews with leaders and teachers from three different Danish gymnasier. The data has been analysed with focus on finding dominant narratives and on how teachers and leaders define the core task of high schools. The theories used are narrative organization theory and strategic self-management. I have found that a dominant narrative is that all teachers are busier than ever and they feel it effects the quality of their work. At the same time, it can be seen that many of the teachers themselves do not feel they have to much work, but still they feed stories to the collective narrative that teachers have to work to much. Through the investigation I have also shown, that there is a discrepancy between how the teachers and the leaders define the core task of the high school and that many teachers do not feel responsible for the tasks in gymnasiet that are not directly related to teaching. In the discussion I provide suggestions to how leaders can change the narratives and thereby pave the way for better collaboration with the teachers. I also argue that defining the core task with the teachers while including expectations from the outside world could make the grounds for a common understanding of what the job as a high school teacher is all about and how it should be carried out.