Lärarlönelyftet - En studie om genomförandet och upplevelsen av lärarlönelyftet i grundskolan

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate the experiences of lärarlönelyftet (increased wages for teachers) and how it can be understood in relation to fairness. Lärarlönelyftet is a government initiative aimed at increasing teachers' salaries, thus targeting particularly skilled teachers with the ability to develop teaching methods. By increasing the attractiveness of the teaching profession, the aim was also to raising the school results in Sweden. The decision on which teachers were to get this raise was taken at the local level by the principal. The criterions were set on a government level. Based on these criterions the principal did a estimation on who was applicable to get the raise. The teachers applied by sending in an application in writing, where they had to argue why they should be regarded as justified for a rise. This study was conducted in one municipality in which seven teachers working at elementary schools where interviewed. Besides the data collection from the interviews, this study is also including data from documents gathered from the municipality, the local union organization, the Ministry of Education and the Swedish National Agency for Education. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed by thematic analysis, as well as the documents. The ethical balances have been of particular importance as it concerns individual and personal stories. Therefore, some documents and all interviewees are anonymized. The theoretical framework used is about change processes, in order to provide answers on how to understand the implementation of lärarlönelyftet. Pay for performance and fair theory were used to understand and explain the experiences associated with läralönelyftet. Lärarlönelyftet is to be seen as a form of pay for performance, where performance and payment are connected. This was seen as a confirmation of achievement both for those who were approved and those who were denied. A strong dissatisfaction has in particulary been shown among those teachers who have not received lärarlönelyftet. Critic was also received from teacher who got increased pay. This can be explained partly by the lack of feedback and by the processes that have not been consistent and included all the teachers. The experiences from the implementation are that there were differences that were created at local level, between municipalities and between schools. Based on the theoretical framework these differences can be explained partly by the adaptations to the local context in a change process and that there was a built-in opportunity for adaptation in lärarlönelyftet. How individuals perceived it is also about the interpretations the individual made about what is happening in the organization. This is mainly done through communication, for example colleagues who jointly seek to understand the meaning and the consequence of the reform.