It feels really rewarding to be able to help with the Quality Award process. Being able to help identify and highlight role models in quality and sustainability in the school world feels important and urgent. In fact, it feels particularly important because many people see schools as a problem area. Much of the public discussion focuses on negative news: falling Pisa results, the vulnerable situation of teachers, lack of equivalence between schools and work environment problems for both students and teachers. It is difficult to escape this image in the media.

But there is also another side to Swedish schools, and it is this side that the Quality Award wants to highlight: Swedish schools that, through clear and value-based leadership, create top-class study situations. Where both students and teachers feel good and perform well, and where results are constantly improving. Schools and preschools that can act as role models - not necessarily by achieving much better results than everyone else, but by achieving the best possible results given their conditions.

Strong team spirit and commitment to staff well-being

From a psychological point of view, it is very important to highlight these good examples. The world of education is full of dedicated teachers and school leaders who want to achieve great education for our children and young people. The Bättre Skola quality award shows that this is not only possible but also fully achievable - provided you approach the work in a thoughtful way and focus on the right things. It is also possible to achieve without wearing yourself out: the hallmark of award-winning organizations is that they work well together with a strong sense of teamwork and commitment to the well-being of their staff.

With leadership that is based on the well-being of leaders, teachers, students and other staff, the chances of creating working methods that actually make a difference to results increase significantly. What we at SIQ and our management model can contribute is a good guideline and research-based success factors to lean on in the long-term development of organization and leadership. This is different from politically motivated quick-fix measures that only create anxiety and the feeling of not being trusted.

For the organizations that have applied, there is now a period where they will describe in words, pictures and tables how they work and what results they get. During the fall, they will then be evaluated by teams of examiners, and after the judging committee's meeting in November, we hope to once again present some more inspiring, well-deserved recipients of the Better Schools Quality Award.

I look forward to that!

Ola Ljunggren Bergeå
Coordinator, Better Schools Quality Award

PS: If you work in (pre-)school and are interested in participating - please don't hesitate to contact us at SIQ directly so we can help you prepare in the best way for next year's round. You are welcome to join us!