Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schools

A positive school climate is both pivotal for opposing bullying and other degrading treatment and dependent upon a whole-school approach. Although a growing body of research emphasises the importance of both teachers’ and staff’s professional vision and related concepts as vital elements in stimulat...

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Main Authors: Silvia Edling, Robert Thornberg, Peter Gill, Maryam Bourbour, Davoud Masoumi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-08-01
Series:Education Inquiry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20004508.2025.2546223
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author Silvia Edling
Robert Thornberg
Peter Gill
Maryam Bourbour
Davoud Masoumi
author_facet Silvia Edling
Robert Thornberg
Peter Gill
Maryam Bourbour
Davoud Masoumi
author_sort Silvia Edling
collection DOAJ
description A positive school climate is both pivotal for opposing bullying and other degrading treatment and dependent upon a whole-school approach. Although a growing body of research emphasises the importance of both teachers’ and staff’s professional vision and related concepts as vital elements in stimulating a positive school climate, surprisingly few studies have explored the nuances, significance and use of teachers’ and staff’s professional vision in this regard. Drawing from case-study methodology, the purpose of the article is to map the selective language of professional vision and its related concepts as expressed by 7 teachers and 19 staff members in 3 schools, purposefully selected in a Swedish municipality. Semi-structured interviews were coded using content analysis and a socio-ecological framework. Three general themes that intersected the professions emerged from the data: 1) the importance of seeing the pupils, 2) the importance of learning about seeing and 3) the importance of learning from seeing in practice. Highlighting the potential of professional vision as a transformative tool, the findings of this study shed light on the challenges and strategies for stimulating professional vision as a means of informed decision-making in fostering a positive school climate.
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spelling doaj-art-ff7f14f770e2444583ae3ce04e350b642025-08-20T03:07:24ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEducation Inquiry2000-45082025-08-0111710.1080/20004508.2025.2546223Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schoolsSilvia Edling0Robert Thornberg1Peter Gill2Maryam Bourbour3Davoud Masoumi4Faculty of Education and Business Studies, University of Gävle, Gävle, SwedenDivision of Education, Teaching and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, SwedenFaculty of Education and Business Studies, University of Gävle, Gävle, SwedenFaculty of Education and Business Studies, University of Gävle, Gävle, SwedenFaculty of Education and Business Studies, University of Gävle, Gävle, SwedenA positive school climate is both pivotal for opposing bullying and other degrading treatment and dependent upon a whole-school approach. Although a growing body of research emphasises the importance of both teachers’ and staff’s professional vision and related concepts as vital elements in stimulating a positive school climate, surprisingly few studies have explored the nuances, significance and use of teachers’ and staff’s professional vision in this regard. Drawing from case-study methodology, the purpose of the article is to map the selective language of professional vision and its related concepts as expressed by 7 teachers and 19 staff members in 3 schools, purposefully selected in a Swedish municipality. Semi-structured interviews were coded using content analysis and a socio-ecological framework. Three general themes that intersected the professions emerged from the data: 1) the importance of seeing the pupils, 2) the importance of learning about seeing and 3) the importance of learning from seeing in practice. Highlighting the potential of professional vision as a transformative tool, the findings of this study shed light on the challenges and strategies for stimulating professional vision as a means of informed decision-making in fostering a positive school climate.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20004508.2025.2546223Positive school climateprofessional visionmiddle schoolteachersstaffsocio-ecological framework
spellingShingle Silvia Edling
Robert Thornberg
Peter Gill
Maryam Bourbour
Davoud Masoumi
Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schools
Education Inquiry
Positive school climate
professional vision
middle school
teachers
staff
socio-ecological framework
title Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schools
title_full Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schools
title_fullStr Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schools
title_full_unstemmed Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schools
title_short Mapping the language of professional vision: exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three Swedish middle schools
title_sort mapping the language of professional vision exploring obstacles and strategies for stimulating a positive school climate in three swedish middle schools
topic Positive school climate
professional vision
middle school
teachers
staff
socio-ecological framework
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20004508.2025.2546223
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