This paper explores the concept of instructional leadership and principals' perceptions of the practices of instructional leadership. Despite the emphasis on the effects of school leadership regarding teaching practices and learning outcomes, research on direct instructional leadership is scarce. It is focused either on identifying overall leadership practices or on measuring the effect of various intangible school level variables, such as school climate, on student learning. The concepts related to instructional leadership are ambiguous and vague, and challenged by contemporary understandings of school leadership (transformative and distributed leadership). The data consists of narratives written by principals from Norway, Sweden and Finland on successful and unsuccessful efforts of guiding teachers' work in the classroom. These narratives are used for enabling principals to communicate their experiences of the complexity of interacting with teachers in instructional matters. A theoretical framework of practice architectures is used to elucidate the material, discursive and relational aspects of instructional leadership. A three-step analysis of the data suggests that successful instructional leadership is characterized by solidity, co-production and direction. Interestingly, principals' narratives on instructional leadership lack an explicit vocabulary of didactics, examples of face-to-face guidance of teaching as well as direct professional relationships for strengthening teaching practices.

The purpose of this article is to explore the role of the researcher in facilitating collaborative professional development (CPD) projects with teachers in Finland. The article sheds light on the complex role of the researcher promoting professional development in educational sites through action research. The educational sites vary from individual classrooms to small schools and municipalities. The analysis builds on the creation of a communicative space in the form of a Teacher Talk group for researchers engaged in different CPD projects. The creation of sustainable arenas for communication is needed, not only at the educational sites among practitioners, but also among the researchers engaged in different CPD projects. Through our continuous communication and reflections and with help of practice theory we were able to grasp the meanings of the professional development work and our role as researchers at the intersection of action research, university and school. We found the complex researcher role to mainly be that of a negotiator concerning culturaldiscursive, material-economic and socio-political arrangements.

Internationally, as the twenty-first century unfolds, there is a burgeoning literature that documents the changing nature of academic work and work places. One recurring theme in this literature is the extent to which academic freedom and autonomy are being threatened in higher education settings. In this article, the nature of this ominous threat and what might be done about it are interrogated using praxis as a conceptual lens. On one meaning of praxis, we consider the actions of academics as individuals aiming for 'right conduct'; on a second meaning, we consider praxis as collective 'history-making action'. An analysis of the existing practices of researchers in two international settings revealed particular kinds of practice architectures-collective research practicesthat have revitalised and sustained the working lives of these academics. The notion of collective praxis is suggested as a model of intellectual engagement for building communicative connections. It provides a strategic way forward both to enable academic freedom and autonomy and to benefit the institutions in which academics work.

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