Lykke Cecilie Mose defends her PhD thesis
Lykke Cecilie Mose defends her PhD thesis "Trust reforms and school outcomes: An examination of the factors impacting how trust-based governance and leadership affect teaching quality, student learning and motivation".
The defence is public, and everybody is welcome; the defence is scheduled for a maximum of three hours and will be held in Danish.
Follow the defense online via Zoom
Department of Social Sciences and Business will host a small reception afterwards.
Supervisors and assessment
Assessment committee:
- Andreas Hagedorn Krogh, Associate Professor, ISE, Roskilde University, Denmark (chairperson)
- Bente Bjørnholt, Senior Researcher, The Danish Center for Social Science Research, Denmark
- Åge Johnsen, Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Supervisor:
- Jacob Torfing, Professor, ISE, Roskilde University
Co-supervisors:
- Tina Øllgaard Bentzen, Associate Professor, ISE, Roskilde University
- Line Berner, HR and Finance Manager, Children and Youth Department, Vejle Municipality
Leader of defence:
- Peter Triantafillou, Professor, ISE, Roskilde University
Abstract
This dissertation examines the prerequisites for trust-based reforms to enhance the quality of welfare services, using the educational sector as a case study. The study focuses on the organizational conditions that enable or constrain the translation of political intentions regarding trust into practice. It is guided by the primary research question: What conditions enable or constrain the ability of locally implemented trust reforms to enhance school outcomes, as reflected in students’ learning and motivation?
This question is examined through analyses of both the broader relationships between governance and outcomes and the micro-dynamics of vertical and horizontal interactions among politicians, leaders, and employees across the municipal hierarchy.
The research question is addressed through three sub-studies. Article 1 is a systematic review that maps existing knowledge on the relationships among trust-based governance, leadership, teaching quality, and student learning. Articles 2 and 3 are qualitative case studies of a Danish municipality that implemented a trust reform, granting high levels of autonomy to 25 schools. Data were collected across seven hierarchical levels - from the political committee to students - to investigate how political and administrative top leadership manage vulnerability and trust when increasing school autonomy, and how school leaders and teachers translate this autonomy into motivational teaching in the classroom.
The dissertation’s overarching findings demonstrate that trust reforms can improve teaching quality and student motivation by increasing local autonomy, thereby creating space for professional discretion and flexible organization. However, the findings also show that the political removal of rules does not, in itself, generate quality. Positive outcomes are contingent upon a trust-based leadership that facilitates dialogue, ensures clarity of purpose, fosters a shared understanding of professional quality, and supports collegial, trust-based collaboration.
A central finding is the importance of “dialogue-supporting structures,” which enable trust-building interactions and provide upward feedback within the hierarchy. This reduces the vulnerability of top leadership and enables the continuous calibration of governance. At the school level, the findings show that motivational teaching can function as a self-reinforcing process when teachers incorporate student perspectives. Conversely, reforms are unlikely to improve teaching quality, student learning, and motivation if leadership merely delegates responsibility without providing support and direction. Overall, the dissertation demonstrates that the successful implementation of trust-based reforms requires a balance between autonomy, dialogue, and trust-based leadership, supported by collaboration across all organizational levels.
The dissertation will be available for reading at the Roskilde University Library before the defence (on-site use). The dissertation will also be available at the defence.