The Swedish national professional programme: a critical policy analysis

This article critically examines Sweden’s National Professional Programme (NPP) for principals, teachers and preschool teachers, launched in 2025, through the lens of Bacchi’s framework “What’s the problem represented to be?” From an international perspective, the Swedish case is an example of transnational policy trends carried by powerful agents such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Three main problem representations were identified in the analysed documents: governing; equity and continuous professional development (CPD). The analysis identifies various binaries, such as individual vs. collective efficacy, successful vs. unsuccessful professionals and national standardisation vs. local autonomy. The NPP has been framed as a solution to local governance inadequacies by calling for centralisation and tightening control over educational quality. This shift poses potential risks, including competition for control over professional development opportunities, marginalisation of principals’ roles as pedagogical leaders and creation of hierarchies within the school professions. Furthermore, the emphasis on CPD as a singular path to improvement may overlook collective efficacy and local contexts, favouring a one-size-fits-all approach that may exacerbate existing inequities. The findings indicate the need for further investigation into practical effects that the NPP poses and its impact on Sweden’s educational landscape.