Research topic/aim: The focus of this study is how professional research questions work as information between different levels across the school organization. The different questions aim to develop the children and students’ knowledge through the teachers and headmaster’s capacity building in a collaboration project. These questions are processed in a hierarchy from the regional overarching question, the municipalities’ to interpret the overarching question to a professional research questions and finally the schools create concrete professional research questions. At the school level are the final question processed and researched.  

Theoretical framework: The project is based on how to steer an organist through professional research question. Leadership is important and a challenge in a changing process in an organization (eg. Kotter, 1995). Moreover, a good communication between the participants are important if it shall be a development in the organization (eg. Harris & Jones 2015; Leithwood et al. 2017). 

The empirical data in this study are analyzed thought two theoretical frameworks in the border between the socio-cultural and the socio- constructivism. Within the socio-cultural field, since much of the focus is around participant in the school collaboration (Hornscheidt & Landqvist 2014, Vygotsky, 1978). However, the percipients must construct their understanding through interactions with the outside world (Ausubel, 1968; Leach & Scott, 2003; Piaget, 1964), when they interpret the question from the regional and municipality level. 

Methodology/research design: Empirical data was the focus of the meeting with the region and municipality. The participants’ final reports and final posters were collected at school level.  Some of the data from meetings where schools collaborated with their critical friends were recorded and transcribed. All the questions on the tree (regional, municipal, school) different level were analyzed, and the issues in questions from the hierarchically high to the low levels were considered. This paper is an analysis from the first year of a 5-year project. It provides a longitudinal study of a project with yearly reports. Some results from year two will be presented at the conference 

Findings: Findings demonstrate ambitious questions without clear definitions and focus on outcomes. Discussions between the various groups involved in the research demonstrates the need for precise clarifications and definitions in expression and communication. The result is that the question from the municipality steering committees focuses on an inventory of situation in the various municipality schools. Another point of view is that the perspective of the students’ perspectives is missing in the questions in most of the groups. The schools and preschool level are also more focused on their own practice, than the question that were given from the hierarchy above them. 

Relevance to Nordic educational research: The aim in the study is to develop the knowledge among the teachers so that they can support every child and student to even more develop their capacity to perform in the school, from good to better. The overall aim is to develop the schools through collaboration between municipality’s schools in the region.