Pub Date : 2021-06-21DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2021.1942823
M. Hutt, Nicky Lewis
ABSTRACT The Welsh education system is engaging in a wide-ranging series of reforms and, as part of these reforms, is moving towards an accountability system that aims to work collaboratively with teachers and school leaders in a self-improving system. The aspiration is to move away from accountability structures that are built around high-stakes performative measures. Reform in this area implies change at procedural and cultural levels, and this article presents a research project that explores teacher, school leader and challenge adviser perspectives on accountability, through the lens of narrative inquiry, to identify ways in which accountability is currently constructed and understood. Findings indicate that teachers develop narratives that are focused upon anxiety over impact, whilst leaders focus on critiquing modes of measurement, and that accountability, therefore, is problematised in differing ways by different cohorts of professionals. Furthermore, the leaders’ narratives explore an unresolved tension between the desire for an accountability system which is nuanced and detailed, and the desire for an accountability system which is also clear and unambiguous. It is argued that successful reform will have to engage explicitly with these different ways of understanding accountability if it is to be successfully co-constructed with the profession in the current context.
{"title":"Ready for reform? Narratives of accountability from teachers and education leaders in Wales","authors":"M. Hutt, Nicky Lewis","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2021.1942823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2021.1942823","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The Welsh education system is engaging in a wide-ranging series of reforms and, as part of these reforms, is moving towards an accountability system that aims to work collaboratively with teachers and school leaders in a self-improving system. The aspiration is to move away from accountability structures that are built around high-stakes performative measures. Reform in this area implies change at procedural and cultural levels, and this article presents a research project that explores teacher, school leader and challenge adviser perspectives on accountability, through the lens of narrative inquiry, to identify ways in which accountability is currently constructed and understood. Findings indicate that teachers develop narratives that are focused upon anxiety over impact, whilst leaders focus on critiquing modes of measurement, and that accountability, therefore, is problematised in differing ways by different cohorts of professionals. Furthermore, the leaders’ narratives explore an unresolved tension between the desire for an accountability system which is nuanced and detailed, and the desire for an accountability system which is also clear and unambiguous. It is argued that successful reform will have to engage explicitly with these different ways of understanding accountability if it is to be successfully co-constructed with the profession in the current context.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"27 1","pages":"470 - 487"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83292729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-27DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2021.1915761
Christine Edwards-Groves, Peter Grootenboer
ABSTRACT Research to date is rich in its claim that practice development in schools, and the leadership and professional learning that it demands, requires relational trust. However, reasonings for, and understandings about, relational trust are described mainly in general terms, leaving its complexity and multidimensionality implicit. Much trust research in schools has focused on principals, neglecting fulsome characterisations of relational trust as it is engendered in practices by middle leaders often responsible for leading school-based professional learning. This article addresses an empirical void in expositions outlining the intricacies of relational trust. Results advance previous ethnographic research conducted in primary schools delineating five interconnected dimensions of relational trust: interpersonal, interactional, intersubjective, intellectual and pragmatic. Findings from a two-year replication study conducted in secondary schools are presented. Deductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with educators from three Australian secondary schools adds analytic depth to previous research. Revealed is a doubleness in how relational trust, in five dimensions, was found to not only form conditions for middle leaders to consciously build and cohere, protect and preserve communicative spaces for developing trust; but that this trust reciprocally generated conditions for realising the transformational goals of school-based professional learning.
{"title":"Conceptualising five dimensions of relational trust: implications for middle leadership","authors":"Christine Edwards-Groves, Peter Grootenboer","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2021.1915761","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2021.1915761","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Research to date is rich in its claim that practice development in schools, and the leadership and professional learning that it demands, requires relational trust. However, reasonings for, and understandings about, relational trust are described mainly in general terms, leaving its complexity and multidimensionality implicit. Much trust research in schools has focused on principals, neglecting fulsome characterisations of relational trust as it is engendered in practices by middle leaders often responsible for leading school-based professional learning. This article addresses an empirical void in expositions outlining the intricacies of relational trust. Results advance previous ethnographic research conducted in primary schools delineating five interconnected dimensions of relational trust: interpersonal, interactional, intersubjective, intellectual and pragmatic. Findings from a two-year replication study conducted in secondary schools are presented. Deductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with educators from three Australian secondary schools adds analytic depth to previous research. Revealed is a doubleness in how relational trust, in five dimensions, was found to not only form conditions for middle leaders to consciously build and cohere, protect and preserve communicative spaces for developing trust; but that this trust reciprocally generated conditions for realising the transformational goals of school-based professional learning.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"36 5","pages":"260 - 283"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72853659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-27DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2021.1922375
Angel Miles Nash, M. Grogan
ABSTRACT This article analyses the disaggregated data from the 2020 American Superintendent Decennial Study. The focus on superintendents of colour provides important insight into the ways individuals holding the highest rank in school districts govern the instructional, facilities, fiscal, personnel, and community relations matters as they comprehensively prioritise students' academic success and social wellbeing. Given the historicity of marginalisation of people of colour, the current heightened visibility of racial discrimination waged against the Black community, and the disproportionate health risks highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus on the US superintendency is poignantly timely and necessary. Purposely grounding this article in an asset-based approach of exploring the work and lives of superintendents who are not part of the hegemonic norm – by centreing superintendents of colour and women superintendents – we employ a lesser-used tactic of emphasising underexplored leadership experiences to highlight what we can learn from and appreciate about them. In doing so, we mirror the current state of the profession and the ways society influences it. Considering recent increases in efforts to support the humane treatment of Black lives on a global scale, this article corroborates existing evidence detailing the ways educators play a pivotal role in shaping children's lives.
{"title":"Leadership and the U.S. Superintendency: Issues of race, preparation and impact","authors":"Angel Miles Nash, M. Grogan","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2021.1922375","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2021.1922375","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article analyses the disaggregated data from the 2020 American Superintendent Decennial Study. The focus on superintendents of colour provides important insight into the ways individuals holding the highest rank in school districts govern the instructional, facilities, fiscal, personnel, and community relations matters as they comprehensively prioritise students' academic success and social wellbeing. Given the historicity of marginalisation of people of colour, the current heightened visibility of racial discrimination waged against the Black community, and the disproportionate health risks highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus on the US superintendency is poignantly timely and necessary. Purposely grounding this article in an asset-based approach of exploring the work and lives of superintendents who are not part of the hegemonic norm – by centreing superintendents of colour and women superintendents – we employ a lesser-used tactic of emphasising underexplored leadership experiences to highlight what we can learn from and appreciate about them. In doing so, we mirror the current state of the profession and the ways society influences it. Considering recent increases in efforts to support the humane treatment of Black lives on a global scale, this article corroborates existing evidence detailing the ways educators play a pivotal role in shaping children's lives.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"1 1","pages":"24 - 43"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79819429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-20DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2021.1926963
P. Sahlberg, T. Cobbold
ABSTRACT Equity has become a central principle in educational policy and leadership around the world. However, there is a wide range of interpretations of equity and what it means in education. In this article we explore different definitions of educational equity from policy and leadership perspectives. Our aim is to give an operational definition of equity in education to overcome vague interpretations and better guide the development of educational leadership for more consistent approaches to improving equity in education. We argue that equity in education should refer to equity of educational outcomes and incorporate both an individual and a social group aspect. We then claim that equality of outcomes is more relevant to comparisons between social groups than individuals, and we call that social equity. In current literature one or the other aspect has been adopted as an equity objective, but it appears combining the two elements is much less common. This dual objective is unique in the discussion around what equity in education means and how it could guide educational policymaking and leadership.
{"title":"Leadership for equity and adequacy in education","authors":"P. Sahlberg, T. Cobbold","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2021.1926963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2021.1926963","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Equity has become a central principle in educational policy and leadership around the world. However, there is a wide range of interpretations of equity and what it means in education. In this article we explore different definitions of educational equity from policy and leadership perspectives. Our aim is to give an operational definition of equity in education to overcome vague interpretations and better guide the development of educational leadership for more consistent approaches to improving equity in education. We argue that equity in education should refer to equity of educational outcomes and incorporate both an individual and a social group aspect. We then claim that equality of outcomes is more relevant to comparisons between social groups than individuals, and we call that social equity. In current literature one or the other aspect has been adopted as an equity objective, but it appears combining the two elements is much less common. This dual objective is unique in the discussion around what equity in education means and how it could guide educational policymaking and leadership.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"578 1","pages":"447 - 469"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77799590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-20DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2021.1887643
A. Harris, Michelle Jones
Despite much anticipation of a far better new year, 2021 has started with that deja vu feeling. In many countries, teachers welcomed pupils in early January but as the COVID 19 virus regained its g...
{"title":"Leading in disruptive times: a spotlight on assessment","authors":"A. Harris, Michelle Jones","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2021.1887643","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2021.1887643","url":null,"abstract":"Despite much anticipation of a far better new year, 2021 has started with that deja vu feeling. In many countries, teachers welcomed pupils in early January but as the COVID 19 virus regained its g...","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"29 1","pages":"171 - 174"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74089054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-25DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2021.1872525
T. Greany, R. Mcginity
ABSTRACT This article analyses the ways in which leaders in Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) in England work to develop shared improvement practices across the schools they operate. It draws on case study evidence gathered as part of a larger mixed methods study (Greany [2018]. Sustainable Improvement in Multi-school Groups. DfE Research report 2017/038. London: Department for Education). There are now more than 1200 MATs in England, operating anywhere between two and 50+ academies within a single organisational structure. A key question facing MAT leaders is whether, where and how far to seek integration between member schools, especially given the argument that such integration can ensure that teaching and learning practices are being consistently applied. The research reveals varying levels of standardisation, alignment and autonomy across different aspects of practice (assessment, curriculum and pedagogy). While some MAT leaders seek to standardise and regulate most areas of practice, others emphasise more organic or co-designed approaches to building shared norms and/or allow space for local contextualisation. Drawing on research into ‘Mergers and Acquisitions’ and Post-Merger Integration’ in organisational studies, we analyse the theories of action which underpin these leaders’ approaches and set out a typology aimed at strengthening understanding of MAT approaches to improvement.
{"title":"Structural integration and knowledge exchange in multi-academy trusts: comparing approaches with evidence and theory from non-educational sectors","authors":"T. Greany, R. Mcginity","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2021.1872525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2021.1872525","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article analyses the ways in which leaders in Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) in England work to develop shared improvement practices across the schools they operate. It draws on case study evidence gathered as part of a larger mixed methods study (Greany [2018]. Sustainable Improvement in Multi-school Groups. DfE Research report 2017/038. London: Department for Education). There are now more than 1200 MATs in England, operating anywhere between two and 50+ academies within a single organisational structure. A key question facing MAT leaders is whether, where and how far to seek integration between member schools, especially given the argument that such integration can ensure that teaching and learning practices are being consistently applied. The research reveals varying levels of standardisation, alignment and autonomy across different aspects of practice (assessment, curriculum and pedagogy). While some MAT leaders seek to standardise and regulate most areas of practice, others emphasise more organic or co-designed approaches to building shared norms and/or allow space for local contextualisation. Drawing on research into ‘Mergers and Acquisitions’ and Post-Merger Integration’ in organisational studies, we analyse the theories of action which underpin these leaders’ approaches and set out a typology aimed at strengthening understanding of MAT approaches to improvement.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"27 5","pages":"311 - 333"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13632434.2021.1872525","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72392950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-15DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2021.1887644
P. Woods, D. Torrance, C. Donnelly, Tom Hamilton, K.O. Jones, I. Potter
This special edition of School Leadership and Management is published in 2021, a year which comes with renewed optimism but also considerable leadership challenges. It is an opportune time to review educational leadership across the four diverse nations of the UK (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland), to reflect on the strengths and challenges of each system and to gain through this, a better understanding of how systems of educational leadership within and beyond the UK may more effectively meet the needs of young people and their communities.
{"title":"Diverging systems of educational leadership in the four nations of the United Kingdom?","authors":"P. Woods, D. Torrance, C. Donnelly, Tom Hamilton, K.O. Jones, I. Potter","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2021.1887644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2021.1887644","url":null,"abstract":"This special edition of School Leadership and Management is published in 2021, a year which comes with renewed optimism but also considerable leadership challenges. It is an opportune time to review educational leadership across the four diverse nations of the UK (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland), to reflect on the strengths and challenges of each system and to gain through this, a better understanding of how systems of educational leadership within and beyond the UK may more effectively meet the needs of young people and their communities.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"5 1","pages":"1 - 5"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73254185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-02-24DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2020.1859999
P. Woods, D. Torrance, C. Donnelly, Tom Hamilton, Ken Jones, I. Potter
ABSTRACT This article offers a comparative analysis and interpretation of leadership in the four UK education jurisdictions (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland), informed by the articles in this special issue and by a project report, all outcomes of an initiative, ‘Educational Leadership, Management and Administration in the United Kingdom: A Comparative Review’, funded by the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society. The article explores the constructions of leadership in the school systems of the four jurisdictions and the purposes those constructions are fulfilling concerning the governance of education. The comparative analysis identifies four purposes – relational, institutional-reform focused, masking and space-making. This typology of purposes is used to illuminate the different emphases across the jurisdictions. A relational purpose may be discerned more strongly in Wales and Scotland, a neo-liberal institutional-focused purpose more so in England, and relational and neo-liberal threads are intertwined in Northern Ireland in the context of legacies of community divisions. At the same time in all four jurisdictions, each of the purposes is given expression alongside, intermingling with or challenging neo-liberal threads of change and the dynamic between them helps shape the context in which leaders in the school systems create and practise leadership.
{"title":"Constructions and purposes of school leadership in the UK","authors":"P. Woods, D. Torrance, C. Donnelly, Tom Hamilton, Ken Jones, I. Potter","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2020.1859999","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2020.1859999","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article offers a comparative analysis and interpretation of leadership in the four UK education jurisdictions (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland), informed by the articles in this special issue and by a project report, all outcomes of an initiative, ‘Educational Leadership, Management and Administration in the United Kingdom: A Comparative Review’, funded by the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society. The article explores the constructions of leadership in the school systems of the four jurisdictions and the purposes those constructions are fulfilling concerning the governance of education. The comparative analysis identifies four purposes – relational, institutional-reform focused, masking and space-making. This typology of purposes is used to illuminate the different emphases across the jurisdictions. A relational purpose may be discerned more strongly in Wales and Scotland, a neo-liberal institutional-focused purpose more so in England, and relational and neo-liberal threads are intertwined in Northern Ireland in the context of legacies of community divisions. At the same time in all four jurisdictions, each of the purposes is given expression alongside, intermingling with or challenging neo-liberal threads of change and the dynamic between them helps shape the context in which leaders in the school systems create and practise leadership.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"31 4 1","pages":"152 - 170"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85531699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-02-18DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2020.1863777
Jacqueline Baxter, A. John
ABSTRACT Multi-academy trusts are groups of schools in England led by an Executive Head Teacher and a Board of Trustees. High profile failures of these organisations raise questions over the way they are strategically led. Leadership studies argue that the absence of strategic thinking is a major detractor from performance & sustainability. However, creating strategy for a single organisation is very different to creating it for a collaboration. This article adopts a schema-based approach to examine the ways in leadership boards approach strategy as learning. Drawing on 42 qualitative interviews it asks: What evidence is there that strategy is a learning activity; What organisational implications are there for this? What are the implications of this for Trustee and CEO development in this area? And what theoretical contribution does this study make to what is known about strategy learning in multi-level organisations? The paper concludes that there is evidence to suggest that respondents view strategy as learning, whilst also suggesting areas for professional development for school leaders. From a theoretical perspective, the paper adds to knowledge on the role of metacognition in a strategy as learning approach to strategic decision-making.
{"title":"Strategy as learning in multi-academy trusts in England: strategic thinking in action","authors":"Jacqueline Baxter, A. John","doi":"10.1080/13632434.2020.1863777","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2020.1863777","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Multi-academy trusts are groups of schools in England led by an Executive Head Teacher and a Board of Trustees. High profile failures of these organisations raise questions over the way they are strategically led. Leadership studies argue that the absence of strategic thinking is a major detractor from performance & sustainability. However, creating strategy for a single organisation is very different to creating it for a collaboration. This article adopts a schema-based approach to examine the ways in leadership boards approach strategy as learning. Drawing on 42 qualitative interviews it asks: What evidence is there that strategy is a learning activity; What organisational implications are there for this? What are the implications of this for Trustee and CEO development in this area? And what theoretical contribution does this study make to what is known about strategy learning in multi-level organisations? The paper concludes that there is evidence to suggest that respondents view strategy as learning, whilst also suggesting areas for professional development for school leaders. From a theoretical perspective, the paper adds to knowledge on the role of metacognition in a strategy as learning approach to strategic decision-making.","PeriodicalId":47255,"journal":{"name":"School Leadership & Management","volume":"56 1","pages":"290 - 310"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85436424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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