A headteacher recruitment crisis continues in the primary education sector (Howson & Sprigate, 2011; Rhodes et al., 2008). This research offers a voice for an increasingly marginalised group and synthesises the experiences of 15 primary headteachers, including retired, experienced and new school leaders against the changing educational scenery of four decades. An extended metaphor describing a changing epistemological landscape is utilised (Pascale, 2011), including dramaturgical discourse (Goffman, 1974). The research assesses whether the lived experiences of school leaders evidence a supposed movement away from the ‘freedom’ of the ‘secret garden’ of the pre-National Curriculum era to a time of reducing freedoms for headteachers under a central panoptic gaze (Foucault 1979; Ball 2006) and then to a new ‘supported autonomy’ as suggested by ‘Education Excellence Everywhere’ (DfE, 2016). The thesis assesses the capacity of phenomenological methodology to address the research questions and distinctions are made between approaches to phenomenology. A case is made for ensuring critical rationalism within the methodology and difficulties of attaining ‘epoche’ and ‘phenomenological reduction’ are debated. Findings support the view that there have been significant changes to headship over time. Analysis of these changes does not support the concept of a linear movement from a time of freedom to a landscape defined by Panopticism. The research suggests that a new paradigmatic shift is significantly changing the nature of primary headship with new forms of executive leadership and structures for leadership progression. Recommendations call for a reduction in the frequency of change for school leaders, a simplification of the inspection grading system, provision of clearer pathways to headship and greater support for school leaders as local authority services decline and safeguarding for leaders from the growth of social media abuse. This research offers a unique insight into headship and addresses an identified gap in educational research.

This research enquiry examines the extent to which managerialism has permeated the headship role in England. It analyses the literature pertaining to the changing role of headship in England, managerialism, the marketization of education and the impact that these elements have had on the headship role in England, as well as the manner in which they have impacted upon schools in general. The study also explored England’s National College for School Leadership, its headship standards and its generic headship training. The research was conducted by way of semi-structured interviews with six headteachers, two of whom were new to headship, two of whom had more than five years of experience and two of whom were retired. The sample included a mix of state school and independent school headteachers. The data revealed a stark contrast between the professional experiences of state school headteachers and independent school headteachers. The state school headteachers cited pressures of governmental interference and also noted the pressures posed by the socioeconomic background of the given school’s intake. The headteachers also expressed feeling insecure from one day to the next and there was an overriding sense of confusion predominantly due to constant changes in government directives. By contrast, any impact on the independent school headteachers from government intervention and interference was demonstrably absent.

The main aim of this research is to offer a sociological analysis of Taiwanese headteachers’ views of the inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. Taiwan is a country which combines Confucian and westernised traditions, and these are reflected in its education systems, including SEN provision. To date, there is little research on headteachers’ views of inclusion and most studies involve attitudinal surveys. By way of contrast, this qualitative research, which adopts a neo-marxist theoretical perspective, is based on twenty five in-depth interviews with school headteachers, who are regarded as having high social status in Taiwan. In addition, the research presents two case studies of schools implementing inclusive practices, based on interviews with headteachers, analysis of the school websites and media reports. Critical discourse analysis is used to analyse the twenty five interview texts and the case studies. Three major discourses of inclusion are identified: the managerialist discourse, the critical discourse and the school as social microcosm discourse. The extent to which headteachers employ these discourses appears to be influenced by various personal and social factors. Headteachers’ understanding of disabled students is the key personal factor influencing their views on inclusion. Further, their unfavourable attitudes towards the inclusion of disabled students may be influenced by the views of parents with non-disabled children, competitive credentialism and the government’s stance. With regard to the inclusion of gifted students, the discourses employed are he following: the school as social microcosm discourse, the privileged class discourse and the dilemmatic discourse. The first two discourses are articulated by headteachers holding favourable attitudes towards the inclusion of gifted students whilst the third discourse is articulated by those holding uncertain attitudes. Headteachers’ understanding of gifted students is the key personal factor influencing their views on inclusion. Competitive credentialism has a major influence on attitudes towards the inclusion of disabled students as well as gifted students. With regard to the two case studies of schools exemplifying inclusive practices, it is argued that the wider applicability of their approaches is questionable. Overall, the results highlight the Taiwanese government’s unclear stance on promoting inclusion. This research has also suggested that a clear operational definition of inclusion is necessary and urgent before the comprehensive implementation of inclusion in wider educational arenas.

The experience of socialisation for those new to headship can be challenging and often traumatic (Crow, 2007). Research into the socialisation of new headteachers is not extensive and has primarily been concerned with identifying and ordering stages in the socialisation process, for example, phases of headship. Such an approach neither allows for an analysis of the complexity of socialising influences nor does it enable the generation of explanatory theories. The purpose of the current research was to provide an understanding of the socialisation of new headteachers from an analysis of significant socialising experiences. The aims of the research were to: 1.analyse the socialisation of new primary headteachers from a role boundary perspective. 2.test the suitability of the role boundary concept as a rigorous, theoretical and methodological tool that can be applied to researching the field of headteacher socialisation. The research analysed critical incident vignettes from the experiences of seven newly appointed primary school headteachers up to their first three years in post. Data was collected using two research methods; semi-structured interviews and a written log. Twenty two critical incident vignettes were analysed using an interpretive methodology underpinned by an analytical framework based upon the concept of role boundary. The role boundary is described as being the point of delineation between a set of behaviours that are considered to be legitimate in role and those behaviours that are considered illegitimate in role. The role boundary concept allows for an analysis of the socialising experiences of new headteachers as they and the organisation engage in a recurrent, reciprocal and relational socialising process that seeks to establish those behaviours that are, and those that are not, legitimately enclosed by their role boundaries. The research found that socialisation is the process by which the new headteacher and the organisation seek to establish and position their respective role boundaries. Headteachers experience socialisation as a series of emotionally challenging interactions where the central purpose is to establish who has the legitimate authority to take decisions and to take actions in the following three main areas; task role allocation, resource allocation and the creation and application of organisational procedure. These interactions are immediate, are intense and have the potential to lead to conflict where individuals contest the limits of their respective role boundaries. The research finds the concept of role boundary as a theoretical and methodological tool to be of heuristic and analytical value in understanding and explaining headteacher socialisation and presents a role boundary socialisation theory to explain the dynamics of the socialisation process.

The thesis deals with the issues of headteachers' vocational competences and their needs for in-service training. The issue is assessed with regard to school degree and a phase of headmaster's career. The thesis is based on the need to clearly define what knowledge, abilities and attitudes should headteachers have to be able to manage the school successfully. This is also one of the conditions for creating a meaningful career system in schooling and a basis for a systematic further vocational development of headteachers. The thesis suggests a generic top performance profile of headteachers of all school degrees and a structure of their in-service training which corresponds to necessary competence. As a result, this should lead to an improvement of vocational training of headteachers and subsequently to higher quality of schools they manage.

In recent years government reform has focused on the expectations of practice for professionals in the education sector. In the last three years alone, revised standards have been published for Headteachers and Teachers. But what model of professionalism do these standards seek to promote? The focus of the work which follows is concerned with analysing the language used within such policies in order to evaluate whether conceptualisations of professionalism are altered over time, by charting the development of policy from 2004 to 2015 for the Headteachers’ standards and from 2007 to 2012 for the Teachers’ standards. In exploring the language of the standards, the author will also consider the nature of professionalism and discuss whether any conceptualisation can ever be articulated which can produce certainty and consensus of understanding.

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A cornerstone of the following thesis is conviction, that education is a core activity of every school and its headteacher is a main character in reaching quality of education. Leadership and management must go hand in hand, but they are not the same. In his analysis author uses many foreign researches to introduce leadership in the school enviroment. A theory of management by competencies is an introduction for the following comparison of the headteachers education in selected countries. Author keeps on mind an education policy of the OECD. A quantitative research among 112 headteachers is a synthesis of the previous qualitative analysis. A statistic method of generalized linear models (GLM) was used for analysis of the data. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The final thesis is focused on the analysis of the proces of evalution and self evalution in the school management proces. This proces is on of the important activities of the school. If done corectly ,it often leads to effective regulation of school activities developement, it creates quality schools and to the satisfaction of all parties. The theoretical part of the thesis expains the basic concepts of the evalution process. They are besed on knowledge of literature and its legal basic in the context of recent changes. The research includes a metaanalysis of works that deal with the process of evalution and self evalution. Based on these investigation, the researchers have created a general approach to the evalution of school headteachers for the school founders and the main principles of school headteachers have been named which leads to the improvement of their management activites. KEYWORDS: Evalution, self evalution, quality, headteacher, founder of school

À travers l’analyse des dispositifs d’adaptation de l’offre de formation que mettent en œuvre des proviseurs des académies de Bordeaux et de Toulouse, cette thèse répond à la question de savoir dans quelle mesure les évolutions contemporaines des modalités étatiques d’intervention participent d’une stratégie globale résultant d’une nouvelle forme de gouvernementalité.Au terme d’une approche critique, cette thèse montre que les années 1980 sont effectivement une période charnière où, sous l’effet du processus de civilisation, l’appareil de gouvernement devient incapable d’assurer efficacement la médiation du rapport de gouvernement entre l’État central et la population. Inéluctable, l’ajustement prend alors la forme d’une mutation de la structure et de la dynamique de la chaîne de gouvernement, mais il emprunte également la voie d’une mutation des techniques et des logiques de gouvernement.La fin du XXe siècle marque ainsi le passage entre un État « intégratif » et un État « distributif », dont la spécificité réside dans sa capacité à gouverner à distance et de façon invisible ; principalement en contrôlant la capacité des dirigeants de proximité à rendre l’action publique possible tout en instaurant un ordonnancement d’ensemble qui empêche les acteurs non étatiques de gouverner localement. / By the analysis of the systems of adjustment to training offers implemented by headteachers in the Bordeaux and Toulouse education authority areas, this thesis answers the query concerning in what way contemporary evolution of state intervention changes contribute to a global strategy which results in a new form of governing. Pursuant to a critical approach, this thesis shows that the Eighties are indeed a pivotal period when, under the influence of the civilisation process, the government machine becomes unable to effectively ensure the mediation of the relation of government between the central State and the population. The adjustment inevitably takes the form of a structural transformation of the process of the chain of government, but it also results in a transformation of government techniques and logic. The end of the twentieth century thus marks the passage between an “integrative” State and a 'distributive” one whose uniqueness rests in its ability to govern from afar invisibly, mainly by controlling the ability of local leaders to make public policy possible while establishing overall task scheduling which prevents non-state actors from governing locally.