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No description available.

The purpose of this research is to discover different ways of understanding what needs to be done to improve a school, with particular reference to secondary school head teachers. The variation within those understandings, and how the understandings are logically and hierarchically related, are also of interest. Contributions of theory and knowledge to the quality of head teachers' thinking, in terms of negotiating personal and collective meanings, and implying interventions based on interpretations, are suggested. It is argued that the place of thinking (feeling and awareness) within school improvement is supreme, as thinking determines action, and we can only act in relation to how we perceive, experience, or understand a situation. The relevant literature offers indicators of effective schools, helpful descriptors for aspects of the school improvement processes, suggestions for leadership actions, examples of expert practitioners, and a wide spectrum of theories of organisations and education management. What it does not consider is how this knowledge might combine and interact with experience to form different ways of understanding what needs to be done to improve a school. This research addresses the identified gap in the literature, and deepens our knowledge of the inner aspects of school improvement for both theorist and reflective practitioner. The distinct understandings are derived from two sources, a range of literature that can be related to school improvement, and some empirical research consisting of a simulation exercise undertaken by 18 secondary school head teachers. A particular type of critical analysis is applied to the literature, and a phenomenographical approach is adopted for the scrutiny of the empirical data. Phenomenographic principles are utilised throughout the research, as they represent the only approach concerned directly with the different ways of understanding a phenomenon, and the relationships between understandings. From a range of literature, four abstracted understandings of what needs to be done to improve a school are discovered. They are based on reflecting on excellence, adapting leadership, interpreting the organisation, and developing the inter-dependence of active learning. Each understanding offers a framework through which specific aspects of the relevant literature can be interpreted, applied and integrated, within a given context. From the empirical research, five ways of understanding what needs to be done to improve a school are discovered. They consist of increasing knowledge diagnostically, encouraging a dynamic environment, involving stakeholders in the re-establishment of priorities, enforcing expectations, and co-ordinating initiatives through development planning. Our understanding of our work is an appropriate point from which to increase our competence, as it determines both what competences we develop, and how we develop them. Competence is increasingly concerned with how a situation is understood, what is required according to that understanding, and taking the necessary action. Competence is a consequence of the interaction between our understandings and the extent to which our work context empowers or controls us. For secondary school head teachers, it is argued that competence is dependent on how they understand what needs to be done to improve a school, and the extent to which their environments enable them to act on their understandings.

This studyi s abouts econdarsyc hooml anagemeinnt TanzanianG overnmenste condarsyc hools.I t seeksto investigateth e perceptionos f teachersa ndh eadteachearsb outt he managemenptr actices that are being used in schools and to identify strategies and practices which appear to be effective. Ihe main assurnption of the study is that there are Government secondary schools which are wen managed and others which are less well managed. Ile study aimed to identify what the well managed schools do in contrast to the less well managed schools. All Governmenste condarsyc hoolsin Dar-Es-Salaaman d the Coastr egionw ere sampledfo r the study. Questionnaireasn di nterviewsw eret he main datag atheringm ethods.Q uestionnairewse re issuedt o ten teachersa nd the headi n eacho f the 16 schools. The researchear dministeretdh e questionnairesp ersonally in all schoolst o minimise the inconvenienceo f getting the questionnaires back. Interviews were conducted in eight selected schools comprismg four well managed and four less well managed schools. The interviews were conducted as a follow up and to complement the questionnaires. Four teachers and the head of school were interviewed in each school. The researcher also interviewed the Inspector of schools and the Director for Secondary Education in the Ministry of Education. Some ethnographic data was also collected in all the schools. Data gatheredt hrough questionnairews ere codedf or analysisb y the computer. The Social Packagefo r the Social Sciences(S PSS)w as usedt o analyset he data. For the interviewd ata, contenat nalysisw asd one. Dataf rom two schoolso, ne,w ell manageda ndo ne,l essw ell managed werew rittenu p as cases tudiesfo r the dissertation. The resultss howedth at therew ere significantd ifferencesb etweenth e managemenptr acticesi n City and Coastals econdarsyc hools,B oardinga nd Day secondarys choolsa nd Co-educatioann d Singles exs econdarsyc hools. The followinga ppearetdo bet he barrierst o the executiono f goodm anagemepnrt acticesf:i nancial andr esourcec onstraintsu; seo f bureaucratipc racticesl,a ck of commitmenot f somes taff to thej ob andl ack of managmncntrta iningf or headso f schools. Ther ecommendatioanrsis ingf rom the studyw eret hatt heres houldb e: a shift from bureaucratitco a more democratic and participative form of management and leadership in schools; clear aPPointmentc riteria for headteachersa; system for positive discrimination for the distribution of resourcesin schools;t he productiono f a handbookf or teacherso n effective management; manag=entt wning for wouldb e headteachearsn dt hosea lreadyi n thej ob and for teachersa nd headteachetros be heldm orea ccountablfeo r the failuresi n schools.T heser econunendatiownse re for the attentiono f the Ministry of Educationf,o r headteachearsn dt eachers

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No description available.

The project outlined in this thesis examines the ways in which headteachers position themselves as professionals following the shift from communism to neo-liberal markets and the decentralisation of the public education system in post-communist Romania. Following this shift, Romanian headteachers faced new accountability frameworks and witnessed a reconceptualisation of their professional responsibilities. The methodology adopted is policy scholarship because, by looking at decentralisation through a historical-cultural lens, i.e. Romania’s recent history of communism and transition to a more democratic state, it best addresses the three key-research questions. The methods used are official policy documents and interviews with different stakeholders located at three different levels in the Romanian education system. These were: secondary heads and county school inspectors. Four key national policy-makers were also interviewed. In the thesis, the Romanian situation is presented (as captured) in the period 2009-2011. The decentralisation of Romanian education is dichotomous. It is a hybrid between neo-liberalism and communist throwbacks that I call politicised decentralisation. On the one hand, decentralisation and quasi-markets are being introduced into public education at the recommendation of international donors (the World Bank, the European Union). On the other hand, the endurance of communist practices makes it difficult for professionals to adapt to new professional responsibilities and accountability frameworks. A new conceptual framework emerged from the international literature, national policy documents and empirical study and was used to explore the findings. This examines the components, levels and dimensions of decentralisation in education in Romania. The key-findings show the complexities of decentralisation in headteachers’ professional activity. Importantly, the politicisation of the education system is the biggest challenge faced by the interviewees. For example, in 2012 alone there have been three different cabinets and seven ministers of education in the last five years. This has resulted in instability in post at all three levels, not least because with each change in minister both county school inspectors and headteachers are usually replaced. The findings show that new accountability frameworks emerged and impacted upon headteachers’ relationships with different stakeholders such as inspectors, local authorities, as well as parents and students as consumers of education. This thesis is important in showing how policy implementation and enactment differs depending on the socio-economic, political and cultural context. The conceptual framework developed in the thesis and the findings have relatability for educationalists, policy-makers, practitioners and researchers, both nationally and internationally, especially since the existing empirical base predominantly refers to liberal democracies.

The continuing improvement in standards and the associated direct school accountability has been at the forefront of school policy since the introduction of the Education Reform Act of 1988. Its introduction brought both top down curriculum control and the opening up of primary schools in England to neo-liberal market reforms. To facilitate direct market competition and raise standards, measures of performance were introduced, in the form of annually published national assessments (SATs) and from 1992 inspection by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education). These measures took on board the status of High Stakes Testing (HST), since their outcomes directly impacted upon the professional lives of all those working within primary schools. Prior to 1988, central government had started to address underachievement, for example, Better Schools (DfES 1985), but now, for the first time, individual schools and their leaders were to be directly responsible for the achievement, or otherwise, of their pupils through the publication of attainment data and regular inspection reports. The notion of performativity (Ball 2003) was introduced into English primary schools, where performance measures and judgements (HST) were used as a means of top-down regulation and policy enforcement. This study investigates current primary school headteachers’ perceptions of their own professional accountability. It further explores the continuing focus on standards and the constant pressures and conflicts heads currently face in terms of maximising pupil attainment outcomes. The fieldwork was carried out within thirty four state funded primary schools across the North of England. A questionnaire was used to survey headteachers’ current perceptions; this data located heads on to a conceptual framework (Figure 5.5). Heads are located into one of four positions regarding their perceptions of the Standards Driven Agenda (SDA) and HST. Heads from each of the positions were then interviewed, which formed the prime data collection tool. The research further examines the inter-relationship between socio-economic context and HST outcomes, addressing the question of the equality of the application of identical floor targets for all primary schools, regardless of circumstance. Schools falling within areas of high and low deprivation were identified, using the income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI); each area’s headteachers’ perceptions were then compared and contrasted, in order to identify any effects of context. Ranson’s (2003) typology and Ball’s (2003) conceptualisation of accountabilities were developed in order to explore the identified trend of heads resisting what they view as a ‘data dictatorship’, and seeking to reinstate a previous age of professionalism. A clear plea for a change was evident with a call for a shift away from the current focus on standards in English and maths to the adoption of a more balanced and creative curriculum, where both the academic and social needs of the children are being met. The desire to return to Grace’s (1995) notion of the cult of the ‘headmaster tradition’, with the reinstatement of higher levels of professional autonomy and trust, was evident within many of the participating heads, along with a strong sense of moral guardian and leadership. All heads are aware of the need to be accountable for the tax payers’ money used to fund their schools, accepting the need for accountability measures. However, both sets of heads acknowledge that when a school’s effectiveness is solely measured by means of HST, it fails to be a level playing field. Factors such as parental support and education, housing and income were all identified as significant contributing factors in pupil attainment, resulting in heads reporting that these factors were not taken into account when the performance of their school was judged. The study contributes to the knowledge of how serving heads balance the needs of their children, parents and staff, whilst ensuring that they continue to improve standards, as defined by successive governmental policy and thus meet the requirements of HST.

The aim of this research is to identify and scrutinise current aspects of leadership in small primary schools in order to generate a new context-appropriate model of headship. The research is an in-depth study of leading the small primary school from the perspective of headteachers. There is a dearth of literature concerning leadership that is specific to small primary schools, so this research has accordingly significantly enhanced that body of knowledge. It is also timely as the newly-appointed Government is reviewing the resourcing and management of schools in England. This study has drawn on the descriptive and interpretive aspects of a case study of all the small primary schools in one Local Authority. The resulting response sample was twenty-six headteachers. The study has identified possible changes to enhance educational policy at three levels: school, Local Authority and Central Government. The research is characteristic of the realist tradition, generating rich, qualitative data which have been gathered through the use of interviews, questionnaires, Ofsted reports and ‘naturally occurring’ material. The research identified that the leadership structure in small primary schools is of a flatter and more interlocking nature rather than having a hierarchy of leaders. The headteachers used a combination of leadership styles in order to share the leadership with other members of staff. Headteachers had a multi-faceted role which included a range of both leadership and management activities, and also retained a teaching role. These features of small school headships made them ‘first among equals’ (Ironside and Seifert, 1995) rather than elevated CEOs. A new model of Leadership in Small Primary Schools has been developed which arises from the identified needs of these headteachers with regards to the perceived deficits in training, support and expected school performance and targets. This is relevant not only to all headteachers of small primary schools but also, in particular, to policymakers and educationalists in England at a point when there is an increasing loss of headteachers to retirement and an extreme shortage of applicants for these vacant posts.

Recent changes to the provision for teacher training have seen a move to place greater responsibility for the training of teachers with schools rather than with Higher Education Institutes. The rationale appears to be the view that this will produce the kind of teachers schools are looking to employ. However, there appears to be little research focused on the opinions of the senior management of primary schools about whether they believe this to be the case, whether they feel schools are in a good position to undertake this training, and what impact they perceive such a move will have on primary schools. This study took a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore primary school headteachers’ perceptions of how best to train primary school teachers seen by them as fit to practise and what they perceived schools could and could not provide to support this outcome. Data were initially collected in a feasibility study exploring the views of the headteacher, the school-based mentor and the former trainee teacher in identifying their perceptions of factors which contributed to the outstanding outcome for a trainee on the Graduate Trainee Programme on the completion of his training year. Reflections on one of these factors in particular, that of the crucial role of the headteacher in enabling the successful outcome, at a time when a number of significant reforms to teacher training were being implemented, prompted a reconsideration of the focus of the main study to an exploration of headteachers’ perceptions of training teachers seen by them as fit to practise in primary schools in a changing landscape of teacher training. Twelve primary school headteachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed utilising a constant comparison method (Strauss and Corbin, 1990; Charmaz, 2006). Conclusions from a small scale study cannot easily be generalised. However the findings from the main study suggested the headteachers believed teachers who were fit to practise demonstrated the ability to think critically about their practice and that this attribute was under-represented in standards for teachers. In terms of training to become teachers fit to practise the headteachers supported the viewpoint of the primacy of practice but believed that practice alone was not sufficient to develop the teachers they sought to employ in their schools. In order to become critical thinkers trainee teachers needed to study the theory underpinning the teaching in schools. This study should be guided by experts, who most of the headteachers identified as academic partners, in teacher training located outside of the school. There was a measure of hostility from some of the headteachers to the idea that a teaching school could fulfil this expert role. The headteachers used a number of synonyms to describe the teachers they were seeking but all appeared to mean teachers fit to practise in their schools. The headteachers believed they had the ability to recognise the potential to become a teacher fit to practise in applicants to teaching and they used this to identify trainee teachers who would fit their schools. With greater responsibility for teacher training moving to schools this highlighted issues of equality of opportunity and a potentially insular approach to the training and recruitment of teachers. According to the headteachers, schools which participated in teacher training required at least a good Ofsted grade, a climate and skilled staff to support novices and strategic leadership by the headteacher. As part of the remit of this strategic leadership the headteachers perceived it was their role to protect their schools from external pressures such as Ofsted inspections. This, they believed, gave them the autonomy to decide on their level of participation, if any, in teacher training on an annual basis. Recommendations for further research, policy and partnerships have been made.