From Policy Entrepreneur to Policy Receiver: How Multi-Academy Trusts Structure School Leaders as Policy Actors

Abstract

Multi-academy trusts (MATs) are privatised, corporatised multi-school organisations led by chief executive officers (CEOs) whose role as system leaders requires them to structure school leaders as policy actors. To illustrate the impact this can have on school leaders, an interview with a special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDco) for a secondary school which is part of a MAT is analysed. This individual described a complex role requiring specialist skills and knowledge but also disclosed that she was not consulted on policy decisions which she had strong reservations about regarding their equity and inclusivity. This occurs because of the structure of the MAT. A typology for thinking about policy work and policy actors in schools set out by Ball et al. (2011) is used to show that the structure of the MAT can effectively bar school policy actors like the SENDco from being a ‘policy entrepreneur’ able to advocate for and interpret policy, to being a mere ‘receiver’ of policy. The result is that such an individual can become critically misaligned with their institution. In response to this mis-alignment, and without the outlet to be a vocal policy ‘critic’, the SENDco chooses to align herself professionally and personally with the local authority based on a shared history, culture and philosophy. This effectively renders the SENDco a ‘policy outsider’ within their own employing organisation, in effect stuck between two different worlds.

Citation

Innes, M. (2024), "From Policy Entrepreneur to Policy Receiver: How Multi-Academy Trusts Structure School Leaders as Policy Actors", Courtney, S.J., Armstrong, P.W. and McKay, A. (Ed.) Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship: Introducing a New Research Methodology, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 35-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83549-472-120241004