Fiona King and Howard Stevenson
In recent years the benefits of distributed leadership have often assumed the status of an unchallengeable orthodoxy. There is a general acceptance that leadership is best when it…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years the benefits of distributed leadership have often assumed the status of an unchallengeable orthodoxy. There is a general acceptance that leadership is best when it is dispersed. In reality this is often little more than a form of “licensed leadership” in which those working in subordinate roles can only exercise their leadership in tightly prescribed contexts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contribution of teacher professional development to promoting a more optimistic vision of teacher leadership and, ultimately, organisational change. It explores the role of leadership “from above” in supporting classroom teachers to engage with and sustain change.
Design/methodology/approach
The study, which was situated in the Republic of Ireland, employed a case study approach with 20 participants in five urban disadvantaged schools.
Findings
The paper seeks to demonstrate how a professional development initiative was used to promote significant and sustained change in four of the five case study schools.
Research limitations/implications
It argues that in order to understand sustained change in schools it is necessary to better understand the complex ways in which leadership from above can generate change agency from below.
Originality/value
This paper offers a critical perspective in relation to mainstream distributed leadership theory and practice.
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Keywords
Hercules Powder. Liebmann Breweries. These companies, and over 250 others that appeared on the very first Fortune 500 list in 1955, have vanished from the front ranks of American…
Abstract
Hercules Powder. Liebmann Breweries. These companies, and over 250 others that appeared on the very first Fortune 500 list in 1955, have vanished from the front ranks of American industry. Why did so many fail to thrive? Is there an inevitable cycle of corporate growth, senescence, and morbidity? This is a salient question to pose three decades later. Why does the American corporate elite have such a lackluster record in perpetuating their preeminence? What accounts for the fact that companies with the wherewithal to hire the very best executive and technical talent available, and with the most money to invest in marketing, manufacturing, and R&D, have had so much trouble sustaining themselves at a lofty level?
Howard Stevenson and Autumn K. Tooms
The United States of America and England are countries that have embraced neo-liberalism, and have been at the forefront of the neo-liberal restructuring of public education. Both…
Abstract
The United States of America and England are countries that have embraced neo-liberalism, and have been at the forefront of the neo-liberal restructuring of public education. Both of these countries can be considered as laboratories for neo-liberal policy, hence their focus in this chapter. Primarily conceptual in nature, this chapter seeks to connect what happens ‘Up There’ with what school leaders do ‘Down Here’ (Bell & Stevenson, 2006). The authors intend to demonstrate how global politics and policy are linked with the everyday practices of school leaders. Furthermore, the chapter illustrates how values and practices of individual school leaders are shaped by the systems values implicit in policy. We recognise that debates which pose structure against agency are debates ultimately about balance and relativities. It is not that as individuals we are free agents, or have no agency, but about understanding how structure and agency interplay in ways that constrain and shape what we do. Moreover, we believe that by having a more sophisticated understanding of how structural factors constrain our actions, we are better able to maximise the opportunities provided by our agency. This is not about over-stating the potential for agency, but it is about seeking to maximise the ‘spaces and interstices’ (Dale, 1982, p. 158) within which agency may be exercised. In presenting this work the authors draw on a number of different traditions, not all of which sit comfortably with each other. However, taken together they shed some light these complex issues.
Howard H. Stevenson and Jose Carlos Jarrillo‐Mossi
As an entrepreneurial company becomes successful and grows, the seeds of destruction are sown for the very entrepreneurial impulses that initiated the success in the first place…
Abstract
As an entrepreneurial company becomes successful and grows, the seeds of destruction are sown for the very entrepreneurial impulses that initiated the success in the first place. The transition from an entrepreneurial growth firm to a “well managed” business is often accompanied by a decreasing ability to identify and pursue opportunities. This article addresses some of the techniques that have allowed entrepreneurship to flourish in spite of a company's success.
The paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework capable of informing future research into beginning principalship in diverse cultural contexts.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework capable of informing future research into beginning principalship in diverse cultural contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on recent literature, and specifically drawing on contributions to this Special Issue, the paper explores the relationship between externally generated pressures and tensions facing beginning principals and their influence on principal socialisation and development.
Findings
The paper identifies tensions between increasing pressure on schools to meet a diverse range of social objectives and a context of high‐pressure accountability, limited resources and increasing institutional and systemic complexity uncertainty. Beginning principals face the difficult task of having to reconcile these tensions and in some contexts there is emerging evidence of this impacting on a crisis in principal supply. The paper argues that if systemic problems of supply are to be addressed educational researchers need to develop more sophisticated ways of understanding what factors shape individuals' career paths as they move towards, into and through principalship. One such approach is discussed that integrates the concepts of personal socialisation, professional identity and career trajectory and links these to wider contextual issues.
Originality/value
The paper presents a conceptual framework to underpin future research into the early years of principalship.
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The Hong Kong government recently reformed pre‐primary education with the introduction of a voucher scheme. At the time this policy caused considerable opposition from across Hong…
Abstract
Purpose
The Hong Kong government recently reformed pre‐primary education with the introduction of a voucher scheme. At the time this policy caused considerable opposition from across Hong Kong Society. This paper seeks to use Fairclough's model of critical discourse analysis to explore a key policy text and seeks to assess to what extent such an analytical framework can help develop a better understanding of the processes of policy development.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses critical discourse analysis methods and applies these to a specific policy text relating to the reform of pre‐primary education.
Findings
The paper suggests that critical discourse analysis can provide a useful analytical tool for analysing the complexities of the policy development process. In particular it surfaces key tensions within policy, such as those between commitments to equity and efficiency, that may have a significant impact on the outcomes of subsequent policy implementation.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is based on a small scale study. Its findings are tentative. There is some merit in the approach adopted, but the use of this approach in relation to policy development requires further work to develop it.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the understanding of how a range of methods of data analysis can help develop a more sophisticated understanding of the nuances of policy development.
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This paper explores how school leaders seek to promote social justice agendas within the context of multi‐ethnic schools in England.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores how school leaders seek to promote social justice agendas within the context of multi‐ethnic schools in England.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on data from five case‐study secondary schools in England. Qualitative data was derived from interviewing principals in each institution together with interviews with staff, students and members of the wider community.
Findings
Effective principals in multi‐ethnic schools had strong values commitments to social justice and were able to articulate these values across and through the policies and practices in their schools. However, in some cases value commitments to equity and inclusivity could be challenged by the consequences of policies promoting school choice and the development of a quasi‐market for school education. This could present school leaders with complex moral dilemmas that counter posed inclusion aspirations against performance in the local market.
Originality/value
School leadership committed to promoting social justice can be both supported and undermined by the context created by national policy initiatives. This paper highlights the need to ensure education policy is fully aligned with social justice objectives if it is facilitate, not hinder, efforts in school to challenge inequalities.