Management in Education

This article considers the ways in which government policy in England is causing local schooling landscapes to be reconfigured. By August 2014, 12 percent of primary schools and 53 percent of secondary schools had become academies – ‘independent publicly funded schools’ directly responsible to the Secretary of State. The article begins by considering ways in which schools may choose, or be forced, to respond to this policy environment, and, in particular, the new forms of school grouping that may emerge. It then draws on case studies of three local authorities – a large metropolitan authority, a large rural county and a small unitary authority – to explore changing patterns of schooling. It notes that rates of ‘academization’ vary between the three areas, that local and regional groupings have gained greater purchase than national chains, and that, even allowing for this, almost half the academies are stand-alone – not belonging to any formal grouping. It concludes by arguing that deeper understanding of emerging patterns will require further study of the ways in which the values, purposes and power of key actors interact as decisions are taken about schools’ futures.

This article investigates the realization of ethos and vision in the early stages of sponsored academy schools in England. It is a qualitative nested case study of ten academies. Nineteen key actors were interviewed, including principals and sponsor representatives. The nests were organized by sponsor type. Key themes are discussed within the context of the literature. There were common themes across all of the academies and some that were exclusive to individual cases. The conclusions drawn show that the leaders of these schools were initiating several actions simultaneously in order to develop their academies’ ethos and vision. The ethos and vision realization in sponsored academy schools is more complex than other examples in the literature owing to a greater number of actors and the urgency for change. In particular, the role of the sponsor is greater than much of the literature suggests.

The article is a summary of a small-scale research project which considers the formation of Co-operative Trust Schools. This was carried out in 2013 at a time when the number of schools becoming Academies and Trust Schools through the Co-operative College was burgeoning. Through questionnaire, interview, documentary analysis and exploration of websites, the research has sought to build up a picture of this Movement. A number of emergent issues are identified. These include the nature of new spaces for schools to form networks which provide a half-way house between the much tighter academy chains and the individual stand-alone academies and trust schools and the ‘places’ within the governance landscape within which they can do this. Perhaps the most challenging is the sometimes tenuous link between the value-centric Co-operative Movement and the values declared by these academies. It is suggested that the development of these academies with a connection with Co-operativism is more an association than a movement.

This article reports the findings of a research study exploring what motivates governing bodies to consider joining or creating a federation, their experiences of the process and the barriers faced. The research methodology involved semi-structured telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews and analysis of relevant documentation. The varied circumstances of participating schools revealed a wide range of drivers for considering federation, which were commonly underpinned by school improvement, professional leadership and pooling resources. Although governors’ experiences of the process of becoming a federation were largely positive, the study identified a number of common barriers. The study concludes that, despite the benefits of federation, unlike multi-academy trusts its relatively low profile in current education policy has created a barrier for governing bodies. It is recommended that the government provides the same level of guidance and support for schools considering federation as they do for those considering academization.

This article provides a narrative which illustrates the experiences of one group of UK schools as they have attempted to introduce innovation in order to achieve their collective vision of improving educational opportunity for all pupils in their care. It considers the findings of a small-scale research project which follows, over a 3-year period, the proposed development of an all-age hard federation of ten schools, the vision and plans for which were conceived and developed by the schools’ leaders. The article considers the factors that have enabled or constrained the collaboration of the schools, and focuses on the evolution of the schools’ initial proposal in response to the changing requirements of central government. The article ends with a reflection upon the purposes, intentions and roles of each of the key players, and concludes that, in an era of freedoms and flexibilities, unintentional blockages and forces are at play that serve to undermine the policy intention.

This article reviews the development of ‘teaching schools’ in England, exploring some of the reasons for their development and their potential to transform professional learning.

This article draws upon findings from the New Relations between Local Authorities (LAs) and Schools project to identify ideological and value-based differences between the models of service to schools adopted within four case study LAs. While each of the LAs has developed a privatized model of service, there are subtle differences between the models, which I term cooperative, entrepreneurial, community engagement and corporate. In this article I describe the differences between these models, and their underpinning values.