Anne Storey

The problem of distributed leadership in schools

There is a vast and mainly enthusiastic literature on leadership. It has permeated virtually all sectors and the education sector has been particularly affected. The argument of this paper is that most of the literature and discussion about this issue is couched in terms of some fairly simple polarities: managers versus leaders, transactional versus transformational leaders, task‐focused versus people‐focused and so on. Moreover, recent analysis in education has begun to question the predominant focus on the head teacher as the leader but, so far, there has been little empirical work carried out on the meanings and implications of distributed leadership. The research reported here suggests that one crucial issue to be addressed is the dynamic of competition between leaders. Using a new conceptual framework, this article reports on a case study that reveals different interpretations of what leadership should entail and constitute at different levels of the organization. The paper shows that it is by no mea...There is a vast and mainly enthusiastic literature on leadership. It has permeated virtually all sectors and the education sector has been particularly affected. The argument of this paper is that most of the literature and discussion about this issue is couched in terms of some fairly simple polarities: managers versus leaders, transactional versus transformational leaders, task‐focused versus people‐focused and so on. Moreover, recent analysis in education has begun to question the predominant focus on the head teacher as the leader but, so far, there has been little empirical work carried out on the meanings and implications of distributed leadership. The research reported here suggests that one crucial issue to be addressed is the dynamic of competition between leaders. Using a new conceptual framework, this article reports on a case study that reveals different interpretations of what leadership should entail and constitute at different levels of the organization. The paper shows that it is by no means enough to proselytize ‘leadership’ as if this will produce a set of approaches and behaviours that will unproblematically transform. On the contrary, different versions of what the transformed situation should look like can cause deep divisions.

A leap of faith? Performance pay for teachers

This article evaluates the UK governments performance management initiative for teachers in England and Wales as set out in the Green Paper, Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change and subsequent technical amplification documents. This new initiative aims to ‘modernize’ the teaching profession, raise standards and provide financial rewards for individuals, teams and whole-school performance. The article draws upon the first detailed analysis of the 4,064 document archive held at the Department for Education & Employment (DfEE) and on the wide body of social science research into performance-related pay and performance management. It finds that when considered as a whole package, the initiative represents a relatively sophisticated set of proposals which reflects a great deal of the most recent thinking in reward management. Critiques, which dismiss the initiative in terms of traditional arguments against performance-related pay could be accused of ignoring some important features of the proposed change. Nonetheless, even when considered in its own, wider terms, the initiative is found to be flawed since even this ‘sophisticated’ package neglects some of the important realities of schools as complex organizations.

Cultural shifts in teaching: new workforce, new professionalism?

The last two decades have been witness to the introduction of a series of interlocking government-led initiatives ostensibly designed to establish and raise performance standards in teaching and learning. These include target-setting, assessments, appraisals, performance management systems and performance thresholds. Such measures have often been characterized as part of the ‘modernization’ of the profession. This plethora of initiatives has been met with a severe critique from many educationalists. Much education research literature has vigorously critiqued the erosion of creativity and professionalism in favour of a regime of ‘managerialism’ and ‘performativity’. However, a number of recent changes to the composition and nature of the workforce, with attendant shifts in their expectations and experiences, may now be presenting a challenge to that critique. Growing numbers of mid-career new entrants to the teacher workforce with prior experience of targets, objectives and routine assessment, may trigger and result in a greater receptivity to the modernizing apparatus. Together with workforce remodelling, there may now be signs of some significant shifts in the teacher workforce and their receptivity to changes of this kind. This article draws on a study of a proxy sample of this new workforce and assesses their meaning systems and expectations. It finds evidence of their willingness to engage both with the language and the methods of performance and an ease with the characteristic features of the ‘new professionalism’. The influence and example of this segment of the new workforce may result in the standard critique appearing less relevant to the concerns of practising teachers than it once was.

The search for teacher standards: a nationwide experiment in the Netherlands

In recent years there has been an enormous amount of emphasis, worldwide, seeking to construct and monitor teacher and pupil standards. This has arguably been the main thrust of educational policy for many Governments. Educational critics have been vociferous in voicing their dissent. But where does the debate proceed from here? The purpose of this article is to use a new nationwide experiment in the Netherlands in order to explore the relative merits of different approaches. Richard Elmore, the public policy analyst, has proposed ‘backward mapping’ as a viable alternative to what he suggests have been the failed attempts at ‘forward mapping’. This article seeks to apply his ideas to the educational policy domain. The Netherlands provides an ideal laboratory setting because its Government has accepted that its erstwhile approaches (in the mode of forward mapping) have failed and it has made a conscious attempt to embark down a new path. The research reported here finds that this new approach has many advantages; but it is not without its dangers.

'Schools and Continuing Professional Development in England - State of the Nation' research study: policy context, aims and design

This article introduces the Schools and Continuing Professional Development State of the Nation study (SoNS). Discussion of English policy together with an account of the studys aims and research design provide a context for the other articles included in this special issue. A key assumption behind the research, and the prevailing CPD policy context in England, is that organisational conditions in schools are highly influential in the development of sustained and effective classroom-based, collaborative, inquiry-oriented CPD. Therefore, the aims of the study investigated the range and kinds of support that schools in England provide as well as the range and kinds of CPD activities in which teachers were able to participate. Teachers’ professional learning practices and perspectives were researched in relation to three main themes: (a) the benefits, status and effectiveness of CPD; (b) the planning and organisation of CPD; and (c) access to CPD. These questions were explored through a mixed methods design consisting of three strands: (a) literature review; (b) qualitative research (school snapshots); and (c) a national survey of primary and secondary teachers in England. Discussion of processes and procedures of data analysis is followed by a summary of our conceptual model of schools and teachers’ CPD.

How fares the ‘New Professionalism’ in schools? Findings from the ‘State of the Nation’ project

In a series of policy documents over the past decade, the idea of a ‘New Professionalism’ for teachers has been constructed. It encompasses three core components: a national framework of professional standards; performance management; and continuing professional development (CPD). The planned interplay of these components into a coherent whole has been at the heart of a reframing of the teachers role. While much has been said about the vision in both positive and negative terms, few studies have provided empirical insight into the implementation and experience of this policy. Drawing upon the findings of a TDA-funded nationwide (England) research project, the extent to which these ideas and policies have been adopted in practice, and what implications these actual behaviours carry for the debate about ‘New Professionalism’, are assessed. A key finding was that while the framework of professional standards and the structures of performance management processes were essentially in place, the third plinth of the New Professionalism, CPD, remains mainly as a bolt-on, pragmatically allocated and inconsistently accessed in schools. As such, it is unable to bear the weight of what is required of it, and claimed for it. The widespread failure to tackle the strategic dimension that links performance management to CPD, to engage in criterion-based evaluation of training or to identify appropriate development opportunities in schools, have all tended to obstruct the road to ‘New Professionalism’.

From performance management to capacity-building: an escape from the cul de sac ?

This article examines the many critiques of educational policies concerning the National Curriculum and the standards and testing regimes for pupils and teachers associated with it. It goes on to suggest that there is a danger of educational researchers and policy-makers arguing themselves into a cul de sac where an unproductive stand-off may prevail. It is argued that a more productive way forward is to be found in a focus on the ‘capacity-building’ of teachers using formative assessment and double-loop learning as the basis for action. This will present a challenge for teachers as well as for policy-makers.