On being more accountable: The push and pull of risk in school leadership

Injury risks during outdoor play among Swedish schoolchildren: teachers’ perceptions and injury preventive practices

“…Safety restricts outdoor play such as when swings and zip lines are removed and not replaced. In addition, some types of play are not allowed, which is in line with other studies showing that teachers have become more cautious about letting children climb trees, jump, or play with sticks (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2011;McWilliam and Perry 2006). To sum up, parts of the findings in our study show that risky play is allowed at the schoolyard but also that some risky play is not, in between, allowed.…”

Learning to lead the risk‐conscious organization: an empirical study of five English primary school leaders

“…Within the established one school-year time frame (prior to the next round of external assessments for pupils), this expectation drove the need to bring new staff in line with the headteacher's perception and expectations of teaching and leadership performance very rapidly, prioritizing training delivered by staff within the school about whole-school policies and classroom practices. This boundary-creating and boundary-maintaining activity by the headteacher fits with what McWilliam and Perry (2006) describe as 'risk-aversion' tendencies of education leaders, which occur when they are 'under increasing pressure to prioritize image, reputation, and narrowlydefined performance at the expense of investment in a creative, open, and risk-taking learning environment' (p. 106). Even whilst adopting this strategy, Beth, the headteacher, acknowledged the impact on the way that she was able to work, commenting 'I can be as creative as I can possibly be and I think I try and look for creative solutions … but they [the authorities] don't always give you credit for thinking outside the box' (Headteacher, Interview 2).…”

“…As McWilliam and Perry (2006) point out, schools are organizations increasingly characterized by risk consciousness and that has important implications for those developing their leadership within such environments. In this article, I examine workplace learning in schools from an organizational perspective, taking into account recent developments in theory relating to adult learning in the workplace.…”

Leadership for quality and accountability in education

“…A similar work in an Australian schooling context and based on general observation is noted in this book. That is, the authors state that: ' McWilliam and Perry (2006) suggest that school principals and other school leaders are under increasing pressure to enhance school image, reputation and achieve narrowly defined performance targets, at the expense of investment in a creative and risk-taking learning environment' (73). In sum, there is need for more empirical study on how school administrators are meeting their changing roles.…”