School Leadership - Heads on the Block?

Thomson, Pat

doi:10.4324/9780203870532

Cited by 122 publications

(104 citation statements)

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“…The impact of audit cultures and neoliberal education regimes on the shaping of school leadership has been the subject of considerable scholarship in recent years (see, for example, Thomson, 2004, Fitzgerald, 2008, Thomson, 2009, Blackmore, 2011, Niesche, 2011. Much of this scholarship recognises the complexity and messiness of these impacts as the contemporary role of the principal is framed by regimes of audit, accountability and language where concepts such as quality, standards and quantifiable improvement are 'framed in such a way as to make any alternative agendas look to be unnecessary and, if pursued, seditious' (Gunter and Forrester, 2010, p.59).…”

Section: Understanding Principals' Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Principals of audit: testing, data and ‘implicated advocacy’

Thompson

Mockler

2015

Journal of Educational Administration and History

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Historically, school leaders have occupied a somewhat ambiguous position within networks of power. On the one hand they appear to be celebrated as what Ball (2003) has termed the 'new hero of educational reform', on the other they are often 'held to account' through those same performative processes and technologies. These have become compelling in schools and principals are 'doublybound' through this. Adopting a Foucauldian notion of discursive production, this paper addresses the ways that the discursive 'field' of 'principal' (within larger regimes of truth such as schools, leadership, quality, and efficiency) is produced. It explores how individual principals understand their roles and ethics within those practices of audit emerging in school governance, and how their self-regulation is constituted through NAPLAN -the National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy. A key effect of NAPLAN has been the rise of auditing practices that change how education is valued. Open-ended interviews with 13 primary and secondary school principals from Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales asked how they perceived NAPLAN's impact on their work, their relationships within their school community and their ethical practice.

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Section: Understanding Principals' Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Principals of audit: testing, data and ‘implicated advocacy’

Thompson

Mockler

2015

Journal of Educational Administration and History

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“…A friend who comes without the 'heavy baggage' of accountability of government carried by the SIP, however, can offer to a school principal the tools and self-confidence to engage a sharper-edged critique, to privilege the important over the urgent, the long term over the short term, the educational over the expedient. This is, however, essentially subversive, and subversion tends to be a risky business, especially where principals face the task alone, with their own 'head on the block' (Thomson, 2009). Without the confidence afforded by mutual solidarity within the school and the support of an ideologically unfettered critical friend, venturing beyond policy mandate and challenging the tired mantras of policy-think succession will remain a hazardous prospect.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recruitment and Retention of Senior School Leaders: Meeting the Challenge

MacBeath

2009

European Educational Research Journal

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Whether or not it may be described as a 'crisis' there are mounting concerns in many countries about the supply line of well-qualified principals or head teachers. This article contends that many of the strategies put in place to address the intensification of school leadership are necessary but insufficient. Collegial networking, confidantes, coaches and critical friends are important and welcome in alleviating the pervasive sense of loneliness that many school leaders express but these measures do not deal with the deeper lying issues. The phenomenon of 'career deputies' is now a telling international indicator of a widespread reluctance to become the 'ultimate Mister Fixit'. Resilience, professional solidarity and subversive qualities within the profession have to play a part in demonstrating to governments that there can be a better way.

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“…Thomson (2009, 2010) draw on cultural studies and popular media as a lens through which to explore educational leadership (see also Gunter 1997, Thomson 2009). The television 'makeover' of women is a metaphor for leadership development (Gunter and Thomson 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking for the women in Baron and Taylor's (1969)Educational administration and the social sciences

Fuller

2014

Journal of Educational Administration and History

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A search for women in Baron and Taylor's (1969) Educational administration and the social sciences [London: The Athlone Press] using feminist poststructural discourse analysis (FPDA) has revealed a changing discourse about gendered educational administration over the course of 50 years. Whilst few women are featured in the text itself, citations of women's writing surface the historical contributions of women as headmistresses and public servants. Women who have cited the text since its publication have challenged gendered theory and academic writing conventions. FPDA is used to explore the gendered educational administration discourse through the intertextuality of academic writing. Fluctuations between powerfulness and powerlessness are revealed depending on the socio-political context and women's circumstances.

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School Leadership - Heads on the Block?

Cited by 122 publications

References 0 publications

Principals of audit: testing, data and ‘implicated advocacy’

Principals of audit: testing, data and ‘implicated advocacy’

Recruitment and Retention of Senior School Leaders: Meeting the Challenge

Looking for the women in Baron and Taylor's (1969)Educational administration and the social sciences

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