Unpacking Autonomy and Control in Education: Some Conceptual and Normative Groundwork for a Comparative Analysis

Abstract

To make meaningful comparisons of the consequences of new modes of regulation in education for local autonomy in different national settings we need to a) be clear about what is meant by local autonomy and state control, b) be clear about why the balance between local autonomy and state control matters and c) produce good quality empirical data and analysis. The purpose of this article is to make a contribution to the first two of these tasks which are relatively neglected in the education research literature. The authors begin by unpacking some conceptual complexities involved in debating issues of autonomy and control, distinguishing between three dimensions of autonomy-control: loci and modes of autonomy, domains of autonomy-control and loci and modes of control. They then go on to illustrate some of the normative complexities surrounding issues of autonomy-control, using the case of individual teacher autonomy to explore arguments about the value of autonomy and control. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of these complexities for the task of policy analysis. In doing so, they seek to: ‘trouble’ the presumption that autonomy is necessarily good; challenge the notion that control and autonomy are discrete entities in some simple zero-sum relationship to one another, drawing attention to the ways in which control can be seen as ‘productive’ as well as ‘destructive’ of autonomy; and sketch out the multi-dimensional nature of cross-national comparative evaluation of regulation in education.

Decision-making and control: perceived autonomy of teachers in Germany and Sweden

“…This rationale has also been put forward by Cribb and Gewirtz (2007). However, while the latter's work was merely theoretical, did Ingersoll (1996Ingersoll ( , 2003) build and test his ideas on thick empirical data.…”

The Changing Relations between Education Professionals, the State and Citizen Consumers in Europe: Re-Thinking Restructuring as Capitalisation

“…Nor does it have the outcomes normally formally projected for it. Cribb & Gewirtz (2007) have also commented on these kinds of issues recently. In their work, they cite Moss's (2004) findings about how restructuring has led to things like league table pressures in primary schools as forms of objectification that have demanded subsequent changes in the objectives, pace and content of teacher work, and have induced deep levels of stress and even exhaustion (also Troman & Woods, 2001).…”

“…The concepts of autonomy, flexibility and freedom of choice that are banded about in conjunction with restructuring thus need to be unpacked (Cribb & Gewirtz, 2007) as concepts that are intended to (and do) seduce consumers and professionals to believe in the common need and value of current policy Dovemark, 2004;Lumsden Wass, 2004;Cribb & Gewirtz, 2007) and to hide its real material interests and developments (Beach, 2004(Beach, , 2005a(Beach, , 2006.…”

“…[2] According to Cribb & Gewirtz (2007), MacBeath's (2005 40-school study on the role of school leadership in supporting innovative pedagogies paints an equally depressing picture of alienation, where schools take up the same or similar combinations of brain-based theories of learning and multiple intelligences in relatively uncritical ways, and rush through the curriculum to meet targets and performance levels in standard three-or four-part lesson 'delivery' formats and teacher-centred methods.…”

“…This article focuses on research about welfare state restructuring in education and its implications for the teaching profession (see, for example, Roussakis, 1995;Dale, 1997;Woods et al, 1997;Grollios, 1999;Bernstein, 2000;Mahony & Hextall, 2000;Edwards & Usher, 2002;Kazamias et al, 2002;Lundahl, 2002a, b;Robertson et al, 2002;Zambeta, 2002;Moutsios, 2003;Petronikolos, 2003;Rikowski, 2003;Dovemark, 2004;Hirtt, 2004;Moss, 2004;Beck & Young, 2005;Jones, 2005;Antikainen, 2006;Rosskam, 2006;Sikes, 2006;Arnott & Mentor, 2007;Ball, 2007;Cribb & Gewirtz, 2007). However, suggestions and disclosures in three recently produced work package documents from a cross-European project are considered in particular (Beach, 2005a;Goodson & Norrie, 2005;Müller et al, 2007).…”