System Leadership: Policy and Practice in the English Schools System

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Description

System leadership (defined as leading beyond a single institution) is a feature of the English education system which has been heralded as both the solution to school improvement and an extension to the school leadership career ladder. However, claims that it evidences a change of governance towards increasing self-regulation of the education system are contested. Susan Cousin explores the governance and policy perspectives of system leadership. She captures rich narratives over several years from the lived experience of system leaders, headteachers they worked with and those brokering the relationships. The daily realities of the challenges they faced include tensions arising from conflicted governance environments where autonomy coexists with accountability and collaboration with competition. Identifying four types of system leader: the Hero-head, the Auditor, the Protector and the Collaborator, she presents a conceptual model of system leadership practice. A clear explanation of how different approaches affect power relationships, the nature of trust and types of learning, the model can be used to inform decisions made by current and future system leaders, and those who make policy. The book concludes by reaffirming the power of system leadership to deliver educational reform and the need to avoid unintended consequences including the fragmentation of the system and increased inequality.

Reviews

This is a broad-ranging study that brings a sharply critical and analytical perspective to an important contemporary debate in educational policy and practice ... [It] makes a significant contribution to the theory and practice of educational policy and leadership. * London Review of Education *

Author Bio

Susan Cousin is Associate at the London Centre for Leadership of Learning at IOE, UCLs Faculty of Education and Society, University College London, UK. She was awarded the BELMAS Best Doctoral Thesis Award 2016.