This Network is convened by Prof. David Raffe and explores issues arising from the changing models of school governance that have developed in recent decades, from the growing demands on school leadership, and from the increased importance attached to the internal organisation of schools, for example as a means to foster values of citizenship in young people.

School Management and Governance Network: Objectives

• development of a community, or communities, of researchers with interest and expertise in the field
• promoting collaboration among members of these communities and encouraging/supporting external links and collaboration with practitioners, and with other academic fields
• development and broadening the theoretical base
• enhancing research skills

School Management and Governance Network: Overview

This Network will explore issues arising from the new models of governance which have been developed within Scottish schools over the past two decades. A succession of reforms has devolved management to schools; promoted new modes of development planning; encouraged greater market awareness and stronger links with parents and other stakeholders. There is a renewed emphasis on management and leadership within schools, as the means to enhance attainment and promote equality and other goals; this reflected in the Scottish Qualification for Headship (SQH) and in the recent proposal that schools should promote the goals of citizenship education by modelling democracy and participation within their own structures. The SQH, the McCrone agreement, the Standard for Chartered Teachers, and the multi-agency approach of New Community Schools all raise wider questions concerning the nature of professionalism. There is a stronger emphasis on the measurement of performance and on the development of indicators, in the context of new models of target-setting, reporting, evaluation and self-evaluation; this emphasis raises questions concerning the knowledge base necessary for effective school management, and the methodological and epistemological issues in its construction, control, and use. Underlying all these changes are continuing issues concerning the nature and purposes of the comprehensive school, and its role in the 21st Century.

Rationale for the Network

In contrast to the other two Networks, this one is problem-led rather than theory-led. The developments described above are widely debated but they have been inadequately researched and there is little broadly-based theoretical literature which analyses these trends. For example, the literature on school improvement in the UK tends to disconnect management and leadership from educational values, the curriculum, the learning process, and wider social issues. Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have several centres of expertise on school management and governance, focussed especially on the SQH and other CPD work, but the underpinning research base is insufficient to support genuine evidence-based practice and policy. The field is fragmented across different institutions, and there are too few links with social science disciplines. Key areas of expertise, including financial management and the economics of education, and the measurement of school performance, are in short supply.

Aims of the network

This Network aims to develop theoretical and methodological approaches to school management and governance, to create critical mass in the research field, to enhance capability, and to carry out research on topics of long-term, practical value. It is relevant to all five National Priorities but especially to Priorities 2 (Framework for Learning) and 4 (Values and Citizenship). It will include a particular focus on schools serving disadvantaged areas, in which the greatest challenges for implementing National Priorities are found. It will thus contribute to National Priority 3 (Inclusion and Equality).

In contrast with the other two Thematic Networks, the three projects are not designed as a sequence of stages with cumulative developmental impact, but rather as parallel, but complementary, activities.