National policy increasingly stresses the importance of parents’ engagement in education. However... more National policy increasingly stresses the importance of parents’ engagement in education. However, tensions and struggle for control between parents and teachers is a common research finding. This article identifies a number of reasons why parents’ views on curriculum, pedagogy and the purpose of schooling are commonly seen as of less relevance or legitimacy than those of teachers. The views of parents of children participating in vocational courses offered through two 14–19 Pathfinder partnerships are interrogated. The cogency of parents’ views and the differences in the values of parents and staff emerge. It is suggested that if parents’ voice is silenced, it is likely to be for reasons other than their capacity to enter into a debate on curriculum and pedagogy.
Presentation to The Forum on Leadership, Policy on Equity and Learning: Take it to the Students, ... more Presentation to The Forum on Leadership, Policy on Equity and Learning: Take it to the Students, hosted by the Malta European Union Presidency, 16-17 January, 2017.
EPNoSL UK Team, Work Package 2This paper offers a review of the literature on school leadership a... more EPNoSL UK Team, Work Package 2This paper offers a review of the literature on school leadership and equity in order to help provide policy with an evidence base on school leadership from the perspective of equity. It does so by: (i) considering how discourses constitute objects; (ii) exploring the rationale of policy on school leadership and equity; (iii) considering the various models of school leadership and equity; and (iv) examining literature on the practical application of ideas about school leadership and equity. In so doing, this paper draws attention to the positive claims made internationally about the utility of school leadership strategies to promote social justice in modern multicultural societies. In particular it considers the alleged value of the dual concepts of ‘equality of opportunity’ and ‘equity of results’. Drawing upon Foucault’s (2009) account of discourse formation, this paper cautions that literature on the efficacy of school leadership and equity may help constitute a “de-stated” account of governance that places onus on school leaders to take responsibility for social processes that may, in reality, lie beyond their contro
Educational Management Administration & Leadership
This article examines how Educational Management, Administration and Leadership has embodied the ... more This article examines how Educational Management, Administration and Leadership has embodied the values, concepts and practice of the field of educational leadership over 50 years and so played a part in challenging or sustaining inequality in education. The article explores selected key concepts, equal opportunities, diversity, and social justice, the disciplinary base and prevalent research methods underpinning work on inequality, the geographic location and characteristics of relevant published authors and the two areas which attract most attention, gender and ethnicity/race. All areas embody both a push for change and structural inhibitors that limit its extent. Omissions, silences and displacements are also examined, questioning why, for example, a focus on masculinity, white privilege, learner voice and lower status sectors of education hardly surfaces in half a century. The article concludes that despite the positive achievements of the journal in forwarding equality, there i...
Many people have helped in the production of this report. We wish to express our appreciation to ... more Many people have helped in the production of this report. We wish to express our appreciation to all the school leaders who contributed their practice and views. We are extremely grateful for their time and their openness. Given the very great time pressures on all those working in education, their contribution speaks to the priority that they give to sharing work and learning from each other.
Government policy stresses partnership as a critical organizational form of the future to support... more Government policy stresses partnership as a critical organizational form of the future to support the development of schooling. This article uses intergroup conflict and gaming theory to analyse data from one partnership. The views of young people and staff are explored to establish the nature and extent of conflict and its impact on the partnership. Gaming theory is used to investigate the engage-ment and expectations of organizations in the partnership. The article challenges Government rhet-oric that suggests that as experience and trust grow, partnership will overcome the barriers which exist as a legacy from previous more competitive and isolationist cultures, to the benefit of service users. It further suggests that the availability of adequate resources alone, if ever achieved, would not in itself create the conditions for successful partnership. Far more attention is required to be given to the complex range of conditions which might support partnership and increase the poss...
This paper explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critique... more This paper explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critique, focusing on the work of Nikolai Gogol. Gogol's satire of bureaucracy presages many subsequent social science analyses, presenting a severe indictment of bureaucracy as a rigid and impersonal state machine producing meaninglessness, absurdity, and tragedy. These encompass the institutional level and fundamental ruptures in society caused by a surfeit of bureaucracy in "The Nose. " On a more psychological level, "The Overcoat" explores the effects of bureaucratisation on the individual, portraying the alienation, futile activity and servility caused in lower level functionaries through problems of loss of identity, the absence of meaningful work, and a lack of separation between public and private life. This paper uses Gogol's work to intensify and sharpen an exploration of the pathological responses of educational administrators and policy makers to an acco...
Research Methods in Educational Leadership & Management
Focal seizures are episodes of pathological brain activity that appear to arise from a localised ... more Focal seizures are episodes of pathological brain activity that appear to arise from a localised area of the brain. The onset patterns of focal seizure activity have been studied intensively, and they have largely been distinguished into two types-low amplitude fast oscillations (LAF), or high amplitude spikes (HAS). Here we explore whether these two patterns arise from fundamentally different mechanisms. Here, we use a previously established computational model of neocortical tissue, and validate it as an adequate model using clinical recordings of focal seizures. We then reproduce the two onset patterns in their most defining properties and investigate the possible mechanisms underlying the different focal seizure onset patterns in the model. We show that the two patterns are associated with different mechanisms at the spatial scale of a single ECoG electrode. The LAF onset is initiated by independent patches of localised activity, which slowly invade the surrounding tissue and coalesce over time. In contrast, the HAS onset is a global, systemic transition to a coexisting seizure state triggered by a local event. We find that such a global transition is enabled by an increase in the excitability of the "healthy" surrounding tissue, which by itself does not generate seizures, but can support seizure activity when incited. In our simulations, the difference in surrounding tissue excitability also offers a simple explanation of the clinically reported difference in surgical outcomes. Finally, we demonstrate in the model how changes in tissue excitability could be elucidated, in principle, using active stimulation. Taken together, our modelling results suggest that the excitability of the tissue surrounding the seizure core may play a determining role in the seizure onset pattern, as well as in the surgical outcome.
This article explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critiq... more This article explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critique, focusing on the work of Nikolai Gogol. Gogol’s satire of bureaucracy presages many subsequent social science analyses. These encompass the fundamental ruptures in society caused by a surfeit of bureaucracy in ‘The Nose’ and, on a more psychological level, the effects of bureaucratization on the individual in ‘The Overcoat’. His stories portray the alienation, futile activity and servility caused in lower level functionaries through problems of loss of identity, the absence of meaningful work and a lack of separation between public and private life. This article uses Gogol’s work to intensify and sharpen an exploration of the pathological responses of educational administrators and policy makers to an accountability era of burgeoning bureaucracy that has a profound negative impact on performance.
National policy increasingly stresses the importance of parents’ engagement in education. However... more National policy increasingly stresses the importance of parents’ engagement in education. However, tensions and struggle for control between parents and teachers is a common research finding. This article identifies a number of reasons why parents’ views on curriculum, pedagogy and the purpose of schooling are commonly seen as of less relevance or legitimacy than those of teachers. The views of parents of children participating in vocational courses offered through two 14–19 Pathfinder partnerships are interrogated. The cogency of parents’ views and the differences in the values of parents and staff emerge. It is suggested that if parents’ voice is silenced, it is likely to be for reasons other than their capacity to enter into a debate on curriculum and pedagogy.
Presentation to The Forum on Leadership, Policy on Equity and Learning: Take it to the Students, ... more Presentation to The Forum on Leadership, Policy on Equity and Learning: Take it to the Students, hosted by the Malta European Union Presidency, 16-17 January, 2017.
EPNoSL UK Team, Work Package 2This paper offers a review of the literature on school leadership a... more EPNoSL UK Team, Work Package 2This paper offers a review of the literature on school leadership and equity in order to help provide policy with an evidence base on school leadership from the perspective of equity. It does so by: (i) considering how discourses constitute objects; (ii) exploring the rationale of policy on school leadership and equity; (iii) considering the various models of school leadership and equity; and (iv) examining literature on the practical application of ideas about school leadership and equity. In so doing, this paper draws attention to the positive claims made internationally about the utility of school leadership strategies to promote social justice in modern multicultural societies. In particular it considers the alleged value of the dual concepts of ‘equality of opportunity’ and ‘equity of results’. Drawing upon Foucault’s (2009) account of discourse formation, this paper cautions that literature on the efficacy of school leadership and equity may help constitute a “de-stated” account of governance that places onus on school leaders to take responsibility for social processes that may, in reality, lie beyond their contro
Educational Management Administration & Leadership
This article examines how Educational Management, Administration and Leadership has embodied the ... more This article examines how Educational Management, Administration and Leadership has embodied the values, concepts and practice of the field of educational leadership over 50 years and so played a part in challenging or sustaining inequality in education. The article explores selected key concepts, equal opportunities, diversity, and social justice, the disciplinary base and prevalent research methods underpinning work on inequality, the geographic location and characteristics of relevant published authors and the two areas which attract most attention, gender and ethnicity/race. All areas embody both a push for change and structural inhibitors that limit its extent. Omissions, silences and displacements are also examined, questioning why, for example, a focus on masculinity, white privilege, learner voice and lower status sectors of education hardly surfaces in half a century. The article concludes that despite the positive achievements of the journal in forwarding equality, there i...
Many people have helped in the production of this report. We wish to express our appreciation to ... more Many people have helped in the production of this report. We wish to express our appreciation to all the school leaders who contributed their practice and views. We are extremely grateful for their time and their openness. Given the very great time pressures on all those working in education, their contribution speaks to the priority that they give to sharing work and learning from each other.
Government policy stresses partnership as a critical organizational form of the future to support... more Government policy stresses partnership as a critical organizational form of the future to support the development of schooling. This article uses intergroup conflict and gaming theory to analyse data from one partnership. The views of young people and staff are explored to establish the nature and extent of conflict and its impact on the partnership. Gaming theory is used to investigate the engage-ment and expectations of organizations in the partnership. The article challenges Government rhet-oric that suggests that as experience and trust grow, partnership will overcome the barriers which exist as a legacy from previous more competitive and isolationist cultures, to the benefit of service users. It further suggests that the availability of adequate resources alone, if ever achieved, would not in itself create the conditions for successful partnership. Far more attention is required to be given to the complex range of conditions which might support partnership and increase the poss...
This paper explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critique... more This paper explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critique, focusing on the work of Nikolai Gogol. Gogol's satire of bureaucracy presages many subsequent social science analyses, presenting a severe indictment of bureaucracy as a rigid and impersonal state machine producing meaninglessness, absurdity, and tragedy. These encompass the institutional level and fundamental ruptures in society caused by a surfeit of bureaucracy in "The Nose. " On a more psychological level, "The Overcoat" explores the effects of bureaucratisation on the individual, portraying the alienation, futile activity and servility caused in lower level functionaries through problems of loss of identity, the absence of meaningful work, and a lack of separation between public and private life. This paper uses Gogol's work to intensify and sharpen an exploration of the pathological responses of educational administrators and policy makers to an acco...
Research Methods in Educational Leadership & Management
Focal seizures are episodes of pathological brain activity that appear to arise from a localised ... more Focal seizures are episodes of pathological brain activity that appear to arise from a localised area of the brain. The onset patterns of focal seizure activity have been studied intensively, and they have largely been distinguished into two types-low amplitude fast oscillations (LAF), or high amplitude spikes (HAS). Here we explore whether these two patterns arise from fundamentally different mechanisms. Here, we use a previously established computational model of neocortical tissue, and validate it as an adequate model using clinical recordings of focal seizures. We then reproduce the two onset patterns in their most defining properties and investigate the possible mechanisms underlying the different focal seizure onset patterns in the model. We show that the two patterns are associated with different mechanisms at the spatial scale of a single ECoG electrode. The LAF onset is initiated by independent patches of localised activity, which slowly invade the surrounding tissue and coalesce over time. In contrast, the HAS onset is a global, systemic transition to a coexisting seizure state triggered by a local event. We find that such a global transition is enabled by an increase in the excitability of the "healthy" surrounding tissue, which by itself does not generate seizures, but can support seizure activity when incited. In our simulations, the difference in surrounding tissue excitability also offers a simple explanation of the clinically reported difference in surgical outcomes. Finally, we demonstrate in the model how changes in tissue excitability could be elucidated, in principle, using active stimulation. Taken together, our modelling results suggest that the excitability of the tissue surrounding the seizure core may play a determining role in the seizure onset pattern, as well as in the surgical outcome.
This article explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critiq... more This article explores the insights literature can bring to administrative and bureaucratic critique, focusing on the work of Nikolai Gogol. Gogol’s satire of bureaucracy presages many subsequent social science analyses. These encompass the fundamental ruptures in society caused by a surfeit of bureaucracy in ‘The Nose’ and, on a more psychological level, the effects of bureaucratization on the individual in ‘The Overcoat’. His stories portray the alienation, futile activity and servility caused in lower level functionaries through problems of loss of identity, the absence of meaningful work and a lack of separation between public and private life. This article uses Gogol’s work to intensify and sharpen an exploration of the pathological responses of educational administrators and policy makers to an accountability era of burgeoning bureaucracy that has a profound negative impact on performance.
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