Professionalizing school governance: the disciplinary effects of school autonomy and inspection on the changing role of school governors

Article


Wilkins, A. 2014. Professionalizing school governance: the disciplinary effects of school autonomy and inspection on the changing role of school governors. Journal of Education Policy. 30 (2), pp. 182-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2014.941414
AuthorsWilkins, A.
Abstract

Since the 1980s, state schools in England have been required to ensure transparency and accountability through the use of indicators and templates derived from the private sector and, more recently, globally circulating discourses of ‘good governance’ (an appeal to professional standards, technical expertise, and performance evaluation as mechanisms for improving public service delivery). The rise of academies and free schools (‘state-funded independent schools’) has increased demand for good governance, notably as a means by which to discipline schools, in particular school governors – those tasked with the legal responsibility of holding senior leadership to account for the financial and educational performance of schools. A condition and effect of school autonomy, therefore, is increased monitoring and surveillance of all school governing bodies. In this paper, I demonstrate how these twin processes combine to produce a new modality of state power and intervention; a dominant or organizing principle by which government steer the performance of governors through disciplinary tools of professionalization and inspection, with the aim of achieving the ‘control of control’. To explain these trends, I explore how various established and emerging school governing bodies are (re)constituting themselves to meet demands for good governance.

JournalJournal of Education Policy
Journal citation30 (2), pp. 182-200
ISSN1464-5106
0268-0939
Year2014
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Accepted author manuscript
License
CC BY
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2014.941414
Publication dates
Print28 Jul 2014
Publication process dates
Deposited02 Sep 2016
Accepted27 Jun 2014
FunderEconomic and Social Research Council
Economic and Social Research Council
Copyright informationThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Education Policy on 28.07.14, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02680939.2014.941414.
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Accepted author manuscript
Wilkins JEP 2015.pdf
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