Independent Public Schools: A Move to Increased Autonomy and Devolution of Decision-making in Western Australian Public Schools

Trimmer, Karen

doi:10.1080/00094056.2013.792703

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Instead, much of the discretion is left with principals and school councils. Increasingly, schools are becoming more autonomous [24–26] and while there is little doubt that schools need to be involved in fundraising, school principals and councils need to consider the trade‐off between the financial and educational value of fundraising activities. The national guidelines regarding the use of alcohol in school fundraising activities were published in 2011 [9], but the knowledge of these guidelines and their influence on school decision‐makers are unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parents' level of support for adults' purchase and consumption of alcohol at primary school events when children are present

Ward

Kippen

Buykx

et al. 2014

Drug and Alcohol Review

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parents' level of support for adults' purchase and consumption of alcohol at primary school events when children are present

Ward

Kippen

Buykx

et al. 2014

Drug and Alcohol Review

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show abstract

“…The provision of federal funding structures for independent schools was instrumental in creating the appearance of a competitive education market in Australia. The initial policy structures for deregulating education and creating a two-tiered education market were implemented in the early 1980s (Trimmer 2013). This process redefined the purpose of education in Australia as a tool 'for individual advancement' (Morsy et al 2014, p. 447), positioning parents as having a choice between 'private' schools-funded mostly through fees and Federal government money-and mostly State government-funded schools.…”

Section: Australian Suburban-based Pentecostal Church Entry Into the mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘An Unstoppable Force for Good’?: How Neoliberal Governance Facilitated the Growth of Australian Suburban-Based Pentecostal Megachurches

Shanahan

2019

Religions

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Hillsong Church has received significant scholarly attention, which has observed the church’s rapid local and global growth. Several other Australian-based Pentecostal churches demonstrate a similar growth trajectory to Hillsong Church, namely: C3 Church, Citipointe Church, Planetshakers, and Influencers Church. To further scholarly understanding of aspects of this rapid growth, this paper discusses the emergence of economic rationalist policies which led to the neoliberal governance context in Australia. The paper argues that the emergence of this policy context, which emphasises marketization and privatisation, provided opportunities for suburban-based Pentecostal churches to expand activities beyond conducting worship services. The paper analyses materials produced by Hillsong Church, C3 Church, Citipointe Church, Planetshakers, and Influencers Church and associated educational, charity, and financial organisations. Through this analysis, the paper finds that the emergence of a neoliberal governance context in Australia provided opportunities for these churches to expand activities beyond traditional worship ceremonies to include additional activities such as running schools, Bible colleges, community care organisations, charity ventures, and financial institutions. The paper shows how economic rationalism and neoliberalism assisted in providing a context within which Australian-based suburban Pentecostal churches were able to take opportunities to grow aspects of church organisation, which helped to develop a global megachurch status. In this way, these churches took up opportunities that changes in political circumstances in Australia provided, developing a theology of growth actualised in expanding church-branded activities around the globe.

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“…The policy change to introduce autonomy can be relatively abrupt, but considering the dynamics of change over time and meeting leaders' development needs may remove a major obstacle to successful implementation. Australia Two studies of governance in Western Australian schools identified that principals vary in their capacity for reasoned local decision making according to experience and their perception of regulations (Trimmer 2013). The studies modelled factors affecting principals' perceptions of the regulatory framework and risk-taking in local decision-making through a stratified random sample in 235 schools…”

Section: Capability For Leadingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, principals' capabilities for a new style of leadership vary (Trimmer 2013), and they require preparation and development for the changed role (Pont et al 2008). Studies mostly find that principals' capabilities for autonomous environments are not being sufficiently addressed by their education systems.…”

Section: Capability For Leadingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Without the variation in capability being addressed through better selection and skills development, some leaders proceed as they have always done and may simply replicate past practices and fail to take advantage of the opportunities for improvement. A more dynamic developmental model for progressively building principals' skills is called for (Trimmer 2013;Higham and Earley 2013).  Evaluations of England's academies, US autonomy pilots, and European systems consistently find the need for a new style of implementation support by education systems.…”

Section: Summing Up System Lessonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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School autonomy: Necessary but not sufficient

Suggett¹

2015

Evidence Base

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School autonomy has become increasingly significant in the politics of education, as well as a central feature of education systems' reform policies in Australia and globally. This review examines the spectrum of evidence on the impact of school autonomy on student academic achievement, and the features of autonomy that improve or constrain achievement, and discusses the implications of these findings for future policy. There is no definitive or simple conclusion from assessing the impact of autonomy on student achievement, but neither does the evidence reject the contribution of autonomy. Rather, the evidence points to autonomy as a key and necessary component of a mature and high-performing system, as it is in other areas of public administration. However, the wider institutional context matters, and parallel policies like accountability and leadership development need to be in place. Crucially, and counter to popular conception, more rather than less systemic support is needed for the potential of school autonomy to be realised.The policy to assign more autonomy to government or public schools is internationally pervasive, intensely political, and contested. Even though there is a research history of over two decades, and the number of education systems embracing school autonomy is growing, including in Australia (Arcia et al. 2011; Eurydice European Unit 2007; OECD 2013;OECD 2015; The World Bank 2007), its value continues to be debated both in ideological terms and empirically. One might have expected a settlement on a theoretical model and set of common understandings by now. This paper focuses on the core question of whether school autonomy advantages learning. It considers a range of research into the impact of school autonomy on student achievement, and school and system performance. Other similar issues are important but beyond the scope of this review, such as school autonomy leading to the privatisation of government schooling; the introduction of for-profit schools; the contraction of government funding; the implications of expanding choice in public education; and the impact of school autonomy on equity. The more specific focus on learning outcomes responds to the persistent policy questions about evidence-based strategies to improve school performance and takes into account the more recent quantitative research on the impact of autonomy. 1 Other reviews have found there is no definitive conclusion from assessing the impact of autonomy on student achievement, but neither does the evidence reject the contribution of autonomy. Rather, the evidence discussed in this paper points to autonomy as a key component of a mature and high performing system and that more rather than less systemic support is needed for its potential to be realised. The momentum for establishing local autonomy, flexibility, collaboration and customised services is pervasive across all public 1 The perspective on student achievement has been advocated by Brian Caldwell, Professor Emeritus and prior Dean of Education Univer...

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Independent Public Schools: A Move to Increased Autonomy and Devolution of Decision-making in Western Australian Public Schools

Cited by 13 publications

References 15 publications

Parents' level of support for adults' purchase and consumption of alcohol at primary school events when children are present

Parents' level of support for adults' purchase and consumption of alcohol at primary school events when children are present

‘An Unstoppable Force for Good’?: How Neoliberal Governance Facilitated the Growth of Australian Suburban-Based Pentecostal Megachurches

School autonomy: Necessary but not sufficient

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