Investigating the realist networks of the Chief Executive Officer of a multi-academy trust

Abstract

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as corporate leader of a multi academy trust (MAT) is an emerging new construct of head teacher in England. Core to this position and practice is the construction and membership of specific networks that I conceptualise as realist. Such networks provide access to privileged policy influencers and corporate actors resulting in an important exchange relationship and reciprocity of resources. I examine these realist networks as a particular mode of governance, that is dialogic. The article reports on research from the larger Leadership of the Lawrence Trust Project, undertaken over a year using an ethnographic approach focusing on the case of KT Edwards, CEO of the Lawrence Trust. The article investigates Edwards' networks relationally, in so doing it examines the power exchanges that occur. The article uses empirical data to conclude that realist networks for Edwards are complex, dynamic sites of exchange, contingent upon trust, strength of ties and provide significant opportunities for entrepreneurial practices and dialogic governance.

The End of Education Policy?

“…45 This problem is exacerbated by Multi-Academy Trust CEOs, who control which schools can join based on a view on whether they would enhance or damage the brand. 46 Fourth, the opening of a free school has often intensified the segregation of children because they introduce or exaggerate competition in the local community; free schools in areas of socio-economic deprivation are not providing a proportionate number of places for children from poorer families (measured by those in receipt of free school meals). 47 Finally, the idea that parental choice leads to improved quality is a myth, not least because schools choose children.…”

Understanding the complexity of system-level leadership in the English schooling landscape

“…Despite academies being a policy with a high political profile and while the literature provides insight into MATs as a context for executive leadership (Andrews and Perera, 2017;Bernardinelli et al, 2018;Greany and Higham, 2018;Hughes, 2020;Simon et al, 2019), it provides little specific insight into executive leadership itself. Little is known about the practical, day-to-day work of MAT leaders, the knowledge on which they routinely draw or the means by which they obtain and refine that knowledge.…”