Philanthropy, marketing disadvantage and the enterprising public school

Hogan, Anna; Gerrard, Jessica; Gregorio, Elisa Di

doi:10.1007/s13384-022-00524-5

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The rise of venture philanthropy in public education is well researched in countries such as the U.S. (Saltman, 2010; Scott, 2009; Scott & Jabbar, 2014; Tompkins-Stange, 2016), or the UK, Europe, and elsewhere (Ball, 2012; Ball & Olmedo, 2011; Ball et al, 2017; Olmedo, 2014), but, as a recent development in Australia, it is under-researched in terms of how venture philanthropy influences education policy (see Hogan & Williamson, 2022; Hogan et al, 2022; Rowe, 2021a, 2022a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philanthrocapitalism and the State: Mapping the Rise of Venture Philanthropy in Public Education in Australia

Rowe

2022

ECNU Review of Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose This article maps the rise of venture philanthropy in public education in Australia, exploring how policy networks mobilize high-level systemic reform and governance technologies. This is philanthrocapitalism, a fundamental shift for policy mobility and modes of redistribution. Design/Approach/Methods Drawing upon network ethnography, I focus on a node called Social Ventures Australia (SVA), an organization committed to revolutionizing venture philanthropy in Australian education reform. SVA, the brainchild of McKinsey & Company and multinational corporations, is a useful example to map how venture philanthropy leverages resources and, in the process, fundamentally changes the shape, functionality, and form of traditional government. Findings SVA has successfully advocated for several intermediaries, such as an evidence broker (Evidence for Learning), a national charity (Schools Plus), and a national education research institute (Australian Education Research Organisation). Overlapping philanthropy and state, the intermediaries stand as a critical assemblage and technology of governance. Originality/Value Venture philanthropy and the way in which these networks achieve high-level systemic reform is under-researched in Australia. It stands as a critical lever of policy reform in public education. This article will scrutinize and map the way these networks mobilize reform and function as an identifiable form of economic exchange.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philanthrocapitalism and the State: Mapping the Rise of Venture Philanthropy in Public Education in Australia

Rowe

2022

ECNU Review of Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Competitive grants in autonomous public schools: how school principals are labouring for public school funding

Rowe,

Langman

2024

Aust. Educ. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper examines competitive grants for public schools, as a form of additional funding from the government. We draw on interviews with principals from different states in Australia to examine systemic impacts of competitive grants for public schools, exploring this in relation to school autonomy. Public school principals are labouring to generate additional school funding via competitive applications from the traditional state government, to supplement their core or regular government funding. The competitive applications are to fund what many would consider rudimentary or fundamental resources, such as school infrastructure and student wellbeing programs. For the interviewed principals, the drive to generate more funding was anchored within significant government funding shortfalls in public schools. The majority of interviewees did not find the funding model to be ‘needs-based’ or responsive. Autonomous public schools presented many paradoxes and contradictions, particularly in under-funded contexts; whilst on one hand, principals are tasked with managing their budgets, the majority experienced the environment as highly inflexible and often punitive, laden with bureaucratic red tape. The majority of interviewees expressed notions of responsibilisation for generating additional funds. In this context, we found that competitive funding applications increase school principal work intensification, with principals spending excessive time labouring to generate additional funding via competitive grant applications, in order to fund essential school projects. The labour involved in completing time-demanding funding applications supplants their traditional responsibilities and is critically reshaping their role as a school principal, to one of ‘grant applier’ and fundraiser, reinforcing the retreat of the traditional state.

show abstract

Grant chaser and revenue raiser: public school principals and the limitations of philanthropic funding

Rowe,

Di Gregorio

2024

Aust. Educ. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper draws on survey and interview data with public school principals, in order to examine the impact of philanthropy in public schools in Australia. As a result of systemic government funding deficits, school principals are applying for competitive grants from a diverse range of sources. This includes non-government organisations such as charities and businesses, as well as competitive government grants to pay for important resourcing in the school. We focus on what we refer to as ‘philanthropic grant chasing’ in public schools as reported by school principals, paying attention to their involvement with the registered charity Australian Schools Plus, one of the first government-subsidised charities that enables businesses and corporations to donate to public schools for a tax deduction. Public school principals expressed dilemmas and ambivalences regarding philanthropy, regarding it as a ‘double-edged sword’. The vast majority rejected the idea of philanthropy as a long-term solution or remedy for systemic issues of under-funding. We found that philanthropic grants were conditional, and imposed excessive accountability and performative measures on principals, with interviewees describing the process as onerous, with ‘too many strings attached’. Competitive philanthropic grants were also found to intensify principal workload. This paper points to how competitive philanthropic grants, and the necessity to generate additional funding, has a detrimental impact on leaders’ workload, time, and long-term school resourcing. It is remodelling the expertise of the principal to grant chaser and revenue raiser. Whilst philanthropic organisations frequently claim otherwise, we argue that philanthropy exacerbates rather than redresses educational equity.

show abstract

Philanthropy, marketing disadvantage and the enterprising public school

Cited by 5 publications

References 35 publications

Philanthrocapitalism and the State: Mapping the Rise of Venture Philanthropy in Public Education in Australia

Philanthrocapitalism and the State: Mapping the Rise of Venture Philanthropy in Public Education in Australia

Competitive grants in autonomous public schools: how school principals are labouring for public school funding

Grant chaser and revenue raiser: public school principals and the limitations of philanthropic funding

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About