The restructuring of schooling in England

Abstract

Research to date about the English government's policy to make schools independent of local authorities (LAs) has looked at the 'macro' level of national policy and at the 'micro' level of the institution. The study of which this paper is a part, explores changes at the 'meso' levelthe locality. The paper analyses interviews in three LAs with 15 school headteachers whose schools were well positioned locally. We sought to understand how and why they responded to the changing policy environment. We applied Bourdieu's concepts of forms of capital to model the relationships between schools and to ground explanations of their responses as positioning themselves in the local field. The paper develops this general approach by identifying the varieties of capital available and actually possessed. The most important was categorisation as a result of the inspection process. Many of the headteachers felt impelled to lead their schools into various associations with other schools. Some individuals were becoming notably more powerful in their competition arenas. The power of these elite schools to further accumulate advantage and the withdrawal of the LA role as an arbiter of conflict between schools in the interests of the whole community are discussed.

Uncovering Hegemony in Higher Education: A Critical Appraisal of the Use of “Institutional Habitus” in Empirical Scholarship

“…Although as noted above, some scholars referenced all three concepts, and in some cases the concepts' collective influence on institutional practice, studies here tended to lack strong connections among the concepts (e.g., Bergerson, 2007;Cipollone & Stich, 2017;Coldron et al, 2014). For example, Coldron et al 2014, in a study of principals' policy responses in three English districts, "class schools as actors in that they too possess capitals" (p. 389) and acknowledged field as what determined schools' status and influenced individual behavior.…”

“…Institutional habitus, in these 21 studies (i.e., Acevedo-Gil, 2014;Akom, 2003;Alcorn & Thrupp, 2012;Avramidis & Skidmore, 2004;Chonwerawong, 2006;Coldron, Crawford, Jones, & Simkins, 2014;Darmody, 2012;David, Ball, Davies, & Reay, 2003;Diamond et al, 2004;Doolan, Lukic, & Bukovic, 2016;Dundar, 2011;Horvat & Antonio, 1999;Ingram, 2009;McDonough, 1997;Oliver & Kettley, 2010;Pearce, Down, & Moore, 2008;Reay, David, et al, 2001;Reay et al, 2005;Smyth & Banks, 2012;Smyth & Hannan, 2007;Thomas, 2002), is a "complex amalgam of agency and structure" that generates its effects through institutional features like educational status, curriculum and pedagogy, attitudes, practices, networks, and the expressive order (Reay, David, et al, 2001, para. 1.3; see also Forbes, 2008;Smyth & Banks, 2012 (Thomas, 2002, p. 431), while acting as a "semi-autonomous means by which class processes are played out" in schools, exposing students to differential assumptions, expectations and support based on their social backgrounds (Reay et al, 2010, p. 111; see also Smyth & Banks, 2012).…”

School-to-school support within a competitive education system: views from the inside

“…Indeed, it F o r P e e r R e v i e w O n l y 10 might simply be a fad that goes well when led by skilled and enthusiastic advocates but then fades when spread more widely. Concerns have also been expressed that: school partnerships can lead to lots of non-productive time, as members of staff spend periods out of school; schools involved in working collaboratively may collude with one another to reinforce mediocrity and low expectations; those schools that most need help may choose not to get involved; and some head teachers may become "empire builders", who deter others from getting involved (Ainscow, 2015;Coldron, Crawford, Jones, & Simkins, 2014;Greany, 2015).…”

“…As Coldron et al (2014) suggest: "proximity and shared community is a natural and therefore common basis for a continuing professional relationship between schools" (p. ). In this respect, we have argued that urban contexts can have a natural advantage with regard to collaboration, in that movement between schools tends to be made easier because of shorter distances between schools and greater transport options.…”

Place-based governance and leadership in decentralised school systems: evidence from England

“…forcing them to 'take sides' between their local LA agenda and the national/academy agenda). For those 'well-positioned' (Coldron et al 2014) and entrepreneurial heads who are willing and able to embrace the government's agenda (for example by forming a MAT), the personal and organisational benefits can be significant.…”