Abstract
The policy context for all schools in England places great emphasis on leadership, autonomy and accountability as drivers of educational improvement of student outcomes. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the effects on principal autonomy of macro policy and the enactment of this policy by leaders in a large Multi-Academy Trust. The research utilises Foucault’s key theoretical units of Governmentality, Disciplinary Power and Ethical Subjectivity. A thematic analysis of the educational white papers (2010, 2016 and 2022) is used to provide a framework to begin the analysis of the micro policies of the Multi-Academy Trust. Thirty principals completed a survey, with ten volunteering to be interviewed using a semi-structured method. In addition to the principals, three regional directors and three of the executive team were interviewed including the Chief Executive.Analysis of the papers revealed a difference in the rhetoric compared to the evidence provided by the extant research. The thematic analysis of the surveys and interviews provided a view that the style of the regional directors had the greatest effect on principals’ autonomy. The findings resulted in the development of three types of Trust leader, the ‘influencer’, the ‘insister’ and the ‘implementer’. Moreover, a key proposition is that depending on the macro and micro policies and the style of the MAT leaders, the autonomy of the principal was either ‘developed’, ‘limited’, ‘delayed’, ‘inactive’ or ‘arrested’. Furthermore, the seven principals in post for less than two years, all described that ‘all decisions were taken by the Trust’ (OECD, 2011) even though over half of them had over six years of headship experience before joining the Trust.
The findings resulted in the development of a new conceptual model and risk scoring matrices focusing on the leaders’ style and their effect on principal autonomy. This thesis concludes with implications for policy and practice as education moves to a fully trust-led system by 2030 where all schools will be required to join a trust comprising of at least ten schools. Given that this macro policy has the potential to affect the autonomy of over 18000 school principals who are currently in stand-alone trusts or under the local authority, means that the findings of this thesis have significance beyond that of its research participants.
| Date of Award | 22 Apr 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Stephen Corbett (Supervisor) & Ann Emerson (Supervisor) |