School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017

This is a theoretical and reflective examination of research into school leadership in England which concludes that activity has been both constrained and limited throughout the last 20 years. A review of school leadership development from 1997 indicates that the main government agencies have identi...

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Main Author: Trevor Male
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The International Education Studies Association 2018-06-01
Series:Educational Futures
Online Access:https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=9711
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author Trevor Male
author_facet Trevor Male
author_sort Trevor Male
collection DOAJ
description This is a theoretical and reflective examination of research into school leadership in England which concludes that activity has been both constrained and limited throughout the last 20 years. A review of school leadership development from 1997 indicates that the main government agencies have identified skills, attributes and behaviours, yet these have not been the consequence of robust empirical research. This outcome is compromised further by the way in which two mainstream academic UK journals, which ostensibly focus on the field of leadership in education, have less than 20 per cent of published papers in the years 2014 and 2015 on school leadership in England. I conclude, based on the samples of outputs examined, that this represents an alarming lack of evidence underpinning our understanding of the demands of school leadership in the rapidly changing nature of education in England. From this discussion, I call for two outcomes: greater opportunity for publication of domestic research within UK journals and national conferences and a determination from major agencies and institutions to support more substantial, detailed and focused research into school leadership.
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spelling doaj-art-2aea7a2ffd754c61b395bf3cfd83f2642025-08-20T03:29:18ZengThe International Education Studies AssociationEducational Futures1758-21992018-06-0191417School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017Trevor Male0UCL Institute of EducationThis is a theoretical and reflective examination of research into school leadership in England which concludes that activity has been both constrained and limited throughout the last 20 years. A review of school leadership development from 1997 indicates that the main government agencies have identified skills, attributes and behaviours, yet these have not been the consequence of robust empirical research. This outcome is compromised further by the way in which two mainstream academic UK journals, which ostensibly focus on the field of leadership in education, have less than 20 per cent of published papers in the years 2014 and 2015 on school leadership in England. I conclude, based on the samples of outputs examined, that this represents an alarming lack of evidence underpinning our understanding of the demands of school leadership in the rapidly changing nature of education in England. From this discussion, I call for two outcomes: greater opportunity for publication of domestic research within UK journals and national conferences and a determination from major agencies and institutions to support more substantial, detailed and focused research into school leadership.https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=9711
spellingShingle Trevor Male
School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017
Educational Futures
title School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017
title_full School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017
title_fullStr School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017
title_full_unstemmed School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017
title_short School leadership in England: Reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017
title_sort school leadership in england reflections on research activity between 1997 and 2017
url https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=9711
work_keys_str_mv AT trevormale schoolleadershipinenglandreflectionsonresearchactivitybetween1997and2017