TY - JOUR
T1 - Local school governance and school leadership
T2 - practices, processes and pillars
AU - Leechman, Gareth
AU - McCulla, Norman
AU - Field, Laurie
PY - 2019/11/4
Y1 - 2019/11/4
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the processes and relationships between school councils and school leadership teams in the local governance of 18 independent, faith-based schools in New South Wales, Australia. Design/methodology/approach: A three-phase, mixed-method research design was used incorporating development of a conceptual framework for local school governance drawn from current literature, face-to face interviews with chairs of school councils and principals, and a subsequent survey of school council members and within-school leadership teams. Findings: Noting a lack of research into the practices and processes of school council operations and their interface with school leadership, the study identified five key areas that were seen to be foundational to the effectiveness of local governance. Research limitations/implications: The study contributes an Australian perspective to an international need to better understand local governance arrangements in school leadership and management. Practical implications: At a practical level, the study provides valuable insights to principals, and to those aspiring to the role, on the nature of the relationship between the school council and school leadership teams. Social implications: The study responds to a marked increase internationally in local governance arrangements for schools by way of school councils or boards. Originality/value: A review of literature reveals that, somewhat surprisingly, there has been relatively little research undertaken in this key area of leading and managing schools.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the processes and relationships between school councils and school leadership teams in the local governance of 18 independent, faith-based schools in New South Wales, Australia. Design/methodology/approach: A three-phase, mixed-method research design was used incorporating development of a conceptual framework for local school governance drawn from current literature, face-to face interviews with chairs of school councils and principals, and a subsequent survey of school council members and within-school leadership teams. Findings: Noting a lack of research into the practices and processes of school council operations and their interface with school leadership, the study identified five key areas that were seen to be foundational to the effectiveness of local governance. Research limitations/implications: The study contributes an Australian perspective to an international need to better understand local governance arrangements in school leadership and management. Practical implications: At a practical level, the study provides valuable insights to principals, and to those aspiring to the role, on the nature of the relationship between the school council and school leadership teams. Social implications: The study responds to a marked increase internationally in local governance arrangements for schools by way of school councils or boards. Originality/value: A review of literature reveals that, somewhat surprisingly, there has been relatively little research undertaken in this key area of leading and managing schools.
KW - school leadership
KW - school governance
KW - local school management
KW - school councils
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073250509&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/IJEM-12-2018-0401
DO - 10.1108/IJEM-12-2018-0401
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073250509
SN - 0951-354X
VL - 33
SP - 1641
EP - 1652
JO - International Journal of Educational Management
JF - International Journal of Educational Management
IS - 7
ER -