Small and perfectly formed? Is democracy an alternative approach to school leadership?

Hope, Max

Abstract

In recent decades, education policy has changed considerably so that now, numerous types of schools are available in the ‘marketplace’. The most recent additions to this landscape are Academies and Free Schools, with freedoms to make more choices about curriculum, structures and leadership. In this climate, this paper takes one school as a case study – a radical democratic school from the independent sector – and explores its structures, processes and model of leadership. This school is unique because it has no Head Teacher and is run as a self-governing community of students and staff. The paper concludes with an argument that this school represents a new form of radical structuralism and offers a model of leadership which might be valuable in other educational settings.

Citation

Hope, M. (2012). Small and perfectly formed? Is democracy an alternative approach to school leadership?. School Leadership and Management, 32(3), 291-305. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2012.688739

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 23, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Jun 11, 2012
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2012
• Journal: School leadership and management
• Print ISSN: 1363-2434
• Electronic ISSN: 1364-2626
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 291-305
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2012.688739
• Keywords: Democracy; School size; Distributed leadership; Democratic leadership; Radical structuralism
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/432699
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2012.688739