Leading schools in the digital age: A clash of cultures

Williams, Peter

Abstract

A cultural gap is widening in English secondary schools: between a twentieth-century ethos of institutional provision and the twenty-first century expectations and digital lifestyles of school students. Perhaps disaffected by traditional teaching methods and the competitive target culture of schools, many students have turned to social networking through the cluster of computer-based applications known as Web 2.0. Here, they can communicate, share and learn informally using knowledge systems their elders can barely understand. Some of their contemporaries have turned away altogether, rejecting school and contributing to record levels of truancy and exclusion. This paper identifies a set of challenges for school leaders in relation to the growing digital/cultural gap. The government agenda for personalised learning is discussed, alongside strategies which schools might adopt to support this through the use of ICT, and both figure in scenario projections which envision how secondary education could change in the future. The paper concludes by recommending three priorities for school leaders.

Citation

Williams, P. (2008). Leading schools in the digital age: A clash of cultures. School Leadership and Management, 28(3), 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632430802145779

• Online Publication Date: Jul 22, 2008
• Publication Date: 2008-07
• Deposit Date: Oct 27, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2016
• Journal: School Leadership & Management
• Print ISSN: 1363-2434
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 213-228
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13632430802145779
• Keywords: Age differences; Computer mediated communication; Creativity; Educational change; Foreign countries; Information technology; Internet; Organizational culture; Secondary schools; Sharing behaviour; Social networks; Teaching methods; Time perspective
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/444732
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13632430802145779
• Additional Information: This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published in School leadership & management, 2008, v.28 issue 3.
• Contract Date: Oct 27, 2016