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SUMMARY:Entrepreneurialism\, Leadership and Contending Forces for Change i
 n Academies - Professor Philip Woods and Dr Glenys Woods\, University of G
 loucestershire
DTSTART:20091022T130000Z
DTEND:20091022T143000Z
UID:TALK19535@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lyndsay
DESCRIPTION:The Academies programme in England is intended to bring about 
 radical change in the form of state education and is part of a process tha
 t is creating a more complex and diverse education system with a plurality
  of new players seeking to shape and influence school education. By Septem
 ber 2008\, there were 133 Academies\, with more in the pipeline and the ai
 m being to create 400. In this seminar\, Philip Woods and Glenys Woods pro
 vide an overview of their work on Academies\, reporting case study researc
 h into an inner city Academy and drawing from their wider work regarding A
 cademies\, entrepreneurialism\, leadership and private participation in ed
 ucation.\n\nThis seminar will give a brief outline of the programme's poli
 cy context and how its characterists and the pattern of sponsorship have e
 volved since the first Academies opened in 2002. It will be suggested that
  the Academies policy exemplifies an emerging governance system of 'plural
  controlled schooling'\, raising fundamental questions concerning the natu
 re and accountability of school education. Findings from the case study "A
 cademy" will be reported with particular reference to its approach to ente
 rprise and leadership. Data were collected in staged visits\, and include 
 interviews with the Academy leadership\, classroom teachers\, sponsors and
  students\; self-completion surveys of staff and students\; and observatio
 ns\, documentation and informal interactions. Analysis (which is ongoing) 
 suggest that\, alongside an 'undertow' of influence from business entrepre
 neurialism that seeks to advance values such as participation\, deliberati
 ve democracy and social justice. We are also examining the Academy's emerg
 ent leadership scheme which generates a buzz and enthusiastic collaborativ
 e involvement reminiscent of the notion in business literature of 'hot spo
 ts' characterised by energy\, 'igniting purpose' and co-operative mindsets
 . One of the questions we are engaging with is whether this scheme is expl
 ainable simply in terms of an instrumental\, performative\, driven rationa
 lity or whether it also shows signs of a deeper orientation with features 
 of spirituality and democratic leadership.\n\nConcluding reflections will 
 be shared with reference to\, amongst other things\, two competing hypothe
 sis: the convergence hypothesis\, suggesting that despite an emphasis on i
 nnovation and diversity\, academies tend to centre around an instrumentall
 y driven\, business-orientated model of entrepreneurialism and educational
  priorities\, and the diversification hypothesis\, in which meanings and p
 ractice show significant variations\, including opportunities for progress
 ive change.
LOCATION: Faculty of Education\, 184 Hills Road\, Cambridge\, CB2 8PQ
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