ERIC Number: EJ753585
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Dec
Pages: 26
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0267-1522
EISSN: N/A
Globalization and Leadership and Management: A Comparative Analysis of Primary Schools in England and Finland
Webb, Rosemary; Vulliamy, Graham; Sarja, Anneli; Hamalainen, Seppo
Research Papers in Education, v21 n4 p407-432 Dec 2006
This article analyses the impact of processes of globalization on both policy and practice in relation to primary school leadership and management in England and Finland. Data are drawn from case study research carried out from 1994-1996 in six schools in Finland and six schools in England and a follow-up study on teacher professionalism (2001-2002) that involved 37 of the original participants being re-interviewed. The article contributes to the ongoing debate concerning the extent to which global trends lead to homogeneity in educational systems or a "glocalized" response. Such a glocalized response is derived not only from different cultural mediations at the national policy level but also from the various innovation biographies of different schools and the values of particular head teachers/principals. It is argued that, on the one hand, as a result of globalization there is growing uniformity, particularly in relation to the consequences of marketization and managerialism. Owing to the latter, principals in Finland like their English counterparts were found to be experiencing work intensification and role diversification that negatively impacted on their educative leadership. On the other hand, there is evidence also of processes of glocalization in terms of differential national educational policy changes (as, for example, in relation to testing and inspection). Global recommendations for the management of educational reform through collegial working relationships, distributed leadership and schools as learning organizations were promoted in both countries. However, the processes involved in these recommendations illustrate the manner in which national cultural influences and school factors lead both to some similarities and striking differences in their implementation.
Descriptors: Global Approach, Foreign Countries, Comparative Education, Instructional Leadership, Cultural Influences, Administrator Attitudes, Principals, Followup Studies, Educational Change, Educational Policy, Elementary Education, Educational Administration, Interviews, Educational Trends
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/default.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland; United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A