Amidst deep cuts to public spending, the UK Coalition government announced in 2010 that it would be substantially reducing its subsidy of social science within higher education. As part of the same deficit reduction strategy, the government is cutting funding to local authorities, disproportionately hitting urban councils in the most deprived…

This article is a reflection upon the ethical dimension of my work and practice as an embedded researcher during my doctorate. To begin with, I describe my experiences of gaining ethical approval from The University of Manchester while also highlighting some of the concerns that were raised by the ethics board. This leads me to recognise how the…

The article engages with the opportunities and constraints raised by embedded research during times of rapid and extensive organisational change. Embedded research is an increasingly common approach for funding PhD studentships. The rapid and extensive reforms of the English public sector pose significant and underexplored challenges for embedded…

The article argues for the participation and involvement of students in developing learning spaces within higher education. In early childhood education there is a strong emphasis upon rights, democracy and planning learning through listening to young children. Taking inspiration from this, the study explores the use of participatory approaches in…

Passionate leadership is about energy, commitment, a belief that every child can learn and will learn, a concern with social justice and the optimism that people can make a difference. The authors argue that passion survives and prospers and is a moral driving force in ensuring children becoming all they can become. That brings them to the other…

This article is a reflection on a sabbatical experience in a mainstream school where an inclusive ethos underpinned the curriculum and environmental approaches for all children. The period as acting head teacher raised some challenges for the author in reconciling inclusion for all children and the exclusive nature of some professional and…

This author begins by mapping the policy changes of the past 20 years that have occupied and changed the educational terrain in New Zealand. Fundamentally, the reform of education was premised on ideological conjecture that some changes (structural, administrative, pedagogical and managerial) were required, and that these changes would deliver…

The English Academies programme has become one of the most controversial aspects of the New Labour strategy for education and public sector reform. And in many ways, given the significance of the programme, that controversy is understandable and appropriate. This is particularly so because, as the author argues here, Academies are indicative of…

This article forms an introductory exploration into the relationship between corporate features and religious values in Academies sponsored by a Christian foundation. This is a theme which arose from research comprising the ethnography of a City Technology College (CTC) with a Christian ethos. The Christian foundation which sponsors the CTC also…

In this article the author seeks to look at the policy on Academies from a broader perspective, briefly touching on issues of democracy, autonomy, governance and accountability and arguing that the policy must be considered holistically. Individuals should focus not on an Academy or Academies in isolation but on their relationship with the rest of…

Academies have proved to be one of the most contentious of the Labour government's education policies. The education policies of the Labour government, including Academies, have been the subject of a large body of academic research and analysis, much of it critical. However, it has tended to neglect popular dissent and movements of opposition.…

The need for educational administrators at all levels has been the subject of much attention for many years now. The shortage seems evident. The numbers of qualified applicants for principal and superintendent vacancies seems at an all time low according to local personnel departments and human resource officers. Where there previously had been 20…

Conceptualising the "distinctiveness" of school leadership in the faith school sector is important because the reconstruction of headship in recent years has been largely determined by secular agencies such as the National College for School Leadership without special reference to the needs of particular faith communities. Although limited to…

In this article, the author reflects on the juxtaposition of power, morality and leadership. He contends that if power is about the extent of the difference that one can make to the lives of young people then morality is perhaps concerned with the qualitative nature of that difference. Every school leader understands the imperative of good…

The profile, status and funding of leadership development has risen dramatically both in the UK and internationally over the last decade. In England this has been denoted by the rise of national programmes of leadership development and the creation of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Although the original inception of such…