The way school principals make sense of the context of their work shapes their actions. As in all adults, principals' sense-making capability is a function of the ego and can change over time. Adult ego development theory describes distinct, qualitatively different stages of sense-making ability. The research reported here assessed the adult ego…

This paper examines the influence of intense scrutiny from Ofsted on school leadership and policy enactment. Data was collected in a coastal area of deprivation, providing the setting for a detailed case study of school leadership in a state secondary school and a state primary school, both with recent or ongoing experience of intense scrutiny…

In England the balance of responsibilities between national and local government for the governance of education is changing. Relationships between schools are shifting and new structures, groups and alliances are being created in response to national policy. The article is part of a project to understand how the new local education landscapes are…

The transnational trend towards school autonomy has been enacted in England through the academies programme. The programme is poised to enter its third phase of expansion in light of government commitment to the conversion of all state-funded schools to academies. This article considers the moral implications of the expansion of the programme that…

Strategies that encourage direct linkage and exchange between researchers and practitioners are more likely to support changes in educational practice informed by research evidence. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain in linking effectiveness education research to real-world practice: addressing the knowing-doing gap. The paper describes…

The experience of headteacher socialization has been described as challenging and often traumatic for new headteachers. The research reported in this article provides a theoretical explanation of that experience by analysing the socialization of new primary school headteachers in England from a role boundary perspective. The role boundary is the…

This study considers the rhetoric and practice of self-assessment by governing bodies of schools and colleges. The context expects governing bodies to reflect on their performance and this is supported by theoretical approaches to self-assessment of "boards". However, there are both general notes of caution and interview evidence of the…

For three years from 2008 every school in England had a designated school improvement partner (SIP), portrayed as a critical friend, whose role was to support and challenge the headteacher. A mixed-methods study involving a national survey and face-to-face interviews evaluated the enactment of the national policy from the perspective of the direct…

The most recent decade has seen a major growth in interest in teacher leadership, but there is limited research on the extent to which early career teachers can take on teacher leadership roles. In this article we explore this question by looking at teachers prepared through the alternative certification programme Teach First (TF), which aims to…

The use of networks as a means of communicating knowledge and ideas and in promoting innovation among schools has emerged globally over the past decade. Currently, inter-school collaboration is not only at the fore nationally in England, but also has become integral to the school improvement agenda. However, networking theory is a disparate field…

This article presents the results of a study of the impact of three programmes of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), namely Leading from the Middle, the National Professional Qualification for Headship and the Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers. All three programmes embody a blended learning approach that includes an…