tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/school-management-12881/articlesSchool management – The Conversation2018-12-06T12:35:00Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1063792018-12-06T12:35:00Z2018-12-06T12:35:00ZSouth Africa’s children aren’t getting the mental health care they need<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247708/original/file-20181128-32185-kmorri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mental health clinics exist in South Africa's public health sector, but children with ADHD often never reach them.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has received increased scientific, clinical and public <a href="https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1072/936">attention</a> over the past few decades. It’s the most common psychiatric disorder in children – affecting <a href="https://chadd.org/about-adhd/treatment-data/">2% to 16%</a> of the school going population.</p>
<p>But in South Africa data on prevalence rates, access to care, and treatment for ADHD is limited. Despite the known efficacy of treatment, access to health care and treatment remains limited for many children in the country. This is a problem as untreated ADHD results in substantial costs and has a negative impact both on educational attainment and quality of life.</p>
<p>We have recently completed <a href="https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1293/1253">a study</a> that looked at the mental health barriers South African school children face. Our research focused on the work of a not for profit organisation, set up in 2017 to provide mental health screening services for school children and with a particular focus on ADHD. </p>
<p>Our research found a prevalence rate of 2.5% among the more than 500 children we screened at 13 schools. However, most of the children referred to us were in their foundation phase of schooling – that’s, aged between about 5 and 14. It’s possible that many of the children in the higher grades may also be struggling with ADHD and other mental health disorders but were not referred. </p>
<p>More significantly, our research shows that there are very low levels of awareness among teachers who had very stereotypical views of how ADHD presents itself. There was a lot of stigma attached to the condition. </p>
<p>It was also clear from our research that various government departments which should be working collaboratively – such as education, health and social development – are working in silos, each with separate processes and procedures. This hinders the provision of services for children.</p>
<h2>Falling through the cracks</h2>
<p>Although there are mental health clinics in the public sector, children with ADHD and other mental health disorders often never reach this point of diagnosis and treatment due to poor service delivery. </p>
<p>And on the schooling front, the Department of Basic Education requires that children first be assessed and assisted by <a href="http://www.included.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PRINT_IESA_EU-Factsheet-04_Role-Function-of-the-SBST.pdf">school based support teams</a> before they are referred for treatment. </p>
<p>These teams are responsible for, among other things, identifying children’s needs. In collaboration with teachers, they should assess individual pupils and provide support where necessary. However, 61% of the children were directly referred to the not for profit organisation by teachers. That’s because the school support teams were not functional in most of the schools which we visited. </p>
<p>The NGO visited 18 schools and 13 participated in the screening. The schools are located in the Metro North Educational District in Cape Town and are all in underprivileged areas where no school fees are being charged. </p>
<h2>Findings</h2>
<p>Just more than 500 children between the ages of five and 14 years were screened. They were referred to the NGO for screening by teachers due to learning difficulties (86%), behavioural problems (41%) and emotional difficulties such as anxiety or depression (33%). </p>
<p>More than 50% of the children referred to the NGO presented with ADHD, or symptoms that suggested they may have the disorder. In the total group of screened children 4% had been previously diagnosed with ADHD. </p>
<p>We have referred 67% of the children for further evaluations to confirm diagnoses or to exclude other conditions which can “mimic” or accompany ADHD, while 10% of the children were referred back to the support teams without any intervention other than recommending school support and parental guidance. </p>
<p>The prevalence rate of 2.5% is lower than the international prevalence rates of 5% to 16%. This may reflect a number of factors, including a lack of awareness of the disorder, misconceptions about the disorder in the community and stigma. </p>
<p>Other factors that could have affected our findings were that teachers opted not to refer any children – possibly because of their workload. There was also a tendency to refer children who met the “classical” picture the public has of ADHD: a naughty, hyperactive boy. This would have led to silent daydreamers – usually girls – not being identified. </p>
<h2>Gaps in the system</h2>
<p>Mental health clinics do exist in South Africa’s public health sector, but children with ADHD often never reach this point of diagnosis and treatment. Although medication plays and important role in the treatment in some of these children, behavioural interventions as well as educational and emotional support are also crucial. </p>
<p>The results from our study highlight the need to raise awareness and reduce stigma. Collaboration between government departments are crucial to reduce, and remove, mental health barriers to education. Early diagnosis and intervention is essential to prevent long term consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106379/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prof Renata Schoeman is a co-founder of the Goldilocks and The Bear Foundation, associate professor in Leadership at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, a psychiatrist in private practice, and convenor of the SASOP Special Interest Group for ADHD. She have received sponsorships from Aspen, Shire, Janssen, Lundbeck, Cipla, and Dr Reddy, and speaker fees from Servier, Sanofi/Zentiva, Janssen, Lundbeck, Lilly, Dr Reddy, Adcock, Mylan, and Shire.
</span></em></p>School children with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have limited access to care in South Africa’s education and health sectors.Renata Schoeman, Associate professor, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/347862014-12-02T10:40:31Z2014-12-02T10:40:31ZSchools need to up their game to attract the best governors<p>If a school has a good governing body it has a <a href="http://www.cfbt.com/en-GB/Research/Research-library/2010/r-the-hidden-givers-2010">better chance of being a good school</a>. But any governing body will only be as good as its individual members, which puts a real premium on the recruitment of governors. Schools need to reach out to persuade local people as well as staff and parents to come forward and seek election to the governing body. But the recruitment of governors continues to be a challenge, especially for those governing bodies most in need of new faces – those in charge of struggling schools. </p>
<p>Research <a href="http://www.cfbt.com/en-GB/Research/Research-library/2010/r-the-hidden-givers-2010">into school governing</a>, which we carried out between 2008 and 2010, showed that schools varied in the number of willing and able potential governors who lived nearby. We called this pool of potential governors “governance capital”. The term of office is four years so recruiting governors is a continual challenge. </p>
<p>This governance capital was higher in schools in relatively advantaged and well-off areas, where pupils achieved well and got good exam results – and which were already well-regarded by their local communities or Ofsted. </p>
<h2>Lack of suitable candidates</h2>
<p>Five years later, we did another survey of school governors in England in <a href="http://www.inspiringgovernors.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/The_State_of_School_Governing_in_England_Report.pdf">the spring of 2014</a>. Of the 7,000 governors who answered our survey, 66% said that recruiting governors was difficult. </p>
<p>The recent survey results showed that the problem continues to be more pronounced in schools serving disadvantaged areas, where 83% said it was difficult to recruit school governors, compared to schools in relatively advantaged areas, where 62% had trouble recruiting. It was also much harder to recruit at schools with below average levels of pupil attainment than in schools where children were doing above the average. And schools with an Ofsted grade of “requires improvement” or “satisfactory” found it harder to find governors than those with an “outstanding” Ofsted grade. </p>
<p>Where you need governors most, the pool of potential governors is smallest. But the governing bodies of schools that need governors the most appear to put less energy into recruitment. For example, 42% of governors at schools with a poor Ofsted grade said they put “in a lot of effort” to governor recruitment, compared to 51% of the top-rated schools. </p>
<p>We also asked if the difficulties in recruiting governors had any effect on the quality of their governing bodies. Overall, 37% of respondents reported that their governing body would be more effective if they could recruit more people of higher quality. This was higher in disadvantaged and struggling schools, supporting the idea that recruitment difficulties have a negative effect on the quality of school governing. </p>
<p>Here we see the genesis of a vicious cycle. Struggling schools that need good governors have fewer governors available to them and so their quality drops. One of the effects is that these governing bodies put less effort into recruitment, weakening the governing body even further and making it less able to ensure that the schools’ conduct is appropriate. So the school struggles even more and its “governance capital” is reduced further. The vicious cycle is perpetuated. </p>
<h2>Raising governors’ profile</h2>
<p>There are a number of ways to break the cycle. At the moment, school governing is currently too hidden from view – it needs to be more visible in society. Governors’ responsibility for the conduct of schools need to be more widely acknowledged – by parents, teachers, headteachers, the school’s wider community and even Ofsted and the Department for Education.</p>
<p>When governors and governing bodies make an excellent contribution, it should be acknowledged. For example, when an academy is given an outstanding Ofsted grade, the secretary of state should write to the governors to thank them.</p>
<p>The importance of governing bodies should be acknowledged by the establishment of a national database – starting with a database of chairs. At the moment, the Department of Education does not know – and has never known – who chairs each school or academy governing body. This means it doesn’t know who is responsible for proper conduct of governing bodies that are in turn responsible for the conduct of the nation’s schools. This is a quite astonishing state of affairs. </p>
<p>Local “non-education” organisations such as businesses need to be ready to support the involvement of their employees in school governing – not just as a contribution to society but because of the learning and development opportunities it brings. </p>
<p>And governor recruitment organisations such as <a href="https://www.sgoss.org.uk/">SGOSS</a> and the <a href="http://www.inspiringgovernors.org/">Inspiring Governors Initiative</a>, which is a charity, need more support for the excellent work they do.</p>
<p>If implemented, these ideas may go some way to breaking the vicious cycle of governor recruitment and governing quality in struggling schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris James has received funding for his research into school governing from Business in the Community, the CfBT Educational Trust and the Association of Colleges.</span></em></p>If a school has a good governing body it has a better chance of being a good school. But any governing body will only be as good as its individual members, which puts a real premium on the recruitment…Chris James, Professor of Educational Leadership and Management, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/334902014-10-29T10:32:43Z2014-10-29T10:32:43ZSmall cliques often take control of school governor boards<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63054/original/rkyyq3zd-1414517527.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Decision time. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&search_tracking_id=RhqQDtCTnXufW5CqSG-44A&searchterm=board%20room%20meeting%20school&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=189811193">Board meeting via Rawpixel/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the investigations continue into what happened at the schools implicated in the Trojan Horse extremism affair in Birmingham, the issue of who <a href="https://theconversation.com/trojan-horse-snap-school-inspections-will-not-solve-wider-governance-issues-27824">controls a school’s governing board</a> has received unprecedented attention. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="http://saseproject.com/">my new study</a> into the way decisions are taken by school boards has suggested that it’s quite easy for a small number of governors – mainly those already occupying professional roles inside and outside the school – to exercise disproportionate control over key decision-making. This can leave some governors, in particular parents and lay members, with responsibility but little power.</p>
<p>The issue goes to the heart of whether or not <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-trojan-horse-why-paying-school-governors-is-not-a-catch-all-solution-29500">school governors are “professionals”</a>. In July 2012, the then secretary of state for education, Michael Gove, reportedly lambasted volunteers <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9381101/Michael-Gove-attacks-local-worthies-who-become-school-governors-for-the-badge-of-status.html">“who see being a governor as a badge of status not a job of work”</a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9381101/Michael-Gove-attacks-local-worthies-who-become-school-governors-for-the-badge-of-status.html">“who ramble on about peripheral issues, influenced by fads and anecdote, not facts and analysis”</a>. The central message here is that governors are required to relate to themselves and others as if they are professionals.</p>
<p>In a far less vitriolic tone but one which echoed Gove’s message, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for schools,<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/lord-nashspeaks-to-the-independent-academies-association-iaa-national-conference">Lord Nash, addressed </a> the 2013 Independent Academies Association National Conference to say that when it comes to school governing boards:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>people should be appointed on a clear prospectus and because of their skills and expertise as governors; not simply because they represent particular interest group… Running a school is in many ways like running a business, so we need more business people coming forward to become governors.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Big responsibilities</h2>
<p>The business of school governance is principally about enhancing accountability to the funders – the Department for Education – and to the schools inspectorate, Ofsted. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development">4,246 academies already open and 209 in progress</a>, there is a strong expectation today that governors and the boards of trustees in the case of academy sponsors, will fulfil many of the backdoor functions previously performed by local authorities. These include setting staff pay and conditions, sourcing suppliers and advisers, tracking performance through data analysis and self-evaluation, overseeing the management of school premises and settling other human resources issues. </p>
<p>School bureaucracy has been decentralised. So who exercises a controlling influence over decision-making in school board meetings?</p>
<h2>Big four governors</h2>
<p>In a <a href="http://saseproject.com/">recent study of school governance</a> I interviewed 102 school managers, school founders, school governors, senior leaders and parents across nine state-funded primary and secondary schools as well as observing 42 full governing body and committee meetings. The results suggest that a small number of governors often have a considerable amount of control. </p>
<p>These governors go by many descriptors including the “Big Four”, “senior clique” or “core of governors”. They are considered the “mainstay of the governing body”. In some cases it is the school’s senior leadership team rather than the governors themselves who maintain overall control. In practice this means that a large number of key decisions – whether they concern resource allocation, risk management, succession planning, performance evaluation, budget control or target setting – are shaped by the few over the many.</p>
<p>These governors are typically the chair of governors and vice chair, the headteacher and those who chair committees, especially the finance and standards committees, considered by some governors to be the most important committees.</p>
<p>Of course, it is essential for all governors to be consulted on decisions made by committee members. School governance is about achieving consensus. Agenda items or policy points informed by the decisions of committee members are typically presented to all governors as part of a consultation (at the full governing body meeting for example) where decisions are challenged or approved and voted on. </p>
<h2>Real decisions in committees</h2>
<p>But to exercise a controlling influence over decisions, governors are usually encouraged to attend committee meetings, to the extent that full governing body meetings are considered too unwieldy and impractical. There are simply too many people, too many voices and not enough time to deliberate. Hence a lot of decisions are sewn up in advance of full governing meetings. If you don’t possess the confidence or skills to participate in such committees, then you are less likely to influence the big decisions. </p>
<p>We need to ensure that both professional and lay governors have an impact on school governance. This is no easy task. The rise of academies and free schools together with the demand for skilled governors means a greater emphasis on the role of professionals on the board. </p>
<p>Only recently, Lord Nash wrote an open letter to all chairs of governors outlining his expectations that a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/353107/Open_letter_to_Chairs_-_Lord_Nash.pdf">“culture of self-review”</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/353107/Open_letter_to_Chairs_-_Lord_Nash.pdf">“professional ethos”</a> be maintained. </p>
<p>Above and beyond any professional approach to governance is the value of commitment, or the amount of time that can be spent on governing. In other words, a professional approach to governance only gets you so far. It is just unfortunate that many poor, disadvantaged people have less time to spare. </p>
<p>One of the biggest tasks we face today in school governance is fulfilling the vision of David Cameron’s “Big Society” to redistribute power from Whitehall to local communities – sometimes called double devolution. But for this to be realised, civic empowerment and participation must be at the heart of school governance. To do this we need to think carefully about how parents and the wider community can continue to impact on school governance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33490/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Wilkins receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>As the investigations continue into what happened at the schools implicated in the Trojan Horse extremism affair in Birmingham, the issue of who controls a school’s governing board has received unprecedented…Andrew Wilkins, Research Fellow, University of RoehamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/329742014-10-16T10:16:44Z2014-10-16T10:16:44ZConservatives’ crack team of superteachers will need the patience of Gandhi<p>As a theme for Hollywood filmmakers, the crack team of experts sent in where others dare to tread to rectify wrongdoing and uphold the rights of the downtrodden citizen, is well-worn. Think of the reboots we’ve had in recent years for The A Team and most recently The Equalizer. </p>
<p>Can you really parachute “super” teachers into a failing school and turn it around in double-quick time? The Conservatives seem to think so. The party’s latest education policy wheeze is a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29574125">National Teaching Service (NTS)</a>, a team of independently employed superteachers who can be deployed to any under-performing school in England. The NTS could be formed if the Conservatives win the next election. </p>
<p>Predictably there have been protests from the unions. Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, says that the NTS <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29574125">“may make good politics to some but it makes lousy school improvement”</a>. Support for the idea is thin on the ground, though the graduate teaching charity <a href="https://twitter.com/dandoj/status/521550906094276609">Teach First is enthusiastic.</a> As an organisation that has had its <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/14/why-is-teach-first-scheme-so-controversial">fair share of criticism</a> for the way it selects and prepares its teachers, it knows about the issues such a scheme will face.</p>
<h2>Return of the superheads</h2>
<p>In education, what goes around seems, inevitably, to come around. In the late 1990s we had the advent of “superheads” who would fly into schools, capes fluttering in the wind, to transform standards with a single blow or close down the school to enable it to rise, phoenix-like from the ashes, as a new, sponsored academy. Those early Labour academies were very different from the ones we see today. </p>
<p>Of course, school improvement never really happens the way politicians envisage. A number of the Blair/Blunkett superheads failed or resigned and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/684179.stm">the scheme was quietly dropped in 2000</a>. The idea of superheads has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-super-powers-to-school-super-heads-is-not-a-panacea-27036">revived recently</a>, particularly in response to the governance issues following the Trojan Horse extremism scandal in Birmingham.</p>
<p>Policy “on the hoof” – which this appears to be – is the most dangerous form of policy. When it is linked to appeals for votes in a forthcoming election, the motives must surely be questionable. </p>
<p>Looking at some of the sparse detail released to date, it’s hard to see how the NTS will succeed. Who would want a teaching job where you could be sent at a moment’s notice anywhere in England, always to a “failing” school? How will these teachers be able, quickly, to understand the local situation of the schools they are sent to? Will they be able to get the staff, in particular the existing head, onside? Unless these teachers have the diplomatic skills of Ban Ki-Moon and the patience of Gandhi, they will find the going tough. </p>
<h2>Staff must be won over</h2>
<p>Teachers at all levels never set out to fail children – they are professionals. Having a stranger come in to “rescue” your children from what is perceived to be your poor performance is bound to encounter resistance. That’s not to say that professionals do not welcome support, but it needs to be effective support that is tailored to the needs of the school, pupils and staff. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61864/original/g8k2ddn8-1413387336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61864/original/g8k2ddn8-1413387336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61864/original/g8k2ddn8-1413387336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61864/original/g8k2ddn8-1413387336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61864/original/g8k2ddn8-1413387336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61864/original/g8k2ddn8-1413387336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61864/original/g8k2ddn8-1413387336.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will everybody welcome the A Team of teachers?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Turning a school around cannot be achieved without the hard work and goodwill of the staff, the support of the parents and a commitment from the whole community, including the pupils. Local authorities should be the hub around which school improvement revolves. Sadly for the past 20 years, and even more so in the past four years, we have <a href="https://theconversation.com/failing-academy-chains-highlight-hole-at-heart-of-education-policy-23954">seen an erosion of the ability of local authorities</a> to support their schools, as more and more funding is diverted away from them into academy trusts and sponsors. Perversely, the local authorities are then derided for failing to provide support.</p>
<p>It is clear that one way or another the Conservatives want rid of local accountability for schools – preferring to place them in the hands of trusts and sponsors whilst feigning accountability through eight new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-number-of-academies-and-free-schools-to-create-a-better-and-more-diverse-school-system/supporting-pages/regional-schools-commissioners-rscs">regional school commissioners</a>. I have no doubt that all commissioners want schools to succeed, but my concern is over how much the voice of parents and teachers will be heard and acted upon. </p>
<h2>Will academies embrace the NTS?</h2>
<p>The NTS will also have to fit into the new landscape of academies. Questions remain over whether academy trusts and sponsors will welcome such a force with open arms. What if the NTS disagrees with the approach taken by the academy trust? Superheads have been drafted in to schools, <a href="http://www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk/news/article/8022/super-head-leaves-over-student-behaviour-disagreement">only to then disagree with the school’s sponsor and leave</a>. Will the same fate befall the NTS? </p>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/15/education-secretary-row-mps-academy-schools-inspections">already a fight</a> between Ofsted head Michael Wilshaw, the Department for Education and the academy chains over whether or not the chains should be inspected. My fear is that the NTS will be seen as an imposed “punishment” for state schools and teachers branded as “failing”, resulting in the inevitable <a href="http://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/04/07/nearly-600-primary-schools-forced-into-academy-status.aspx">“forced academy” solution</a>. </p>
<p>Academies are supposed to co-operate and collaborate within their trusts and with local schools. The marketisation and branding of schools is unlikely to embrace forced co-operation and support from outside the brand. This point was raised recently at the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into academies and free schools by <a href="http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=16037">Chris Keates, general secretary of the union NASUWT</a> who asked: “how often have we seen ASDA, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer share their secrets of success with one another?” </p>
<h2>Not super everywhere</h2>
<p>A final issue for the proposed NTS is the assumption that a great teacher in one school will naturally be great in another. Great teachers come in all shapes and forms. The successful, academically gifted teacher of high-ability pupils in a selective, exclusive, fee-paying school may well be outstanding in that school. But place them in a school where pupils come from a deprived background, where the love for learning is distinctly absent from their home background, and the result may well be a teacher who at best requires improvement or who is unsatisfactory.</p>
<p>A hit squad of elite teachers sounds great to the public who naturally want a quick fix for any failing school, especially if they live in its catchment area and worry about their child’s future. What is important is not rhetoric or an imposed ideology, but a system of community support that values schools, teachers and children. A competitive marketplace is not the place where such an approach can easily succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32974/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As a theme for Hollywood filmmakers, the crack team of experts sent in where others dare to tread to rectify wrongdoing and uphold the rights of the downtrodden citizen, is well-worn. Think of the reboots…James Williams, Lecturer in Science Education, Sussex School of Education and Social Work, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/329042014-10-14T05:18:21Z2014-10-14T05:18:21ZWe must end schools being run by contract – it’s fragmenting the education system<p>The debate about how to build a sound, sustainable system of governance for English schools out of the disarray that the coalition government will bequeath to its successor is gaining momentum. The present situation simply isn’t viable.</p>
<p>The Conservatives have <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29574125">just unveiled new manifesto proposals</a> that would give more power to eight existing regional school commissioners in an effort to react more quickly to failing schools. Although these commissioners currently only have oversight of academies and free schools, the Conservatives have suggested they could be given powers to intervene in all state-maintained schools that are deemed as inadequate by schools inspectorate Ofsted. </p>
<p>It seems that some recent proposals put forward in a <a href="http://www.ippr.org/publications/whole-system-reform-englands-schools-and-the-middle-tier">report</a> by the left-leaning think tank the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), which attempted to chart a path through the school governance minefield, are already gaining political traction. The report is likely to be given close attention by whichever party, or combination of parties, forms the next government.</p>
<p>But as ways are sought to save this disintegrating school system, we should focus first and foremost on the sudden and dramatic growth of school governance by contract and aim to bring it to an end. </p>
<h2>‘Whole system’ approach</h2>
<p>Although the growth in school autonomy is given a cautious welcome in the IPPR report, it identifies a range of <a href="https://theconversation.com/failing-academy-chains-highlight-hole-at-heart-of-education-policy-23954">familiar problems</a> with the current fragmented system of state-maintained schools, academies and free schools, which all receive public funding. These include over-centralisation, inadequate oversight, complex and unfair admission processes and patchy provision of school support networks. </p>
<p>The way forward, says the IPPR report, is to develop a “whole system” approach to schooling, built around five key elements. Schools would have similar powers to their existing ones but more would be done to promote collaborative activity between schools and there would be regional challenge programmes <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-londons-secondary-schools-have-improved-so-much-28531">modelled on the London Challenge</a>, a policy that worked to boost attainment in London’s schools. </p>
<p>Local authorities would have strong powers over planning the number of available school places, admissions and provision for vulnerable children. Groups of authorities would jointly appoint a school commissioner who would have strategic oversight of all schools, power to commission and decommission schools and to broker a change of provider. </p>
<p>A national regulator would act as a court of appeal against decisions of the school commissioners. The central government would then set the broad framework including the core curriculum, the level of public funding and would monitor overall standards.</p>
<h2>Legal contract</h2>
<p>Under the report’s proposals, it appears that all publicly funded schools, whether academies or state schools, would be run by legal contract – a massive extension of a process that, paradoxically, the report says needs to be reviewed. At present, academies and free schools operate on the basis of a seven-year “funding agreement” and the IPPR’s proposed commissioners would seemingly be expected to apply this approach to all schools under the terms of their remit. </p>
<p>The authors argue that their ideas about “whole system reform” are supported by international evidence, for example from Canada, but most comparable countries don’t run their school systems via legal contracts, nor do they emphasise the need for a diversity of school providers.</p>
<p>Yet a proper “whole system” approach to school governance should ensure all publicly funded schools have a similar legal status based on the principles of public, not contract law. This would involve phasing out the system of funding agreements as contracts come up for renewal and replacing it by a model such as that of the Trust School. </p>
<p>This model, introduced by the Labour government in 2006, has been widely taken up, for example by hundreds of <a href="http://school.coop/about-us/">Co-operative schools</a>. The schools are maintained by a local authority and are supported by a charitable trust. This allows for plenty of autonomy, promotes collaborative structures and enables external partners to be involved in governance and leadership. </p>
<h2>Beefed-up commissioners</h2>
<p>One of the key proposals from the IPPR is for an extra tier of local government built around more local and regional school commissioners. This has distinct echoes of the plan for sub-regional “directors of school standards” <a href="http://www.yourbritain.org.uk/agenda-2015/policy-review/putting-students-and-parents-first">in report prepared for Labour</a> by former secretary of state for education David Blunkett earlier this year. </p>
<p>But the IPPR’s authors, Rick Muir and Jonathan Clifton, have put much more detail on their ideas than Blunkett did. Under their scheme, there would be many more commissioners than the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-number-of-academies-and-free-schools-to-create-a-better-and-more-diverse-school-system/supporting-pages/regional-schools-commissioners-rscs">existing eight</a>, and they would govern all schools, academies or not. </p>
<p>But there are significant problems with their approach. First it introduces another layer of what its opponents would castigate as wasteful bureaucracy. Second a city-wide or sub-regional approach could be seen by parents, teachers and local communities as more remote than existing oversight by local authorities. </p>
<h2>Competition still driving force</h2>
<p>Most significant are the tensions built into the very idea of “commissioner” which is currently so fashionable in education. Increasingly it seems to signify someone charged with promoting a competitive market in the supply of schools through the process of commissioning. </p>
<p>Among the duties of its new-style commissioners, the IPPR proposes that they should ensure a diversity of providers, run competitions for new schools where a need has been identified and follow agreed and transparent procurement processes. The authors don’t seriously consider whether diversity of providers is in the public interest or even wanted by parents, teachers or communities. Nor do they consider the skills or capacity commissioners would need to operate robust procurement processes, which have often proved beyond the means of central government.</p>
<p>In fact in the IIPR’s plan it seems competition would still be the system’s motor, in spite of the lack of evidence of its beneficial effects on educational quality and the likelihood that it would sustain the fragmentation and incoherence that are the hallmarks of the current system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32904/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ron Glatter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The debate about how to build a sound, sustainable system of governance for English schools out of the disarray that the coalition government will bequeath to its successor is gaining momentum. The present…Ron Glatter, Emeritus Professor of Educational Administration and Management, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.