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Author Heffernan, Amanda, author

Title The principal and school improvement : theorising discourse, policy, and practice / Amanda Heffernan
Published Singapore : Springer, [2018]
©2018

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Description 1 online resource
Series Educational leadership theory
Educational leadership theory.
Contents Intro; Series Editors' Foreword; Acknowledgements; Contents; Abbreviations; 1 Introducing a'United' Agenda forPrincipals; About the Study: Theoretical Framework; Macro-level: Theories About the System; Performativity; Sociology of Numbers andtheQuantification of Education; Micro-level: Theories About the Individual; Discourse; Subjectivity; Discipline, Surveillance, and Governmentality; About the Study: Research Design; Methodology; Observations; Document Interrogation; Interviews; Data Analysis; Contributions totheField of Educational Leadership; Structure of Forthcoming Chapters
Australian Reforms: AShifting Policy LandscapeKey Areas of Education Reform inAustralia; The Introduction of NAPLAN; MySchool-The Impact of Public and Transparent National Data; Queensland Reforms: The Research Context; Pieces of Queensland's Policy Ensemble-NAPLAN Testing asaCatalyst forMajor Reform inQueensland; Impact of High-Stakes Testing Regimes-The Manipulation of Data; Pieces of Queensland's Policy Ensemble-External Teaching and Learning Audits; Pieces of Queensland's Policy Ensemble-Independent Public Schools; Conclusion; References; 4 Max, Judy, and Scott
Shared Context-The RegionICSEA Scores; Max-Ironcliff State School; Judy-Merriwald State School; Scott-Mount Pleasant State School; Additional Participants: Richard and Tracy; Richard-Assistant Regional Director; Tracy-Regional Project Officer; Conclusion; References; 5 The Evolving Nature ofthePrincipalship: Pressures Created by Rapid School Improvement Reforms; The Impact of Policy Reforms onthePrincipalship; Max, Judy, and Scott's Conceptualisations ofthePrincipalship; Participants' Perceptions of Autonomy, Accountability, andthePrincipalship
Increased Accountabilities and Pressures onthePrincipalshipResponding toIncreased Senses of Pressure-Discourses oftheSystem as'They/Them'; 'AnUnholy Emphasis onData': How Performativity and Quantification Add Pressure tothePrincipalship; Instructional Leadership and Shifting Expectations inthePrincipalship; The Changing Principalship: Notions of'Quality' andtheSeductiveness oftheQuick-Fix; Conclusion; References; 6 'Stick totheKnitting': Principals Identifying and Maintaining aFocus forTheir School; 'Stick totheKnitting'-AMetaphor forUnderstanding the Work of Schools
Summary This book investigates the localised effects of reform by exploring the impact of a school improvement policy agenda on the work of three experienced principals. It presents three longitudinal case studies within a shared specific leadership context in Queensland, Australia. The case studies enable an exploration of the way the principalship in this context has evolved over time, providing deep insights into the practices and beliefs of three experienced school leaders working in a period of rapid and urgent systemic reform. The nature of global reform policy borrowing means that the research and the findings within this monograph are relevant for international audiences. The book describes a new way to understand and theorise the effects of reform policies and associated pressures on school leaders. Using post-structural theory, it provides a better understanding of the specific effects of reform policy ensembles, particularly when combined with an analysis of the ways policy and discourse work together at a wider level to create an environment that disciplines the principalship. Further, it sheds lights on the means of complying with or contesting policy influences and how the work of leaders has changed over time
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Vendor-supplied metadata
Subject School improvement programs -- Australia -- Queensland
School management and organization -- Australia -- Queensland
EDUCATION -- Administration -- General.
EDUCATION -- Organizations & Institutions.
School improvement programs
School management and organization
Queensland
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9789811314957
9811314950