Session Information
15 SES 07, Models of Partnership in Action
Paper Session
Contribution
This paper explores the distinct contributions of research into the nature of partnerships between changing school systems in England, and a Local Authority (LA) in the context of its reduced capacity. The focus is around one LA in the East of England. LAs in England are responsible for education within their jurisdiction (DfE, 1988; Jones, 2004), including responsibility for: high quality educational provision; ensuring sufficient primary and secondary school places; ensuring diversity in the provision of school places; suitable home-to-school transport; educating excluded and vulnerable children and those with special educational needs (SEN) (DfE, 1996; DfE, 1989; DfES, 2002; DfES, 2004).
There is a significant European Dimension to the issue, as there is a growing focus across Europe on educational management and leadership, such as in all Nordic countries (Skott and Kofod, 2013), Spain (Olmedo, 2013) and Ireland (Darmody et al, 2012); whilst in other countries, such as Cyprus, there is a growing interest in the development of educational systems and research into the partnerships in education (Klerides and Kotthoff, 2015). Furthermore, this research is particularly relevant in a pan-European context in view of contemporary initiatives regarding teachers to be more proactive in addressing social inclusion and tackling underachievement and early school leaving (EADSNE, 2012).
However, increasingly, schools in England are faced with “the declining role of LA support services” (Lewis et al, 1997, p.8) as a result of the privatisation of school-based education (West and Bailey, 2013). Glatter surmised that “the powers of local government in education have been greatly reduced in spite of international evidence that a strong mediating layer is vital for successful performance” (2013b, para.3).
Research commissioned by the UK government (DfE, 2012) explored how LAs are evolving and adapting their role to meet the needs of a changing education system. One of the key messages of the research was that in the changing climate of schooling, LAs can play an integral role in convening effective and long-term partnerships both between schools and between the LA and schools.
The research project used an interpretivist approach, following Klein and Myers (1999), the knowledge was gained through a series of interviews and surveys with school and LA stakeholders sharing their understanding of, and views on, the changing relationships between them. Their socially constructed realities, along with those of the research team, were explored and used to understand the social and organizational context in the county in terms of schools and the reduced role of the LA. The intrepretivisit theoretical framework incorporated the typologies of and the nature of partnerships and collaborations. Partnerships are being increasingly used in the public sector and are seen as a way to maximise the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder approaches to the delivery of services (Fenwick et al., 2012).
Therefore, in order to help the LA, in its reduced capacity, meet its statutory duties, research that maps the networks, partnerships and collaborations in the new, more autonomous and changing school system helps to inform an effective and sustainable role for the LA in terms of meeting its responsibilities for the schooling and welfare of the children. The specific research questions include:
- What do schools see as the role of the LA and vice versa?
- How can schools and the LA work together effectively to raise standards, ‘close the gap’, ensure the health, welfare and well-being of all children and young people in the county?
- What partnerships exist across the LA and schools and what type of collaborations have these led to?
- What is the optimal structure for these partnerships in order to deliver sustainable and effective collaboration?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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