Primary school Governor training: exploring the fitness for purpose of the content and mode of delivery in England

Chung, Sarah ORCID: 0000-0002-9832-8762 (2025). Primary school Governor training: exploring the fitness for purpose of the content and mode of delivery in England. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

Chung2025PhD.pdf
Text - Accepted Version
Available under License All rights reserved.
Download (9MB)

Abstract

It is clear that the role of governance volunteers has grown exponentially, with levels of responsibility and accountability higher than ever before. This has contributed to a move away from the stakeholder-based model of governance seen in previous years to a skills-based one in which governing bodies actively recruit Governors based on their pre-existing skillsets. However, given the level of accountability involved in the role, the question arises as to whether these skills are in themselves adequate in preparing Governors to perform the role of Governor effectively or whether additional skills should be taught that enable them to have a better understanding of the educational landscape.
Adopting a mixed-method approach enabled the research to explore the perceptions of both Governors and senior leadership teams (SLT) with regards to the role Governor training plays in effective school governance. The aim of the research was to identify the current provision of Governor training, how this provision was perceived by both SLT and Governors in terms of quantity, quality, and its contribution to effective governance.
It was clear that whilst most Governors and SLT considered the overall quantity of provision to be ‘good’, there were concerns over the quality, with many referring to the “basic” or “generic” nature of training that they had experienced. There were calls for the quality of training to be improved and modernised. Many Governors felt that for training to be beneficial it needed to be relevant, contextualised, and utilise practical examples. However, for SLT the focus lay on ensuring training clarified boundaries and roles. One area that both Governors and SLT agreed was essential, was the importance of induction training for establishing knowledge at the very beginning of a governor’s tenure.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):