Leadership in the primary Catholic school in the West Midlands

Gould, Rachel Amanda (2016). Leadership in the primary Catholic school in the West Midlands. University of Birmingham. Ed.D.

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Abstract

Since the year 2000 there has been a statistically high proportion of head teachers’ leaving the profession. There have been studies conducted to predict when this exodus would conclude, but not the actual reasons for why senior people are leaving. Schools have found replacing head teachers’ increasingly difficult and the inevitable leadership crisis has been well documented by authors, such as Dorman and D’ Arbon (2003) and Harris (2007) alongside many articles in the media. The leadership crisis has been most noticeable within the Catholic Primary School sector.
This thesis identifies the leadership crisis from the negativity of the education system with possible supporting solutions, such as the value of acting headship, succession planning and talent spotting.
This research journey started with a questionnaire with eighty senior leadership teams within Catholic Primary schools (English West Midlands) and progressed to interviewing fifteen senior leaders, pooled from five head teachers; four deputy heads, three assistant heads and three middle leaders. The research was conducted from September 2011 to June 2014.
This study captures the importance of succession planning and expectations on faith school head teachers having many aspects adding to the working week. Accountability and workload issues are adding increasing pressure on a heads’ shoulders which is putting many senior leaders off.
The research concluded that any future succession planning should include opportunities for acting headship. The other emerging theme was the impact of OFSTED, especially in relation to the workload levels and the accountability of senior leader.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ed.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ed.D.

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