ABSTRACT

The academisation of schooling in Northern England is an example of a new mode of educational governance that promises greater autonomy for schools and school leaders. A common claim regarding the benefits of academisation is that it will improve student outcomes by delivering greater autonomy for Headteachers. In this paper, six Headteachers from Northern England, who had decided to academise their schools for various reasons, reflect on this promised autonomy. We develop the concept of ‘indentured autonomy’ (an outcome of negotiating autonomy, continued precariousness and cruel optimism) to explain how these Headteachers’ initial optimism for the academies programme has given way to the concern that they are probably less autonomous now than what they were previously. Paradoxically, these HTs still express a desire for autonomy, even as they reflect that the promised autonomy has not delivered what they had hoped.

摘要

英格兰北部学校教育的学院化是一种新的教育治理模式的例子，它承诺为学校和学校领导者提供更大的自主权。关于学院化的好处的一个普遍主张是，它将通过为校长提供更大的自主权来提高学生的成绩。在这篇论文中，来自英格兰北部的六名校长出于各种原因决定将他们的学校进行学院化，他们反思了这一承诺的自主权。我们发展了“契约自治”的概念（谈判自治、持续的不稳定和残酷的乐观的结果）来解释这些校长最初对学院计划的乐观如何让位于他们现在可能不如他们现在的自主权的担忧以前是。矛盾的是，这些 HT 仍然表达了对自治的渴望，