Helen Gunter
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 584592 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Helen Gunter |
| NOMBRES | Helen |
| APELLIDO | Gunter |
| FIRMA | GUNTER H |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Manchester |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6486-5033 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 57 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 179 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 56 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1999 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2024 |
| ÍNDICE H | 7 |
Charisma, claimocracy and education policy in England and Norway
Education reform internationally has focused on school principals as corporate transformational leaders. Our research in England and Norway has identified the problematics of this model, where we have recognised an education reform claimocracy that has committed policy violence through this imposed identity. We explain the meaning and evidence for a claimocracy, and we show convergences in reform design and intentions. We then examine the diverge…
The End of Education Policy
Education is no longer the responsibility of education policy as public policy. Instead the provision of and access to school places has been relocated away from the desk of publicly elected representatives and appointed accredited professionals, to a range of private sites controlled by oligarchic club interests engaged in market exchanges: first, little monarchies, such as the Harris family; second, little representatives, such as the Confedera…
Policy Mortality and UK Government Education Policy for Schools in England
Successive UK governments have adopted failure as a strategy in the reform of public education in England: first, to construct crises in order to blame professionals/parents/children for a failing system; and second, to provide rescue solutions that are designed to fail in order to sustain the change imperative. We describe this as policy mortality, or the integration of systemic and organisational ‘death’ within reform design. Our research demon…
An intellectual history of the political in the educational management, administration and leadership field
Research and practice regarding politics within and for the educational management administration and leadership community are well established. The 50th anniversary issue of the journal educational management, administration and leadership is an opportunity to examine knowledge production where I have developed a new conceptual framework based on three approaches to ontology and epistemology in the social sciences. This framework presents positi…
Terry Wrigley – an appreciation of an activist researcher life
Researching Professional Biographies of Educational Professionals in New Dark Times
Education reform under the modernisation agenda both in England and internationally has signified the restoration of the ‘private’ and the decline of ‘public’ education. Deploying Arendtian thinking on assimilation and identity, we argue that these ongoing reforms are indeed dark times for education professionals. We examine what ‘new dark times’ mean for those in leader roles in schools and organisations that are contracted to deliver, such as a…
Theorising systemic change
The research reported in this article contributes new understandings of systemic change by studying the form of system redesign known in England as academisation. The data illuminate tensions within the neoliberal policy complex that are surfaced in a single secondary school. Although several studies have described academy conversions retrospectively, there has been little research that both analyses the complex month-by-month realities of decisi…
Debating the agenda
In our inaugural editorial that appeared in Volume 40, Issue 1 (Gunter and Fitzgerald 2008) we set out our agenda for the journal. We articulated our commitment to showcase cutting-edge scholarship
Educational administration and history part 1
TEST 02 - Elsevier's Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Search and access research from the science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts and humanities fields
New Public Management and the Reform of Education
Get off my bus! School leaders, vision work and the elimination of teachers
In this paper, we argue that school leaders are removing those who embody or vocalize alternative conceptualizations of educator. It seems as if Collins’ call in his 2001 book Good to Great to get the right people on the bus is being taken very seriously by school leaders seeking to raise standards. This is achieved by eradicating ‘inadequate’ teaching, and implementing the leader’s ‘vision’, which we argue consists in silencing and potentially r…
The politics of education policy in England
In this appreciative discussion paper I provide an overview of the reforms made to education in England, and engage with the politics of education through examining the simultaneous and inter-related processes of politicisation, depoliticisation and repoliticisation of educational matters. I engage in a discussion of the papers in this special issue through this framework
Consultants, consultancy and consultocracy in education policymaking in England
The role and contribution of consultants and consultancy in public services has grown rapidly and the power of consultants suggests the emergence of a ‘consultocracy’. We draw on research evidence from the social sciences and critical education policy (CEP) studies to present an examination of the state of the field. We deploy a framework that examines functional, critical and socially critical research and theorising, and we identify the emergin…
Educational administration and neoliberalism
The globalisation of the dismantling of public education is evident through the privatisation of collective assets and service provision, and the entry of new providers with a for-profit motive. He
A nova gestão pública na Inglaterra
A reforma da educação na Inglaterra tem sido intimamente associada a um programa mais amplo da nova gestão pública, centrado na reforma dos serviços públicos. Este artigo analisa as características deste programa de reformas inspirado na NGP, tendo em vista que o sistema educacional inglês se deslocou de uma forma cívica e de proteção social ("cívico-welfarista") para um modo em que o neoliberalismo despontou em ascendência. Atenção particular é …
The politics of the Academies Programme
Our investigations into the politics of the Academies Programme in England have generated thinking that draws on data about the conversion process from two projects. We engage with an early City Academy that replaced two ‘failing’ schools, and a recent Academy that replaced a ‘successful’ high school. We deploy Hannah Arendt’s political tools of natality and pluralism to illuminate the depoliticisation of educational reform in England. We identif…
In and out, and roundabouts
I have worked in partnership with the School where the Embedded Researcher was based for over 10 years. In writing up a period of research undertaken with Pat Thomson (University of Nottingham), we coined the phrase ‘liquid researcher’ (Thomson and Gunter, 2011). We wanted to move from the ‘insider–outsider’ binary towards an understanding of the messiness and contingency of such work. While formally outside of the School and not on the payroll, …
Educational administration and the social sciences
Educational Administration and History
New Public Management and the modernisation of education systems 1
An important issue for those concerned with the study and practice of educational administration is the relationship between the state and civil society. Publicly funded institutions such as nurser
New Public Management and the modernisation of education systems 2
Researching and conceptualising the field
This concluding paper examines the contributions in this Guest Issue by locating them within the ongoing debates about the role and contribution of social science research, particularly through the production of journals. Set in the context of on-going attacks on the relevance of social science research and the failure to respond to major crises that affect us all, I argue that the field of educational leadership is an important site for showing …
Le leadership scolaire, restructuration managériale de l'organisation de l'établissement scolaire
Cet article s’appuie sur les recherches proposées et théorisées au sein du Projet “La Production du savoir dans le leadership éducatif” (KNEL). L’auteur s’intéresse à la production du savoir et à l’évolution de la gestion de l’école sous les gouvernements travaillistes (New Labour) de 1997 à 2010 en examinant d’abord la domination de la stratégie dite de la gestion des écoles, fondée sur la détermination d’élites en matière de pratiques professio…
The pendulum swings
The Field of Educational Administration in England
Based on over twenty years of empirical and intellectual work about knowledge production in the field of educational administration, I examine the origins and development of the canon, methodologies and knowledge workers in England. I focus on the field as being primarily concerned with professional activity and how and why this was established from the 1960s, and the way knowledge workers have variously positioned themselves over time and in con…
Academy schools and entrepreneurialism in education
The academy schools programme in England is presented by Government as the means by which increased diversity and private participation in the provision of public education can be used to solve educational and wider social problems. The entrepreneurial features of academy schools are examined, through a study of the sponsors and the ethos, values and specialisms of academies. Data on 58 academies (open or in development), gathered from secondary …
Consultants, consultancy and consultocracy in education policymaking in England
The role and contribution of consultants and consultancy in public services has grown rapidly and the power of consultants suggests the emergence of a ‘consultocracy’. We draw on research evidence from the social sciences and critical education policy (CEP) studies to present an examination of the state of the field. We deploy a framework that examines functional, critical and socially critical research and theorising, and we identify the emergin…
The politics of the Academies Programme
Our investigations into the politics of the Academies Programme in England have generated thinking that draws on data about the conversion process from two projects. We engage with an early City Academy that replaced two ‘failing’ schools, and a recent Academy that replaced a ‘successful’ high school. We deploy Hannah Arendt’s political tools of natality and pluralism to illuminate the depoliticisation of educational reform in England. We identif…
From ‘consulting pupils’ to ‘pupils as researchers’
Schools in England are now being encouraged to ‘personalise’ the curriculum and to consult students about teaching and learning. This article reports on an evaluation of one high school which is working hard to increase student subject choice, introduce integrated curriculum in the middle years and to improve teaching and learning while maintaining a commitment to inclusive and equitable comprehensive education. The authors worked with a small gr…
Theorising systemic change
The research reported in this article contributes new understandings of systemic change by studying the form of system redesign known in England as academisation. The data illuminate tensions within the neoliberal policy complex that are surfaced in a single secondary school. Although several studies have described academy conversions retrospectively, there has been little research that both analyses the complex month-by-month realities of decisi…
Education and poverty
Although there is widespread agreement that poverty and poor educational outcomes are related, there are different explanations about why that should be the case. The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual synthesis of some of the research literature on poverty and education. From our readings the debates cohere, to a greater or lesser extent, around three different foci: ones that focus on the individual and that we have termed the ‘mi…
School leadership and education policy-making in England
We report on a major Economic and Social Science Research Council funded study: the Knowledge production in educational leadership Project (RES-000-23-1192), with a particular focus on the relationship between the state, public policy and knowledge. The project focused on the first 10 years of New Labour education policy-making, with a particular emphasis on investment in school leadership as a means of delivering radical reforms. The specific ai…
Leading schools to promote social inclusion
Although much research has focussed on how various educational policy initiatives have attempted to improve problems of social exclusion, little research has systematically examined, categorised and synthesised the types of leadership in schools that might assist improving social inclusion. Given the importance of school leadership in New Labour educational policy for bringing about education change and improvement, it seems rather strange that t…
A nova gestão pública na Inglaterra
A reforma da educação na Inglaterra tem sido intimamente associada a um programa mais amplo da nova gestão pública, centrado na reforma dos serviços públicos. Este artigo analisa as características deste programa de reformas inspirado na NGP, tendo em vista que o sistema educacional inglês se deslocou de uma forma cívica e de proteção social ("cívico-welfarista") para um modo em que o neoliberalismo despontou em ascendência. Atenção particular é …
New Public Management and the modernisation of education systems 1
An important issue for those concerned with the study and practice of educational administration is the relationship between the state and civil society. Publicly funded institutions such as nurser
New Labour and School Leadership 1997–2007
We draw on empirical data and theorising that focuses on the relationship between the state, public policy and knowledge in the construction and configuration of school leadership under New Labour from 1997. Specifically we show how a school leadership policy network comprises people in different locations who operate as policy entrepreneurs in shaping policy
Modernizing the School Workforce in England
Centralized reform in English schools is based on a form of transformational change that we argue is unable to deliver in the ways demanded by reformers. Drawing on a government-based study of the school workforce and workload in English schools the article argues that the form of transformation evident in policy documents, training and reform strategies is based on a highly normative and noneducational form of change which is about securing refo…
A sociological approach to educational leadership
Advocacy leadership, by Gary L. Anderson, New York, Routledge, 2009, 213 pp., £24.99 (paperback), ISBN 978‐0‐41‐599428‐6 Radicalizing educational leadership, by Ira Bogotch, Floyd Beachum, Jackie B
The Methodology of Students-as-Researchers
n\t\t\t\t\tStudents in England are increasingly involved in consultation and governance of schools. Some are also involved in researching their own learning, how they are taught, the kinds of curriculum on offer, and school policies and practices. In this article, we suggest that this could be seen as a form of “standpoint research”. We suggest that one way standpoint can be exercised is via the construction of experience-based research tools. We…
Researching Professional Biographies of Educational Professionals in New Dark Times
Education reform under the modernisation agenda both in England and internationally has signified the restoration of the ‘private’ and the decline of ‘public’ education. Deploying Arendtian thinking on assimilation and identity, we argue that these ongoing reforms are indeed dark times for education professionals. We examine what ‘new dark times’ mean for those in leader roles in schools and organisations that are contracted to deliver, such as a…
The politics of education policy in England
In this appreciative discussion paper I provide an overview of the reforms made to education in England, and engage with the politics of education through examining the simultaneous and inter-related processes of politicisation, depoliticisation and repoliticisation of educational matters. I engage in a discussion of the papers in this special issue through this framework
Educational administration and history Part 1
In this first editorial paper we scope the terrain on which the JEAH is located and consider the knowledge production process that will shape the journal and, in turn, enable the journal to shape what is known and what is worth knowing. We begin by making a case for productive pluralism where we assert that the JEAH is not directly connected to a particular society or epistemic group, and so the opportunity exists for a range of work that focuses…
Educational administration and history Part 2
In this article, we examine the role of academic journals in the development of the field. In particular we focus on JEAH as an illustrative example of an academic journal that has, from the outset, reflected and portrayed intellectual developments in educational administration and history. We argue that academic journals, in effect, are one of the most visible and ostensibly powerful forms of knowledge production that can be a highly political a…
Researching bullying with students
Bullying is a serious problem in schools. This paper reports on a project in which the authors worked with a group of secondary students in an innovative school in the north of England to research issues of bullying and safety. The student researchers used photographs to stimulate conversations with focus groups of their peers. The data showed that while there was little serious bullying in the school, there was an everyday practice of name‐calli…
Researching and conceptualising the field
This concluding paper examines the contributions in this Guest Issue by locating them within the ongoing debates about the role and contribution of social science research, particularly through the production of journals. Set in the context of on-going attacks on the relevance of social science research and the failure to respond to major crises that affect us all, I argue that the field of educational leadership is an important site for showing …
New Labour and the logic of practice in educational reform
The paper draws on data and theorising from the Knowledge Production in Educational Leadership (KPEL) Project where we have investigated New Labour's education policy and investment in headteachers as school leaders in England. New Labour took up office in May 1997 with a modernisation agenda and the leadership of schools is central to this strategy. There have been a number of changes to the status and work of headteachers and a national trainin…
Life on Mars
In the hit BBC TV drama Life on Mars Sam Tyler had an accident and woke up in 1973. Is he mad, in a coma or actually back in time? As the drama unfolds he experiences a world without performance audits but also one without the safeguards for arrest, detention and the interviewing of suspects mandated by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984). The acclaimed series has led to flights of nostalgia, not least for a world in which police could ge…
Labels and Labelling in the Field of Educational Leadership
This paper reports on theorising based on developing histories of the field of educational leadership in higher education in the UK. These histories are being constructed through the collection of professional biographies of field members, reading the outputs of the field in the form of journals and books, and analysing the papers from the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society. In this paper I focus on how the fiel…
The Field of Educational Leadership
The field of educational leadership is multi-site, in which those who study and practice leadership are located within networks which connect across institutions and sectors. Charting the growth of this dynamic field is the central purpose of this paper and six interconnected typologies of knowledge production are presented: Producers, Positions, Provinces, Practices, Processes and Perspectives. We argue that these typologies enable those involve…
Thinking Theory
The field of education management has grown rapidly in the past 30 years with members positioning themselves in all parts of the education system. The main claim for distinctiveness is working with and on behalf of the practitioner, and intellectual positioning is based on the nature of intervention with the practitioner such as empirical research, course provision, and consultancy. In undertaking an intellectual analysis of the field, Bourdieu's…
Researching and Constructing Histories of the Field of Education Management
Thinking Theory
The field of education management has grown rapidly in the past 30 years with members positioning themselves in all parts of the education system. The main claim for distinctiveness is working with and on behalf of the practitioner, and intellectual positioning is based on the nature of intervention with the practitioner such as empirical research, course provision, and consultancy. In undertaking an intellectual analysis of the field, Bourdieu's…
Leaders and Leadership in Education
In this up-to-date review of current approaches to leadership in education, Helen Gunter challenges readers to develop alternative ways of thinking about their own role in leadership and the impact it has on school effectiveness
Gender, Identity and Working Lives
(2001). Gender, Identity and Working Lives. Gender and Education: Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 451-455
International networking and the development of the field of education management in the UK
Cet article analyse le developpement d'un champ de recherche en education, portant sur l'administration et la gestion de l'education au niveau international et au Royaume-Uni dans les annees 60. L'auteur definissant tout d'abord le champ de recherche, explore les raisons du developpement d'un reseau de chercheurs et l'impact de cet essor sur le domaine de recherche
The Field of Educational Leadership
The field of educational leadership is multi-site, in which those who study and practice leadership are located within networks which connect across institutions and sectors. Charting the growth of this dynamic field is the central purpose of this paper and six interconnected typologies of knowledge production are presented: Producers, Positions, Provinces, Practices, Processes and Perspectives. We argue that these typologies enable those involve…
Labels and Labelling in the Field of Educational Leadership
This paper reports on theorising based on developing histories of the field of educational leadership in higher education in the UK. These histories are being constructed through the collection of professional biographies of field members, reading the outputs of the field in the form of journals and books, and analysing the papers from the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society. In this paper I focus on how the fiel…
Trends in the Administration and History of Education
Responds to "Journal of Educational Administration and History" editor Roy Lowe's invitation to reflect on the original aims of the Journal and how these might be understood from the perspective of the editorial board and subscribers. Workforce that supports and enables learners and learning; Settings in which learners learn; When learners learn
Researching bullying with students
Bullying is a serious problem in schools. This paper reports on a project in which the authors worked with a group of secondary students in an innovative school in the north of England to research issues of bullying and safety. The student researchers used photographs to stimulate conversations with focus groups of their peers. The data showed that while there was little serious bullying in the school, there was an everyday practice of name‐calli…
From ‘consulting pupils’ to ‘pupils as researchers’
Schools in England are now being encouraged to ‘personalise’ the curriculum and to consult students about teaching and learning. This article reports on an evaluation of one high school which is working hard to increase student subject choice, introduce integrated curriculum in the middle years and to improve teaching and learning while maintaining a commitment to inclusive and equitable comprehensive education. The authors worked with a small gr…
Knowledge Production in the Field of Educational Leadership
Who knows about educational leadership, what knowing means, and what knowledge is produced is the core concern of this paper. The focus is on how histories of professional practice (teaching, research, publication) can and should be constructed in ways that not only chart events but also engage with the power processes that structure how agents are located in the world. An investigative framework and process is presented and used to argue how thi…
Modernizing the School Workforce in England
Centralized reform in English schools is based on a form of transformational change that we argue is unable to deliver in the ways demanded by reformers. Drawing on a government-based study of the school workforce and workload in English schools the article argues that the form of transformation evident in policy documents, training and reform strategies is based on a highly normative and noneducational form of change which is about securing refo…
Academy schools and entrepreneurialism in education
The academy schools programme in England is presented by Government as the means by which increased diversity and private participation in the provision of public education can be used to solve educational and wider social problems. The entrepreneurial features of academy schools are examined, through a study of the sponsors and the ethos, values and specialisms of academies. Data on 58 academies (open or in development), gathered from secondary …
The Contribution of Researching Professionals to Field Development
This Special Edition provides the opportunity for researchers to talk about their professional and research journeys that they have experienced through doctoral work. Our aim is to make public such stories so that the process of renewal and development within the field is opened up in ways that recognize the value and challenges of postgraduate study. In this introductory article we scope this and raise some issues that are central to how the fie…
The Methodology of Students-as-Researchers
n\t\t\t\t\tStudents in England are increasingly involved in consultation and governance of schools. Some are also involved in researching their own learning, how they are taught, the kinds of curriculum on offer, and school policies and practices. In this article, we suggest that this could be seen as a form of “standpoint research”. We suggest that one way standpoint can be exercised is via the construction of experience-based research tools. We…
Policy and Workforce Reform in England
Current workforce reform, known as Remodelling the School Workforce, is part of an enduring policy process where there have been tensions between public and private sector structures and cultures. I show that the New Right and New Labour governments who have built and configured site based performance management over the past quarter of a century have been concerned to construct a workforce sufficient in numbers and trained in implementation to d…
Leading schools to promote social inclusion
Although much research has focussed on how various educational policy initiatives have attempted to improve problems of social exclusion, little research has systematically examined, categorised and synthesised the types of leadership in schools that might assist improving social inclusion. Given the importance of school leadership in New Labour educational policy for bringing about education change and improvement, it seems rather strange that t…
Modernisation and the field of educational administration
In this article I examine New Labour’s approach to the transformation of education by focusing on Michael Barber’s account of policy delivery, and I show that while historical analysis is relevant to policy processes it is absent in the reality of design. I provide a critical evaluation of knowledge claims underpinning policy in England before I go on to show the importance of history both for and about policy and practice in education, where a s…
The state of the field of educational administration
Celebrating 40 years
Educational administration and history Part 1
In this first editorial paper we scope the terrain on which the JEAH is located and consider the knowledge production process that will shape the journal and, in turn, enable the journal to shape what is known and what is worth knowing. We begin by making a case for productive pluralism where we assert that the JEAH is not directly connected to a particular society or epistemic group, and so the opportunity exists for a range of work that focuses…
Educational administration and history Part 2
In this article, we examine the role of academic journals in the development of the field. In particular we focus on JEAH as an illustrative example of an academic journal that has, from the outset, reflected and portrayed intellectual developments in educational administration and history. We argue that academic journals, in effect, are one of the most visible and ostensibly powerful forms of knowledge production that can be a highly political a…
New Labour and School Leadership 1997–2007
We draw on empirical data and theorising that focuses on the relationship between the state, public policy and knowledge in the construction and configuration of school leadership under New Labour from 1997. Specifically we show how a school leadership policy network comprises people in different locations who operate as policy entrepreneurs in shaping policy
The ‘C’ word in educational research
Honored by the invitation to read and comment on the papers in this special edition, this final contribution is an appreciation of critical studies in education. This ‘C’ word is dangerous in a neo‐liberal world, but as the authors show there is much intellectually practical work that researchers and theorizers are doing. I take my starting point from the exclusion of children from the decision‐making processes about their lives and education, an…
Education and poverty
Although there is widespread agreement that poverty and poor educational outcomes are related, there are different explanations about why that should be the case. The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual synthesis of some of the research literature on poverty and education. From our readings the debates cohere, to a greater or lesser extent, around three different foci: ones that focus on the individual and that we have termed the ‘mi…
Sociology (49 obras) · Political science (48 obras) · Pedagogy (28 obras) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (24 obras) · Law (23 obras) · Public Administration (23 obras) · Global Educational Policies and Reforms (21 obras) · Higher education (19 obras) · Law (18 obras) · Public Administration (18 obras)