Toby Greany
Biographic Data
| ID | 4218335 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Toby Greany |
| GIVEN NAMES | Toby |
| FAMILY NAME | Greany |
| SIGNATURE | GREANY T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Nottingham |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3045-7047 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Primary school mathematics leaders as brokers of professional learning
Continuing professional development and learning (CPDL) is key to educational quality and teacher retention, yet the remodelling of England’s school system in recent years has shifted roles and responsibilities for this important work. This article reports on a recent investigation into the CPDL work of mathematics subject leaders in 19 primary schools in three locality case studies, drawing on analysis of 57 interviews and using Harris’ four dim…
Beyond literacy interventions
This article examines how four secondary schools in a remote, rural and coastal region implemented evidence‐based approaches to improve student literacy. It introduces a novel nested capitals framework that integrates social capital theory with professional capital and institutional capital, conceptualising these as interacting across multiple system levels (students and families, staff and schools). We analyse how leaders and teachers in the cas…
A pipeline crisis or a sustainability crisis? Local and national succession planning for headteachers in England
Recruiting and retaining school leaders is a challenge in many systems worldwide. Previous research has identified three distinct ways in which succession planning can be conceptualised and approached: a ‘pipeline’ approach seeks to match supply and demand for the posts that need filling; a ‘pool’ strategy involves proactively identifying and developing a wider group of potential leaders who can step up when needed; while a ‘reservoir’ mentality …
The best of times, the worst of times
The COVID 19 pandemic created new challenges for school leaders. They worked very long hours in difficult circumstances. Improvising and responding quickly to poorly timed central guidelines had an adverse effect on their health and wellbeing. Our mixed methods studies show that leaders’ pandemic work was largely directed to establishing new management routines as well as dealing with people. Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis allows us to see that …
Working with complexity
Inter-school networks have been promoted in many school systems globally to facilitate: knowledge generation and dissemination; responsiveness to increasingly diverse student and societal needs; and emotional and practical peer support for educational professionals. In understanding contemporary education as a ‘wicked’ problem, this paper explores case studies of inter-school networks in Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand) and England through the …
Moral Purpose in Performative Times
School leaders are expected to act with integrity, but values are always contested: one person’s ‘moral purpose’ is not the same as another’s. Researchers have explored these issues from different angles. One approach focusses on individual leaders, seeking to understand how their values inform their practice. Other work highlights that individual values are only part of the story: values are embedded within professional norms and organisational …
Storytelling With Networks
Network visualizations are alluring yet deceptively difficult to interpret. This article demonstrates several strategies for integrating qualitative data into interactive network diagrams for the purposes of providing contextual information about actors and their relationships. The result is a new joint display called a Narrated Network Diagram (NND). The development of NNDs aims to make network visualizations more reliable tools for reporting re…
Place-based governance and leadership in decentralised school systems
Relatively few studies have explored the ways in which ‘middle tier’ institutional arrangements in education, such as school districts and local authorities, are responding to New Public Management reforms characterized by centralization, decentralization, marketization and disintermediation. This paper analyses these issues, drawing on governance and path dependency theories, together with evidence from five locality case studies in England. It …
Vox Poetica
The work of school leaders during lockdown has been emotionally charged and emotionally draining, affecting immediate well-being and longer term career plans. To communicate the emotions that we were told about and which were obvious during interviews with serving headteachers, we turned to arts-informed methods. We used poems made from transcripts to complement and supplement the analysis of 58 interviews and survey responses (n = 1491). This pa…
Structural integration and knowledge exchange in multi-academy trusts
This article analyses the ways in which leaders in Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) in England work to develop shared improvement practices across the schools they operate. It draws on case study evidence gathered as part of a larger mixed methods study by the authors (Greany, 2018). There are now more than 1200 MATs in England, operating anywhere between two and 50+ academies within a single organizational structure, overseen by a board and Chief Exe…
The trust deficit in England
Limited research has assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on school leaders specifically. Working together with England's two leader associations, we designed and conducted a national survey of almost 1500 leaders in summer 2021 to assess the impact of the pandemic on their well-being and career plans. This paper introduces some initial findings and discusses the implications for policy and practice
Place-based governance and leadership in decentralised school systems
Relatively few studies have explored the ways in which ‘middle tier’ institutional arrangements in education, such as school districts and local authorities, are responding to New Public Management reforms characterized by centralization, decentralization, marketization and disintermediation. This paper analyses these issues, drawing on governance and path dependency theories, together with evidence from five locality case studies in England. It …
The trust deficit in England
Limited research has assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on school leaders specifically. Working together with England's two leader associations, we designed and conducted a national survey of almost 1500 leaders in summer 2021 to assess the impact of the pandemic on their well-being and career plans. This paper introduces some initial findings and discusses the implications for policy and practice
Storytelling With Networks
Network visualizations are alluring yet deceptively difficult to interpret. This article demonstrates several strategies for integrating qualitative data into interactive network diagrams for the purposes of providing contextual information about actors and their relationships. The result is a new joint display called a Narrated Network Diagram (NND). The development of NNDs aims to make network visualizations more reliable tools for reporting re…
The best of times, the worst of times
The COVID 19 pandemic created new challenges for school leaders. They worked very long hours in difficult circumstances. Improvising and responding quickly to poorly timed central guidelines had an adverse effect on their health and wellbeing. Our mixed methods studies show that leaders’ pandemic work was largely directed to establishing new management routines as well as dealing with people. Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis allows us to see that …
Moral Purpose in Performative Times
School leaders are expected to act with integrity, but values are always contested: one person’s ‘moral purpose’ is not the same as another’s. Researchers have explored these issues from different angles. One approach focusses on individual leaders, seeking to understand how their values inform their practice. Other work highlights that individual values are only part of the story: values are embedded within professional norms and organisational …
Structural integration and knowledge exchange in multi-academy trusts
This article analyses the ways in which leaders in Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) in England work to develop shared improvement practices across the schools they operate. It draws on case study evidence gathered as part of a larger mixed methods study by the authors (Greany, 2018). There are now more than 1200 MATs in England, operating anywhere between two and 50+ academies within a single organizational structure, overseen by a board and Chief Exe…
The trust deficit in England
Limited research has assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on school leaders specifically. Working together with England's two leader associations, we designed and conducted a national survey of almost 1500 leaders in summer 2021 to assess the impact of the pandemic on their well-being and career plans. This paper introduces some initial findings and discusses the implications for policy and practice
Place-based governance and leadership in decentralised school systems
Relatively few studies have explored the ways in which ‘middle tier’ institutional arrangements in education, such as school districts and local authorities, are responding to New Public Management reforms characterized by centralization, decentralization, marketization and disintermediation. This paper analyses these issues, drawing on governance and path dependency theories, together with evidence from five locality case studies in England. It …
Vox Poetica
The work of school leaders during lockdown has been emotionally charged and emotionally draining, affecting immediate well-being and longer term career plans. To communicate the emotions that we were told about and which were obvious during interviews with serving headteachers, we turned to arts-informed methods. We used poems made from transcripts to complement and supplement the analysis of 58 interviews and survey responses (n = 1491). This pa…
Storytelling With Networks
Network visualizations are alluring yet deceptively difficult to interpret. This article demonstrates several strategies for integrating qualitative data into interactive network diagrams for the purposes of providing contextual information about actors and their relationships. The result is a new joint display called a Narrated Network Diagram (NND). The development of NNDs aims to make network visualizations more reliable tools for reporting re…
Working with complexity
Inter-school networks have been promoted in many school systems globally to facilitate: knowledge generation and dissemination; responsiveness to increasingly diverse student and societal needs; and emotional and practical peer support for educational professionals. In understanding contemporary education as a ‘wicked’ problem, this paper explores case studies of inter-school networks in Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand) and England through the …
Moral Purpose in Performative Times
School leaders are expected to act with integrity, but values are always contested: one person’s ‘moral purpose’ is not the same as another’s. Researchers have explored these issues from different angles. One approach focusses on individual leaders, seeking to understand how their values inform their practice. Other work highlights that individual values are only part of the story: values are embedded within professional norms and organisational …
A pipeline crisis or a sustainability crisis? Local and national succession planning for headteachers in England
Recruiting and retaining school leaders is a challenge in many systems worldwide. Previous research has identified three distinct ways in which succession planning can be conceptualised and approached: a ‘pipeline’ approach seeks to match supply and demand for the posts that need filling; a ‘pool’ strategy involves proactively identifying and developing a wider group of potential leaders who can step up when needed; while a ‘reservoir’ mentality …
The best of times, the worst of times
The COVID 19 pandemic created new challenges for school leaders. They worked very long hours in difficult circumstances. Improvising and responding quickly to poorly timed central guidelines had an adverse effect on their health and wellbeing. Our mixed methods studies show that leaders’ pandemic work was largely directed to establishing new management routines as well as dealing with people. Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis allows us to see that …
Primary school mathematics leaders as brokers of professional learning
Continuing professional development and learning (CPDL) is key to educational quality and teacher retention, yet the remodelling of England’s school system in recent years has shifted roles and responsibilities for this important work. This article reports on a recent investigation into the CPDL work of mathematics subject leaders in 19 primary schools in three locality case studies, drawing on analysis of 57 interviews and using Harris’ four dim…
Beyond literacy interventions
This article examines how four secondary schools in a remote, rural and coastal region implemented evidence‐based approaches to improve student literacy. It introduces a novel nested capitals framework that integrates social capital theory with professional capital and institutional capital, conceptualising these as interacting across multiple system levels (students and families, staff and schools). We analyse how leaders and teachers in the cas…
Sociology (6 works) · Political science (5 works) · Pedagogy (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Public relations (4 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (4 works) · 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak (2 works) · Computer Science (2 works) · COVID-19 and Mental Health (2 works) · Education Systems and Policy (2 works)