School Governing Bodies

School governing bodies provide the most common opportunity for citizens to participate in government in this country, but their role is singularly unclear and variable. Their past history shows that lack of clarity is not a recent phenomenon and that they have been used to stress different objectives at different times. The findings from a recent research project investigating the role of governing bodies within the local educational system are drawn on to explain the reasons for this uncertainty which, it is suggested, lie in the structural position governing bodies occupy within local educational systems and in the weakness of the power at their disposal. As a result of these factors, the role of governing bodies varies according to the strength of authority they exercise and the focus of their attention. Finally, it is suggested that one way to provide governing bodies with a more positive role and build upon the strengths of their pluralist nature would be to define their purpose with more precision

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