De-Democratizing and Professionalizing Academy Governance in England: Devaluing the Stakeholder — Is There an Alternative?

• In Event: Learning and Leadership in International Contexts

Abstract

This paper outlines how the policies of successive British governments have eroded democracy in schools in England and, subsequently, secured a democratic deficit for parents and community stakeholders. Professionalisation and skills have become privileged over stake, with little room for “localisation”. The case study school, a Co-operative Academy in England, is explored as an alternative in neoliberal contexts of education, as well as its realisation of its core value of democracy through deliberative processes. Data were gathered using qualitative methods with key leaders in the Co-operative Academy Trust and parents. Findings show that the Co-operative’s branding and values represent an alternative, however, a deliberative democratic system with democracy agency exists as an illusion exerting power over rather than power with.

Author

• Janet E Hetherington, Staffordshire University