How Australian School Leaders Interpret and Implement Education Policies in a Context of Policy Overload

• In Event: Equity and Community Contexts: Implications for Educational Leadership and Policy

Abstract

In this paper, we explore Australian secondary school leaders’ relationships to a glutted education policy landscape. We find that principals tend to strictly follow those policies addressing a controversial or politicized issue like anti-radicalization and anti-extremism. Policies lacking clearly communicated goals and implementation guidelines result in inconsistent interpretation and implementation among principals. Finally, some leaders entirely disregard policies they perceived to be inappropriate and misaligned with their educational goals and values. Principals’ behaviors toward policies are driven by fear of sanction (by their superiors or the media); by how detailed and prescriptive the policy is; and by their own personal stance, knowledge of and self-efficacy related to the particular issue addressed in the policy.

Authors

• Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, University of California - Santa Barbara
  Presenting Author

• Matthew A.M. Thomas, University of Glasgow
  Presenting Author