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COLUMBA 1400: HEAD TEACHER LEADERSHIP
ACADEMY: DEVELOPING ENTERPRISE CULTURE
CHAPTER TWO: ENTERPRISE AND EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
2.1 Literature which can inform this research and help
to place the research in context can be drawn from four
main sources. First, the 'enterprise' literature which
contains some limited studies on the effects of enterprise
initiatives on young people. Second, in addition, some
theoretical perspectives. Third, the 'education' literature
which contains education perspectives on the development of
education for work and enterprise. Fourth, literature
relating to CPD for school leaders. These four main sources
are dealt with in the following sub-sections.
ENTERPRISE LITERATURE: PREVIOUS EVIDENCE ON
ENTERPRISE AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S EDUCATION
2.2 The previous experience, research and developments
in Enterprise and Education do not provide a rich area for
informing policy or provide evidence that a focus on the
leadership role of Head Teachers will provide a model that
will lead to the transformation of attitudes to enterprise
by young people. For example, writers on enterprise and
education have pointed to the dearth of studies that have
examined the impact of enterprise education (Kolveried and
Moen, 1997, Anderson, et al. 2003). Research on the impact
of entrepreneurship education introduced in Scotland's
Universities as an element of Scottish Enterprise's
Business Birth Rate Strategy has been contradictory. For
example, Suness found little direct impact on student
attitudes to entrepreneurship (Suness, 2002); however, the
Business Birth Rate Review concluded that the introduction
of entrepreneurship education had been one of the more
positive aspects of the Strategy (Scottish Enterprise,
2001). In addition, a small number of studies across
different cultures have shown that the introduction of
enterprise in education does appear to make a difference to
attitudes and entrepreneurial start-up rates (Rosa and
Fletcher, 1998; Kolvereid and Moen, 1997). More recently,
this finding has been confirmed with Australian enterprise
education programmes reported by Peterman and Kennedy
(2003).
2.3
The problem with previous evidence is
that studies are often too small to make robust conclusions
and that the methodologies employed may provide biased
results. For example, survey results have been based on
self-selected respondents and results produced without
control groups. Thus it is difficult to draw any
conclusions on the effectiveness of policies and practice
based upon previous research evidence. In addition, there
are a number of methodological problems which include:
- The difficulty of capturing subjective changes in
attitudes to enterprise and entrepreneurship from
changes in educational policy.
- The need for longitudinal studies that track the
effects of policy over a number of years.
- The difficulties of isolating the effects of
education from other influences on young people's
education.
2.4
There have been previous evaluations of
individual programmes and initiatives. These have indicated
some positive impacts on attitudes of young people. For
example, the evaluation of the STEP enterprise programme
revealed positive benefits on young undergraduates for the
development of transferable skills which improved their
employability as graduates (see Westhead and Storey's
evaluation of the STEP programme). One of the problems with
evaluations of previous initiatives is that they normally
have a finite and limited life span. However, one
initiative that has been in existence for some time has
been the Young Enterprise programme (Young Enterprise
Scotland, 2003). Now well established, the benefits of the
programme for young people and for the schools involved
have been well documented (Young Enterprise Scotland,
2003).
2.5
With these notable exceptions, previous
evidence on enterprise programmes in education is therefore
limited and subject to methodological problems. This
evidence is insufficient to draw any conclusions in general
on the likely impact of comprehensive initiatives such as
DtS and specifically on the likely impact of specific
leadership programmes with Head Teachers. However, in the
light of this limited evidence there are still strong
theoretical reasons for believing that targeted programmes
with Head Teachers could have a powerful effect on
attitudes of young people.
ENTERPRISE LITERATURE: RELEVANT THEORY
2.6 A strong theoretical case can be made for targeting
head teachers (HTs) as drivers of change in the economy.
Indeed their role has been seen by at least one influential
writer as being synonymous with that of a public sector
entrepreneur, or social entrepreneur (Boyett,
et al. 1997). The leadership qualities required of
a head teacher can be compared to those of intrapreneurs,
entrepreneurial leaders within large organisations (Antonic
and Hisrich, 2003). The role of HTs may be seen as
analogous to that of entrepreneurial leaders in any sector,
but with greater social responsibilities. HTs face numerous
demands requiring them to be skillful in many areas, but
particularly in dealing with relationships with staff, with
pupils and with parents. Within the light of such
literature, it is possible to view HTs as entrepreneurial
leaders responsible for being creative, for being
innovative, for being, to some extent, inspirational
leaders for their staff and pupils. Just as successful
entrepreneurs are required to develop external
relationships with customers, with their funders, with
business colleagues and with suppliers, developing a
network of relationships, so the role of HTs can also be
seen as one of developing a network of relationships with
the local community, with parents and with local
businesses. It is arguable in a modern society that a
school must be embedded within the local community,
something that was identified by Determined to Succeed
(Scottish Executive, 2002).
2.7 It is arguable that an individual's attitudes to
enterprise and entrepreneurial activity depend on an
individual's perceived norms of behaviour and the way that
these are influenced through available resources and peer
pressure. These are incorporated in Ajzen's theory of
planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). This approach incorporates
three sets of measurements that capture changes in
attitudes, concerned with:
- factors affecting the individual's attitudes and
norms;
- resources that affect perceived behaviour and
control;
- factors affecting peer group attitudes and social
norms.
To take one example, it is arguable that an individual's
attitude to entrepreneurship (business start-up) is
determined by personal inclination
and peer group and society norms. Thus a low
tolerance of failure in Scotland has sometimes been
perceived as a societal norm that may restrict individuals
who would normally be pre-disposed to entering
entrepreneurship (Scottish Enterprise, 2001).
2.8 The theory of planned behaviour as developed by
Ajzen (1991) has been used by the research team to provide
a theoretical basis for the survey results on attitudes of
HTs and DHTs, which are reported in
section 4.
ENTERPRISE EDUCATION
2.9 As indicated above enterprise in education has been
promoted strongly by the Scottish Executive and provides an
interesting instance of a shared agenda between two
Executive departments - Education and Enterprise, Transport
and Lifelong Learning. The Report
Determined to Succeed has generally been warmly
welcomed within the schools sector and has led to a number
of curricular and pedagogical developments, including those
supported by the Hunter Foundation. The enterprise in
education agenda links closely, indeed overlaps with, the
development of citizenship education. As Deuchar (2003: 36)
has put it, '
Schools now face the demanding task of preparing pupils
to become both competitive and civic-minded'. Peters
suggests there are actually competing discourses. He asks:
'to what extent are the strands of economic enterprise,
moral renewal and civic activism compatible?' (Peters,
2003: 1040)
2.10 Before the recent enterprise education initiatives,
the field was seen as being about preparing pupils for the
field of work. Indeed as recently as 2002, the Executive
was still using this language (SEED, 2002). However the
redefinition of the field takes a much broader approach,
which is based on the belief that an enterprise orientation
will benefit young individuals and create a citizenry which
is imaginative and economically productive.
2.11 The Executive seeks to embed enterprise in
education in schools. Its major strategy thus far, through
the schools enterprise programme (SEP) has been a
professional development programme for teachers. The press
summary of a recent study carried out by researchers from
the University of Warwick suggests that whole most of those
1498 teachers who had been trained were enthusiastically
adopting enterprise activities in their school, their
colleagues who had not been trained were doing little,
meaning that the initiative was not reaching 'the whole
school' (Munro, 2004). It will be important to evaluate the
extent to which the implementation of
Determined to Succeed avoids or overcomes these
difficulties. The Leadership Academy is but one strand in
the new wave of initiatives and part of the purpose of this
study is to give an indication of whether the programme has
an impact on the participants' schools.
SCHOOL LEADERS' PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
2.12 There has been considerable attention on school
leadership and on professional development for senior staff
in schools over recent years. It is widely agreed that the
success of any school is heavily dependent on the quality
of the leadership provided. From the earliest studies of
school effectiveness (e.g., Mortimore et al, 1988) through
to very recent writing and research about the influence of
headteachers on school improvement (e.g., Harris et al,
2003), it has been acknowledged that effective leadership
is crucial to the success of schools.
2.13 In Scotland this was recognised by Her Majesty's
Inspectorate in their influential report
Improving Leadership in Scottish Schools (SEED,
2001) and significantly through the introduction of The
Standard for Headship and through the development of a
professional programme and award which would lead to the
achievement of the Standard, the Scottish Qualification for
Headship (see O'Brien et al, 2003). According to the
national evaluation of the programme, commissioned by SEED,
this has been a very successful programme (Menter et al,
2003). Its power has appeared to rest largely on its
work-based, action learning approach (see Reeves et al,
2002), which has enabled participants to undertake
significant management of change within their own workplace
and to analyse and report on that. The programme had
profound effects on many participants in terms of awakening
their interest in professional issues, in developing their
educational vision as well as developing significantly
their management and leadership skills.
2.14 It appears that the impact of the SQH on
individuals is sustained and leads to consolidated
development. There has always been concern about the
sustainability of the impact of CPD for teachers,
particularly where the programme is delivered away from the
participant's own school (see Day, 1999). This would appear
to be one of the significant challenges for the Columba
1400 programme which in its very design seeks to remove
participants from that context with a view to enabling them
to detach themselves from the 'here and now' of their
workplace context.
2.15 Another distinctive feature of the Scottish context
is that the SQH remains the only national programme for
leadership professional development. In England, the
National College for School Leadership was established in
2001 and now takes the lead in the provision of a range of
programmes including the NPQH (equivalent to the SQH) as
well as programmes for new heads (Headteacher Induction
Programme) and for experienced heads (Leadership Programme
for Serving Headteachers). Nevertheless the NCSL does not
have any programme which is directly comparable to the
Columba 1400 Leadership Academy, which is open to deputy
heads as well as heads, of very varying experience (
see below, Section 4).
2.16 The field of leadership itself has been developed
as an aspect of business and management studies and there
has been considerable mutual interest between the work done
there and the work being developed in education. Many
educationists would claim that there are unique features of
educational leadership, whether it rest with the moral
responsibilities which headteachers bear (Grace, 1995), or
the particular pedagogical expertise which is required for
effective school leadership (Lingard et al, 2003). There is
certainly scepticism in some quarters that contemporary
approaches to school leadership can lead to an overemphasis
on the significance of school leaders. For example, Gronn
(2003) suggests that leadership has become '
greedy work', creating new divisions within
formerly collegial institutional cultures, while Gunter
(2001) suggests that rather than increasing professional
autonomy, new approaches to leadership in schools may be
creating a new conformity.
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