The politics of management and leadership in
Irish post-primary schools A study of WSE reports, 2006-2007
Quinn, Gerry
(2014)
The politics of management and leadership in
Irish post-primary schools A study of WSE reports, 2006-2007.
Doctor of Education thesis, Dublin City University.
This study exam ines management and leadership in Irish post-primary schools, as portrayed in W hole
School Evaluation (W SE) reports for the period 2006-07. Management and leadership are contested
and ambiguous terms, so the examination of the WSE reports was conducted through the lens of
Critical Discourse Analysis (C D A ). CDA enabled a critical study which interpreted the relevant
aspects o f the WSE reports in their historical and political contexts. These contexts shaped
understandings, practices and official expectations regarding m anagem ent and leadership. Spillane's
(2006) understanding o f distributed leadership provided a conceptual m odel o f school leadership
which helped guide the critical analysis.
The research problem arose from the lack of an agreed national understanding o f school management
and leadership. The following research questions emerged. Firstly, how objective was the process that
the inspectorate used to report on management and leadership activity in Irish post-primary schools?
This is a question about the research and reporting methods used by the inspectors in the first 100
published W SE reports, 2006-07. The second question is, what do these same WSE reports reveal, or
not reveal, about management and leadership activity in post-primary schools? Thirdly, what do the
reports say about the inspectorate's preferred model for management and leadership?
This study is a critique of the process which generated the W SE reports as well as a critique o f what is
reported. On the basis o f the findings for 2006-07, the author concludes by arguing that the WSE
reports do not provide adequate consistency and clarity, and that their frequent am biguity is in large
part due to the absence o f a shared national understanding o f school management and leadership.
While such an understanding may be achievable the WSE process itself was also problematic in terms
o f securing reliable and accurate data. The findings also indicate that the inspectorate tended to
favour a managerialist model f management and leadership. In light of the current erosion of the
partnership model in education this managerialism may become more pronounced.
Item Type:
Thesis (Doctor of Education)
Date of Award:
November 2014
Refereed:
No
Supervisor(s):
Furlong, Catherine and O'Connor, Maura and Corcoran, Dolores and Flynn, Marie
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Critical Discourse Analysis; CDA: managerialist model; partnership model