Sustaining the Comprehensive Ideal: The Robert Clack School

Description

This book explores the development of educational leadership within difficult contexts via the lens of a previously failing English secondary school in an area of urban poverty. Based on extensive interview data from 2012-2016, the authors demonstrate that the fundamental ethos underpinning the school’s improvement is a desire to meet the needs of young people in disadvantaged communities in order to equip them with the skills to allow them to transcend their situation. The authors posit that this school embodies the ‘comprehensive ideal’ of secondary education in England: that education should not be disadvantaged by background, and that the state should provide free and high quality education for all. This book will appeal to students and scholars of comprehensive education and schools in difficult contexts. Front Matter ....Pages i-vii Introduction (Trevor Male, Ioanna Palaiologou)....Pages 1-16 The Improvement Process (Trevor Male, Ioanna Palaiologou)....Pages 17-31 Being Part of the School Community (Trevor Male, Ioanna Palaiologou)....Pages 33-52 Leadership: Theory and Practice (Trevor Male, Ioanna Palaiologou)....Pages 53-70 A Shock to the System (Trevor Male, Ioanna Palaiologou)....Pages 71-82 The End of an Era (Trevor Male, Ioanna Palaiologou)....Pages 83-87 Back Matter ....Pages 89-95