Boundary crossing in school governing bodies: Perspectives from the business community

Abstract

Policy changes to school governance have led to Governing Bodies (GBs) increasingly appointing skilled professionals from the business community. Research into these GBs views governors from business as a threat to lay governors and the stakeholder model. Whilst there has been exploration of the contributions of business governors, the ways in which business volunteers develop into their new roles as business governors have not been captured. This article is drawn from an evaluation of Lloyds Banking Group’s (LBG) school governance programme where 18 LBG employees were interviewed throughout the first year in their governor roles. Adapting Young’s categorisation of knowledge as ‘managerial’, ‘educational’ and ‘lay’, this article articulates how LBG governors acquired ‘educational’ and ‘lay’ knowledge to transform their practices and how this was underpinned by ‘authenticity’ associated with the stakeholder model. The article presents perspectives from other GB stakeholders which suggest that the transformation of the LBG governors’ practice has impacted upon GBs, with them crossing boundaries between landscapes of practice. The implications are that, within the context of performativity, the wider business sector has a role to play in school governance. Understanding governor professional development is key to this.