The nature of hybrid governance: A case study of a large and well-established European international school

Leila Holmyard

doi:10.1177/14752409211006648

Abstract

The number of international schools is growing rapidly and existing data points to great diversity of their governance structure. The nature of hybrid governance, in which a board comprises both elected and appointed governors, was investigated through a case study of an international school in western Europe and triangulated with interviews with nine experts in international schooling. Hybrid governance was found to offer the advantages of both elected and appointed boards: elections foster transparency and representation of stakeholders, while appointments allow the board to be populated with particular skills. A model for governance was presented in which the hybrid structure is underpinned by recruitment and training practices that ensure governors complement the existing skillset of the board, have desirable motivations for serving, and understand their role. This model may be useful for informing international school improvement efforts, although its compatibility with the diverse landscape of international schools remains to be determined.

Highlights

The number of international schools globally is growing at an unprecedented rate (ISC Research, 2018) and the landscape has shifted from mainly not-for-profit institutions to a patchwork of forprofit and not-for-profit schools, differing in terms of their culture, language, composition of nationalities, curriculum, accreditation and governance (Hayden & Thompson, 2013; James & Sheppard, 2014)
Experts are identified by a number preceded by the letter E, and Case Study International School (CSIS) participants are identified by their role: elected board members (EBM), appointed board members (ABM), faculty board member (FBM) and school leaders (SL)
The nominations/head hunting process is supported through a capability audit, as described by EBM1: “We look at every year . . . what competences do we think we need . . . if we don't have it on the elected side . . . we can bring it in the appointed [side].”

Summary

Introduction

The number of international schools globally is growing at an unprecedented rate (ISC Research, 2018) and the landscape has shifted from mainly not-for-profit institutions to a patchwork of forprofit and not-for-profit schools, differing in terms of their culture, language, composition of nationalities, curriculum, accreditation and governance (Hayden & Thompson, 2013; James & Sheppard, 2014). Governance is known to impact the educational outcomes of students (Connolly & James, 2011), yet little research has been undertaken into international school boards. Given that 5 million students are estimated to attend international schools (ISC Research, 2018), it is vital that schools are provided with guidance to optimise their governance. Their research suggests it may be advantageous to combine elected and self-perpetuating. Following this introduction, I will consider what constitutes an international school, the governance of international schools, and how we can define good governance. The penultimate section will discuss how the findings relate to existing literature, and will present a model for the hybrid governance of international schools.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion