School Autonomy Research Articles

Decentralization and School-Based Management: A Comparative Study of Public and Private Schools in Jambi, Indonesia

Decentralization and school-based management (SBM) have been widely adopted in Indonesia to enhance the quality and efficiency of education. This study investigates the implementation of SBM in public and private schools in Jambi Province, Indonesia, and explores its effects on school autonomy, teacher participation in decision-making, and student achievement. A mixed-methods approach was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 300 teachers and 600 students in 15 public and 15 private schools in Jambi Province using questionnaires and achievement tests. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 30 school principals and 30 school committee members. Private schools demonstrated significantly higher levels of school autonomy and teacher participation in decision-making compared to public schools. However, no significant difference was found in student achievement between the two types of schools. Qualitative data provided insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with SBM implementation in both public and private schools. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of contextual factors in shaping the implementation and outcomes of SBM. While private schools appear to have embraced SBM more effectively in terms of autonomy and participation, the impact on student achievement requires further investigation. The findings have implications for policymakers and school leaders seeking to enhance the effectiveness of SBM in Indonesia.

Students’ Perceptions of Factors Contributing to a Happy School Environment in Iran

Abstract Background School is not only a place for acquiring academic skills but also a social environment where students develop emotional abilities and awareness. Prioritizing well-being in schools can foster confidence, satisfaction, and emotional awareness among students, contributing to their lifelong success and mental health. Objective This research hypothesizes that students will emphasize the importance of individual choice, autonomy, and enjoyment in school, along with a desire for more meaningful activities beyond academics. The study aims to investigate adolescents' perceptions of a happy school and the strategies they believe are effective for fostering this environment. Method Employing a purposive sampling approach, the researchers conducted indepth, semi-structured qualitative interviews involving 41 middle and high school students in Iran to explore their perspectives on the factors contributing to their happiness within an educational setting. Through phenomenological data analysis, four principal themes and thirteen subcategories emerged. Result The main themes included: (1) Enhancing overall health; (2) Creating schools with collaborative decisionmaking; (3) Fostering a love of learning; (4) Supporting joy and well-being in school. Conclusions The identified themes provide new, valuable insights for improving school climate, particularly in relation to student happiness and promoting positive mental health and optimal performance among students.

IB PYP와 2022 개정 교육과정 비교를 통한 주제 중심 초학문적 환경교육 방안 모색

Objectives This study aimed to explore the direction environmental education should take in response to future societal challenges due to climate and environmental changes, as emphasized in the 2022 Revised National Curriculum. Methods To achieve this, we compared and analyzed official documents and related research from the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) and Korea's 2022 Revised National Curriculum. Through this analysis, we explored the potential effects and possibilities of applying a theme-centered integrated approach to environmental education. Results The research findings revealed that both curricula share similar educational goals. Additionally, connections were identified between the transdisciplinary themes of the IB PYP and the core ideas of the 2022 Revised Curriculum. Furthermore, it was discovered that the autonomy in the IB PYP and the school autonomy hours in the 2022 Revised Curriculum provide flexible structures that enable transdisciplinary integrated education. Conclusions The theme-centered transdisciplinary integrated environmental education proposed through this study is expected to play a crucial role in helping students learn sustainable lifestyles connected to daily life and develop an international mindset from a global perspective.

학교 축제와 연계한 중학교 학교자율시간 운영 방안의 시론적 탐색: 핵심프로젝트를 중심으로

Objectives This study explored a plan to operate a school festival that links core-projects of each subject in the 16+1 autonomous school hours system in middle school through the subject of ‘Planning a School Festival’. Methods We analyzed literature and previous studies on the organization and operation of school autonomous hours, cases of operating middle and high school festivals, and cases of operating domestic and international core-projects. Based on this, we examined the relationship between school festivals and core-projects in school autonomous hours, and discussed ways to operate school autonomous hours linked to school festivals. Results Firstly, the class schedule of school autonomous time linked to school festivals can be operated as a festival for the entire week or only part of the week. Secondly, a new subject called ‘Planning a School Festival’ can be opened in school autonomous time. Thirdly, the core project of school autonomous time linked to school festivals can be operated in various ways by subject. Conclusions Firstly, it provides a convergent educational experience. Secondly, cooperation and creativity are strengthened. Thirdly, connections with the local community are strengthened. Fourthly, various learning topics and activities are integrated.

Collective autonomy through school leader unions (2006–2021): Comparative case study from Sweden and Norway

For several decades, there has been a global trend of the devolution of autonomy to local leadership levels. The topic has consequently gained attention in educational research, showing the complexity and multi-layered nature of the phenomenon. Nevertheless, empirical research has focused largely on individual leadership or institutional school autonomy, overlooking school leader unions’ collective autonomy at the intersection between leadership levels and as a link between policy and practice. This paper aims to explore the communication and formation of collective autonomy through school leader unions in their mediating role between policy and practice, under shifting national policy contexts with increased global policy influence. Attention is drawn to union magazines and how they have depicted the issue over time, analysing texts on assessment from nearly 300 issues through a two-fold conceptualisation of collective autonomy as the capacity to influence policy and control individual professionalism. The results highlight the possibility of unions functioning as mediators between policy and practice, national and local, when collective autonomy is not too restricted. The study calls for further empirical research on collective autonomy, paying attention to the intricate relationship between policy, collectivism and individual leadership practice.

School-based Management Practices and Teachers' Assessments of Curriculum Innovation among Vocational Colleges in Jiangxi Province

School-based management (SBM) has gained prominence in educational reforms, emphasizing school autonomy in decision-making processes. This study aims to determine decentralizing decision-making authority to individual schools, empowering educators to make decisions that best meet the needs of their students. The descriptive-comparative correlational methodology to be used in this study is distinguished by exact definitions, meticulous documentation, depth analysis, and a profound comprehension of contextual dynamics. The results revealed that school-based management practices can significantly impact curricular innovation through enhanced collaboration, which will provide important references for schools in the future in terms of improving their school-based management systems, carrying out curricular innovation practices, and enhancing teachers' pedagogical competence. The study, therefore, recommends regularly reviewing and updating curriculum by establishing a feedback loop involving students, teachers, and other stakeholders to assess and enhance curriculum effectiveness continuously.

School Leaders’ Well-Being during Times of Crisis: Insights from a Quantitative Study in Kazakhstan

Amidst increasing global pressures on school leaders, particularly during crises when unforeseen situations necessitate prompt and decisive action from them, understanding the multifaceted dimensions of their well-being is essential for ensuring effective leadership and maintaining educational quality. This study examines the well-being of school leaders during crises by analysing survey responses from 1299 school leaders in Kazakhstan. Employing a well-being framework comprising dispositional, relational, and contextual dimensions, various predictors were assessed within each dimension. Gender biases (dispositional), challenges such as managing conflicts with parents (relational), and limited school autonomy and digital infrastructure (contextual) were identified as factors negatively impacting school leaders’ well-being. Notably, gender significantly influences well-being, particularly impacting female school leaders. School location and medium of instruction are not associated with well-being, implying the pervasive impact of remote schooling on school leaders’ well-being. Findings underscore the importance of integrating crisis management courses in professional development, implementing policy initiatives to handle contextual factors like equitable resource distribution and increased school autonomy, promoting self-care practices, and advocating for gender perspectives in institutional policies to bolster support for women school leaders.

Producing accountability with autonomy in Denmark and England: the analytical potential of assemblage theory with critical realism in comparative education

ABSTRACT School autonomy with accountability (SAWA) reforms have developed in diverse forms in Northern Europe. Following processes of decentralization to the municipal and school levels, quality assurance and inspection became key to the test-based accountability agendas of Denmark and England respectively. With an abductive approach, we explore the epistemological potential of a hybrid theoretical framework, which combines assemblage theory with critical realism, to analyze the production stories of these two policy instruments. Drawing on data from an international comparative research project, and more recent policy document analyses, we examine the arrangement of social entities – discourses, instruments, technologies, artefacts, and actors – that led to particular accountability outcomes within these specific educational assemblages. We argue that, despite distinctions in their social entities, the dominant state assemblages of accountability in Denmark and England have been captured by the global SAWA and capitalist assemblages at distinct times. Although school actors are incorporated into, and antagonistic towards, the state assemblages, change is limited due to the resilience of the underlying logic of epistemic governance and the desire to improve educational standards for a global knowledge economy. We conclude briefly with an assessment of the utility of the hybrid framework to the comparison of SAWA.

Viability of distributive leadership and teacher autonomy for effective schools in developing nations: A case study from Nigeria

Viability of distributive leadership and teacher autonomy for effective schools in developing nations: A case study from Nigeria

Do Managers Make Use of Increased Autonomy? Evidence from Large Scale Organizational Reform

The question of what is the right amount of managerial autonomy has been widely debated. The new public management movement argues that increased autonomy will be used by managers to improve organizational performance. Skeptics argue that managers in the public sector are likely to shy away from using increased autonomy. To bring the literature forward we theorize the link between reforms awarding managers increased autonomy and subsequent organizational performance outcomes. We identify four steps in this causal chain, which are easily conflated. We demonstrate empirically the potential of focusing on the intermediary mechanisms of increasing managerial autonomy. A large-scale municipal amalgamation reform in Denmark provides a unique opportunity to study the immediate impacts of changes in managerial autonomy in public schools. The results indicate that granting public managers more freedom has intermediary effects on factors such as hiring patterns and organizational demographics.

교사의 목표직위가 교직단계별 교직이탈의사에 미치는 영향

Purpose: This study analyzed how a teacher's target position (i.e., head teacher, educational manager, educational specialist) affects the intention to leave the teaching profession at each stage of a teaching career. Methods: Based on data from the first year of the Seoul Teacher Longitudinal Study 2020, basic analysis and logistic regression analysis were applied to verify the impact of teachers' target positions. Results: Whether or not a teacher has a target position of promotion was found to have a statistically significant effect on the intention to leave the teaching profession at each stage of a teaching career. In addition, in the initial period, gender, motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic), burnout, school level, establishment type, and school autonomy have an influence, but in the growth period, gender, extrinsic motivation, burnout, and school size have an influence, and in the mature period, gender, household income, and motivation (Intrinsic, extrinsic) and burnout influenced the intention to leave the teaching profession. Conclusion: Teachers with a high intention to leave the teaching profession are likely to be dissatisfied with their current position and not be faithful to their assigned role. Therefore, a career development stage is required to set a new target position in addition to the existing promotion system so that teachers can have an appropriate target position.

Competitive grants in autonomous public schools: how school principals are labouring for public school funding

AbstractThis paper examines competitive grants for public schools, as a form of additional funding from the government. We draw on interviews with principals from different states in Australia to examine systemic impacts of competitive grants for public schools, exploring this in relation to school autonomy. Public school principals are labouring to generate additional school funding via competitive applications from the traditional state government, to supplement their core or regular government funding. The competitive applications are to fund what many would consider rudimentary or fundamental resources, such as school infrastructure and student wellbeing programs. For the interviewed principals, the drive to generate more funding was anchored within significant government funding shortfalls in public schools. The majority of interviewees did not find the funding model to be ‘needs-based’ or responsive. Autonomous public schools presented many paradoxes and contradictions, particularly in under-funded contexts; whilst on one hand, principals are tasked with managing their budgets, the majority experienced the environment as highly inflexible and often punitive, laden with bureaucratic red tape. The majority of interviewees expressed notions of responsibilisation for generating additional funds. In this context, we found that competitive funding applications increase school principal work intensification, with principals spending excessive time labouring to generate additional funding via competitive grant applications, in order to fund essential school projects. The labour involved in completing time-demanding funding applications supplants their traditional responsibilities and is critically reshaping their role as a school principal, to one of ‘grant applier’ and fundraiser, reinforcing the retreat of the traditional state.

The school-autonomy-with-accountability reform in Iceland: looking back and making sense

The study examines the selective adoption of the school-autonomy-with-accountability (SAWA) reform at upper secondary school level in Iceland. It draws on a review of policy documents (acts, amendments to acts, regulations) and interviews with 17 individuals, including four former ministers of education that served over the period 1995-2017. The authors identify three distinct reform waves: a general public management reform (NPM) implemented across all sectors (1991 – 1995), the school autonomy reform (1995-2009), and the school-autonomy-with-soft-accountability reform (2009-2015). The sequence explains why opening up to the private sector during NPM required all line ministries to come up with clearly defined tasks and expected outcomes and why the third wave was an attempt to (minimally) reregulate the sector. The proliferation of standardized testing, a feature of SAWA in many other countries, did not occur in Iceland. Strikingly, the argument for autonomy was from the onset linked to diversity, that is, enabling upper secondary schools to respond to students’ diverse needs and interests and thereby reduce student drop. The study attempts to demonstrate the importance of the temporal dimension of policy transfer such as, for example, the timing, tempo, sequence and duration of adopted policies.

Decentralization dynamics and their impact on Special Education: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review scrutinizes the multifaceted dynamics of decentralization within educational systems, with a keen emphasis on its implications for special education. Traversing a broad spectrum of geopolitical contexts, this analysis delves into the nuanced interplay between school autonomy and overarching policy frameworks, highlighting the paradigmatic shift towards local empowerment and pedagogical freedom that decentralization heralds. Drawing upon a diverse array of empirical studies, policy analyses, and expert commentaries, the article illuminates the complex landscape of educational reform, where the pursuit of an optimal decentralization model is intricately linked with the quest for educational advancement.

The obstacle race to educational improvement: governance, policies, and practices in disadvantaged schools

Contemporary educational reforms emphasise school autonomy, performance-based management, and accountability as necessary policies for attaining improvement goals. Despite their widespread adoption, the configuration and enactment of these policies are discretionary and contingent, deeply influenced by the interaction of local contexts, organisational features, and teachers’ beliefs about policy and pedagogy. Apart from these challenges, schools serving disadvantaged students, often targeted for educational improvement, also struggle with significant organisational constraints and policy overload. This study explores how disadvantaged urban schools make sense of their policy environment and engage with the school improvement mandate through different logics and practices. The analytical framework stresses the policy filtering and adaptation processes that school actors undergo when tasked with multiple implementation demands, and how these interact with school contexts to produce diverse responses. This research is conducted in Catalonia, Spain, and adopts a sequential mixed-methods strategy, relying on interviews with principals and teachers, as well as survey and administrative data. The findings are organised in four ideal types of school responses to the improvement mandate, showing the diverging ways schools engage with policy. Disadvantaged schools exhibit diverse improvement approaches despite sharing structural characteristics, explained by the interaction of contextual factors and organisational characteristics. Each ideal type prioritises different aspects, such as performance, innovation, or inclusive practices. The heterogeneity of school responses highlights the necessity for targeted, context-sensitive support to ensure equitable educational practices.

Predictive analysis of college students’ academic procrastination behavior based on a decision tree model

Predicting academic procrastination among college students in the context of a public crisis could provide essential academic support and decision-making strategies for higher education institutions to promote student psychological health. Notably, research focusing on predicting academic procrastination behavior among college students in the context of a global crisis is still limited. The purpose of this study is to address this gap by constructing a predictive model based on the decision tree algorithm to predict academic procrastination behavior among college students. A total of 776 college students from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China participated in this study. The study gathered data from multiple aspects relevant to academic procrastination behavior, including demographic information, academic achievements, subjective well-being, smartphone addiction, negative emotions, self-esteem, life autonomy, pro-environmental behavior, academic achievement, and sense of school belonging. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted utilizing SPSS version 26.0, and decision tree model analysis was performed with Modeler 18.0. The findings of this study identified eight predictive factors of college students’ academic procrastination in order of importance: subjective well-being, smartphone addiction, negative emotions, self-esteem, life autonomy, pro-environmental behavior, academic performance, and sense of school belonging. The model accuracy was 85.78%, and indicating a relatively high level of prediction. The findings of this study not only provided a new perspective for understanding academic procrastination but also offered practical guidance for educators on how to mitigate this behavior.

Micropolitics in Enacting the Specialized Curriculum at the Autonomous School

Micropolitics in Enacting the Specialized Curriculum at the Autonomous School

School autonomy before autonomy. The R.p.d. 419/74 and the ordering and structure high school experiments between the Seventies and Eighties

Decree 419/74, which regulated school experimentation, is perhaps the least known of the delegated decrees on schools. Yet, for twenty years it was the only measure with which to try to renew high school in the absence of a reform, until the advent of school autonomy. The decree reflected the international debate on the comprehensive school and the regionalization process then underway in Italy, but also the need for the Ministry of public education and its administrative apparatus to govern a “periphery” in disorder. It therefore represents a governance tool with which teachers, local and regional agencies and the ministry itself have attempted to find a new balance in the relationship between school and territory. The protagonists of this sort of ante litteram school autonomy were the “minisperimentazioni” and “maxisperimentazioni” launched through article 3 of the decree. Heirs of the “bienni unitari” of the Seventies, they tried to change the school structure to try to respond to the social transformations of the country first during the Seventies, and then in the Eighties, at a time marked by the progressive loss of the centrality of the school in the within an increasingly broad and crowded formal and informal educational landscape.

Why do teachers leave schools? Evidence from lower secondary schools in the Czech Republic

PurposeThis study aims to supplement the international knowledge on factors determining retention in the teaching profession with findings from the Czech Republic. The study aims to answer the question of what factors on the part of schools and teachers are related to teachers’ decision to leave the teaching profession, either temporarily or permanently. It also examines the differences between teachers at the beginning and end of their professional careers.Design/methodology/approachThis study presents a secondary analysis of the data collected in a survey of 1,230 Czech secondary school teachers implemented in 2021 in the same schools as the TALIS survey in 2018. The longitudinal design makes it possible to observe the impact of school variables on teachers’ willingness to remain in the profession. Data are analysed through logistic regression.FindingsThe analysis shows the importance of sufficient financial evaluation, the composition of the student body, instructional leadership, and school innovativeness for the retention of teachers in the profession. The analysis further shows that the factors causing teachers to leave the profession differ for those at the beginning and at the end of their teaching careers.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of the study lie in the fact that this is a secondary analysis. The questionnaires were not designed in accordance with the aim of our study, and so the variables were constructed from existing data to best fit our chosen framework.Practical implicationsThe results of our analysis indicate that the Czech education policy should focus not only on general increases in teachers’ salaries, but also on the adjustment of increases over the course of a teacher’s career. The starting salary may be important for retaining young teachers in the profession, while at later stages in their careers their decision to stay may be more influenced by other factors. Our research also showed the importance of leadership. In schools where the principal supports his or her teachers and takes care of their professional development, teachers have a greater tendency to stay in the profession than in schools where the management does not perform this function.Originality/valueThe study enriched international knowledge about factors affecting teachers' retention in the profession with findings from the Czech educational system characterized by high school autonomy and low teacher salaries.

Exploring perceptions of and attitudes towards tanning with school children, parents/carers and educators in Wales: A mixed methods study protocol for the SunChat study.

Skin cancer comprises half of all cancers in England and Wales. Most skin cancers can be prevented with safer sun exposure. As over exposure as a child can greatly increase future skin cancer risk, early and accessible sun safety education and promotion of sun safe behaviours is critical. Scientists agree there is no such thing as a 'safe tan', yet the public, including children, often have positive perceptions of tanned skin. To protect against future skin cancer, it is important to understand and address these misconceptions. The Curriculum for Wales with its area for Health and Well-being, and autonomy for schools in designing curriculum content, presents an ideal way to facilitate this exploration. Gather data regarding perceptions towards tanning to explore the perceived effects of a tan on health.Inform the development and testing of an educational toolkit for integration within the Curriculum for Wales to encourage positive health behaviours and attitudes of school children towards tanning and sun exposure. SunChat is a mixed methods exploratory study comprising three work streams: Workshops with school children to understand their perceptions on tanning.An online multiple-choice survey with parents/carers to understand perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards tanning both for themselves and their children.An informal focus group with primary school educators to explore challenges in engaging with the school community around the Health and Well-being Area in the Curriculum for Wales. To date, there has been no work in Wales exploring children's, parents/carers', and educators' perceptions of tanning and how healthier attitudes can be encouraged. This study will engage with participants to scope current perceptions on tanning and the perceived effects tanning has on health. Findings will feed into future toolkit and curriculum development for health in schools in Wales and beyond.