Wood, JM; (2017) To what extent does school leadership facilitate Community Cohesion for students in an English secondary school? Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis is a study of the implementation of the policy of Community Cohesion in one maintained secondary school in England. It explores the policy cycle through the stages of influence, production and practice and notes how discourses at national and local levels influenced the policy. The literature review considers the discourses of multiculturalism, interculturalism, citizenship, identity and security that influenced the policy at its inception at national level. The case study examines documentary evidence including the racist incidents log and elicits the views of staff and students through interviews and focus groups addressing the process of implementation. The study uses the standards set by the ministry to describe and evaluate Community Cohesion in the study school. The analysis seeks to explain the outcomes of the Community Cohesion policy and the relative influence of national and school level discourses on the practice of Community Cohesion. The top down dominant discourse identified as influencing the policy is neo-liberalism, expressed in the national drive for standards and effectiveness and prioritising results. The system leadership model, adopted by the school’s leaders, accommodates to 4 the national agenda but also includes a moral purpose that influences the local response both to standards and to Community Cohesion. During the study, inspectors recognised the school as effectively developing Community Cohesion. The research identifies the extent to which the successful outcomes can be attributed to the influence of the system leadership that enables individual school leaders to exercise initiative based on moral purpose, personal conviction and positive relationships. Examples include a focus on the achievement of all students, a link to the local Jewish school and a twinning link with Kenya. The sense of moral purpose was disseminated through the leadership team’s interactions with the school community, school activities and the school’s newsletter.

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