A New Model of School Governance: Examining autonomy, competition and collaboration model in England

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K04670
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Education
• Research Institution: The National Center for University Entrance Examinations
• Principal Investigator: Yamamura Shigeru 独立行政法人大学入試センター, 研究開発部, 教授 (30212294)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 学校統治 / 学校選択 / 小規模校 / 自律 / 競争 / 協働 / イギリス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It is generally criticised that neither the command and control model nor the trust model has legitimacy for school governance. According to theoretical research, whether children feel ‘happy’ at school is a key to judge the school legitimacy. Empirical research has found that parents/guardians choose Free Schools because they are small and would provide more personalised education.
The purpose of this research is to examine a new model of school governance by analysing today’s school choice system in England. We analysed data on parents’ views on their children’s schools. Our research found that parents/guardians whose children attend small Free Schools are more likely to think their children are ‘happy’ at their schools, compared to parents/guardians whose children attend other types of schools. We found that a model of a small school with choice and autonomy in governance is superior to the conventional command and control or trust model.

Free Research Field

教育行政学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

教育専門職と教育行政スタッフによって担われている公立学校制度は、公立学校を官僚化させ、学校教育活動を画一的なものとさせる原因であり、正統性の危機にあると批判されている。本研究ではイギリスの中等学校を対象として、新たな学校統治方式の可能性を探求した。その有力なモデルは、学校選択制度を不可欠とし、小規模校を前提とする「選択と自律」によるものだと考えられる。このことは批判されてきた教育専門職と教育行政スタッフによる旧来の公立学校統治方式に代わる今後の学校統治のあり方を提案するものであり、学術的意義ならびに社会的意義がある。