The political economy of leadership

This chapter focuses on the political economy of leadership with a range of wider systemic factors (i.e., policy, politics, and economics) that shape the conduct of schooling, in particular the ways in which such factors simultaneously constrain and enable school leaders’ practice. It begins with some brief details about the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) data before providing an overview summary of education in England. This is followed by an outline of recent policy developments. The chapter then discusses school and school leader autonomy, by focusing in particular on leaders’ perspectives on their roles and the constraints that they face as a result of recent school system reform, as well as leaders’ attitudes to how they lead, their leadership styles, and their attitudes towards their careers (to better understand the wider issue of headteacher recruitment and retention).