This study aimed to explore how educational leaders in England experience and promote their own well-being. To address this, five semi-structured interviews were carried out with educational leaders who expressed that they had personally experienced high levels of well-being. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), four themes were…

This article takes the author's personal experience of being a Head of Department (HOD) in an English University, and frames this experience as a transition narrative. The format draws on the work of Sandra Acker, who framed her own experience as a Head of Department in Canada, in three areas. Utilising literature both on Higher Education…

This paper explores perceptions of work intensification around the world. Underpinning this analysis is C. Wright Mills' (1959) argument that many personal troubles are public issues, and the notion that a significant dimension of the privatisation of public education, a concern of public education advocates worldwide, is the ways in which school…

This paper explores contradictory constructions of teacher work across policy discourse and professional practice. It draws from a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of 363 political speeches published on England's Department for Education website between 2010 and 2018, and qualitative interviews with two executive leaders working in…

Alternative provision (AP) caters for pupils marginalised and excluded from mainstream schooling. In England, it is conceptualised in policy as providing education to support behavioural improvements (pupils are directed off-site to improve behaviour). There is limited research on the experiences of those who work in AP settings. That which does…

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, England faced a considerable teacher recruitment and retention challenge. The last ten years have been characterised by insufficient numbers of new teachers joining the profession and an increasing proportion leaving the state sector, particularly in secondary schools. This research is designed to…

This report presents the findings from the Teacher Workload Survey (TWS) 2019, which is a large-scale nationally representative survey of teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders, conducted over a three-week period in March 2019. The survey helps act as a national 'barometer' for teachers', middle leaders' and senior leaders' working conditions…

On May 10th, 2020 the Prime Minister announced a phased return of some children to school in England from June 1st. Schools had been closed to all but vulnerable and keyworker children since March 20th, meaning that most children have been educated at home for a period of 10 weeks, and some year groups are not expected to return to school until…

School inspection has formed part of both English and Swedish approaches to governing education for some time now. But latterly due to the neo liberal drive for educational excellence, both countries have remodelled their inspector workforce. Using Jacobsson's theory of governance as a regulative, meditative and inquisitive activity, this chapter…

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on all areas of society, including education. On 20 March 2020, the British Government ordered all schools to close to all pupils, except vulnerable children and the children of keyworkers (such as those working in public health, transport and supplying food). National examinations were also cancelled. As a…

This paper analyses the role and impact of beliefs, values and worldviews (BVW) in the business and work-based environment, and how they are translated and negotiated in non-spiritual and non-sacred spaces. Based on pilot research with a cohort of English Roman Catholic employees and managers conducted within a retreat setting, and as part of a…

Purpose: This paper presents the findings of a small scale research project exploring mentorship programme participants experiences and learning about their managerial role in an adult social care service seeking to build management practice, resilience and well-being in the context of transformation. Design/methodology/approach: A case study of…

Explores perceived stress and job satisfaction among 36 primary British headteachers. Around half reported high levels of occupational stress; half were satisfied with their work. Highest satisfaction levels came from personal and organizational factors. School organization was a source of stress and satisfaction. Social support was perceived as…

This article investigates the perceptions of English headteachers to questions addressing the setting of goals and the effects of external pressure on headteachers. The research utilizes semi-structured interviews with headteachers from a variety of contexts. These interviews were used to write individual headteacher "portraits", which…

A study investigated techniques and practices for teaching second languages (French, German, Spanish) in 25 urban schools in different areas of England. It was found that the overall quality of work in modern languages was very good in 1 school, good in 5, satisfactory in 7, less than satisfactory in 10, and poor in 2. Three of 10 lessons seen…