Research Calls for more Working Class & Ethnic Minority School Governors
In the late 1908s, the Conservative government created more than
400,000 "volunteer citizens" to join school boards of
governors. This was the "largest democratic experiment in
voluntary public participation", said the report by
researchers from The University of Warwick, Glasgow Caledonian,
Queen's Belfast and Birmingham universities and the Centre for
Public Scrutiny. However the report expresses concern that , those
recruited were "generally white, middle-aged, middle-class,
middle-income, public/community service workers". The
researchers say schools need to recruit governors from
working-class and ethnic minority backgrounds to become more
democratic and "cosmopolitan".
Largely middle-class volunteers had helped to improve performances
as such people had the knowledge to make a "profound
contribution to regenerating the schools", with their
"access to privileged networks and resources". But this
approach only went a certain way to improving schools if the bulk
of the community was not involved. Schools across the UK had to
create stronger community links to ensure continued improvement,
they said. The researchers said in some local authorities this was
recognised and greater efforts were under way to involve more
people.
Researchers looked at boards of governors in five UK local
authorities in covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland. Professor Stewart Ranson, from The University of Warwick
University's Institute of Education, said: "We are at a new
stage of development. Schools need to connect with their
communities. Arguably, schools will not become effective learning
communities until they become truly cosmopolitan learning
communities, and they will only realize that vision when democratic
governance is strengthened at the level of school and community as
well as the local authority."
Some 67% of the governors questioned were concerned about problems
recruiting more volunteers, while 45% had fears about keeping
existing ones.
The report - "The participation of volunteer citizens in
school governance" - will be published in volume 57 (3) of
Education Review.
For further information please contact:
Professor Stewart Ranson,
University of Warwick's Institute of Education
Tel: 024 76523809 S.Ranson@warwick.ac.uk
Peter Dunn, Press and Media Relations Manager, Communications
Office, University of Warwick,
Tel: 024 76 523708
or 07767 655860 email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk
PR59 PJD 11th August 2005