The Education and Employers Taskforce Second Research Conference, October 2011

1. The Education and Employers Taskforce Second Research Conference, October 2011 The chair of the school governing body: An analysis of aspects of the person, the responsibility and the role in relation to the school and its governance Steve Brammer (Warwick Business School) David Eddy Spicer (University of Bath) Chris James (University of Bath) c.james@bath.ac.uk

2. The chair of the school governing body Three linked projects: • The School Governance Study (Mar – Nov 2008) Current arrangements, employer/employee contribution. • School Governing Project (Feb – Oct 2009) School governing and school performance, phase and the socio-economic context. Survey data: 1007 ChGBs, case study data: 30 schools. • Chair of the School Governing Body Project (Apr – Dec 2011) Characteristics, responsibilities, practices and development needs, ChGBs-headteacher relationship Survey data: 2200 ChGBs and 400 headteachers (so far!).

3. The chair of the school governing body A very significant role and responsibility • Governing bodies are responsible for the conduct of schools in England. • “The governing body must elect a chair” (DfE 2011, 17). • The ChGB responsibility carries a number of specific legal responsibilities. • The ChGB has considerable emergency powers to act without the authority of the governing body

4. The chair of the school governing body Governance agency and governance capital Governance capital - the network of individuals and their capabilities, relationships and motivations that are available for the governing of a school. Governance agency - the capacity of those involved in the governing of a school to act.

5. The chair of the school governing body Governance agency and capital interact – a virtuous circle A high level of governance agency – substantial capacity to draw on the governance capital - plus: The school is successful and is held in high esteem and/or viewed with affection – likely to have a high level of governance capital - plus: The school is in a high SES setting - likely to have a yet higher level of governance capital. And vice versa . . . . .

6. The chair of the school governing body Governance agency and capital interact – a vicious circle A low level of governance agency – very little capacity to draw on the governance capital - minus: The school is not considered to be successful and is not held in high regard and/or is not viewed with affection - likely to have a low level of governance capital minus: The school is in a low SES setting - the school is likely to have a yet lower level of governance capital to draw upon. Implications: for the ChGB, for schools as a means of enabling social mobility; for ‘high mobility’ schools

7. The chair of the school governing body Who are ChGBs? • 49% female; 51% male. Almost exclusively White British - 97%. • 31% aged 40 - 49yrs; 28% 50 – 59yrs; 33% over 60 years ). Almost none under 40 yrs. • Experienced as governors - on average 5 years as a ChGB and 10 years as a school governor. • Often the parent of current (27%) or former pupils (41%). • Currently employed (61%) or retired (27%).

8. The chair of the school governing body Who are ChGBs? • 70% of the employed ChGBs are allowed paid time by their employers for governing work. • They tend to have ‘professional’ occupations – typically teacher/lecturer, doctor, lawyer, consultant, civil servant, or manager/director. • Typically spend 1 - 6 hours a week on governing issues, half of which is spent at the school - 10% spend more than 10 hours.

9. The chair of the school governing body Chairs’ and headteachers’ views on the way their governing bodies function • Overall, HTs and ChGBs tend to agree about how their governing bodies function. • ChGBs have a more positive view of the way the governing body works. • ChGBs think that governing bodies add to school leadership. HTs do not have such a positive view. • HTs think that governing bodies struggle more with managing the strategic-operations management divide – more so than do ChGBs. • HTs have a more positive view about the amount of information provided at governing body meetings.

10. The chair of the school governing body The Chair-Headteacher relationship • Overall, relations between ChGBs and HTs are strong • a high degree of mutual respect • investment on both sides • ChGBs and HTs differ in their views on the frequency and length of interactions (ChGBs more frequent and longer) • HTs accept that the ChGB has to challenge them, ChGBs do not have such a positive view. • HTs say that they are open with the ChGB, ChGBs do not have such a positive view.

11. The chair of the school governing body Important aspects of chairs’ practice • High level of agreement between HTs and ChGBs on what is important. • ‘Leadership/group management skills (such as ‘supporting effective teamwork’ and ‘managing differences of opinion) are prioritised over functional skills (such as Finance and HRM. • It is ‘as if’ the important skills are in ‘managing the group’ to ensure secure collective functioning.

12. The chair of the school governing body Summary and matters of interest • The ChGB is a significant responsibility – yet hidden from view. • The ChGB can have a powerful impact on the nature and effectiveness of schools. • The ChGB and governance capital - will a good ChGB be available within the school’s governance capital? • The ChGB and governance agency – the significance of ‘the reluctant chair’.