Rethinking Networks in Education: Case Studies of Organisational Development Networks in Neoliberal Contexts
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Rethinking Networks in Education: Case Studies of Organisational Development Networks in Neoliberal Contexts Andrew Townsend
Published online: 6 March 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract In 2002 the National College for School Leadership in England launched what they claimed to be the biggest school networking initiative of its kind. The networks which were members of this programme involved schools working together to achieve shared priorities and can be viewed as examples of organisational development networks. These networks, which promoted ideals of collaborative development and bottom up change, were introduced in a neoliberal market context of education in which schools were encouraged to compete against each other. Herein I chart the development of this neoliberal education market and explore ways in which three case study networks, all members of the Networked Learning Communities programme, related to that context. I highlight some problems with and benefits of networking, including the aspirations for networks to counteract perceived de-professionalising effects of prescriptive education policy. I argue that, whilst being able to achieve some of their aims, the focus of these networks means that their potential to achieve some of their espoused effects is limited. An alternative is proposed, which is to reconsider educational networks from the perspective of networks that arise from social movements. An outcome of this reconsideration is a suggestion that the commitments to collaboration, associated with organisational development networks, and to mobilisation from shared commitments associated with social movements can broaden the potential scope of changes resulting from networks. Keywords School networks Neoliberalism Teacher professionalism Social movements
A. Townsend (&) School of Education, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK e-mail: [email protected]
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Linking Networks and Neoliberalism This article is concerned with examining the ways in which networks of schools established with the intention of supporting collaborative development (Lieberman and Grolnick 1996), operate in the competitive market context associated with neoliberal education policy (Leitner and Sheppard 2002). Presenting data drawn from case studies of three networks I suggest that the ways in which they have been conceived and operated, limits their potential to achieve the kinds of changes they aspire to. I conclude by arguing that this potential could be enhanced by learning from the ways in which the networks associated with social movements have grown in response to the surrounding political climate. The organisational development networks that were the focus of this study were all members, at some point of their work, of a national networking programme funded and supported by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) in England. The NCSL was established in 2000 to provide training and development for school leaders, e
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