ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE HEAD TEACHER’S VALUE SYSTEM INFLUENCE THE ETHOS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED PRIMARY SCHOOL Gillian Holmes A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Doctor of Education Submitted: December 2015 1 | Page ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE AND EDUCATION DOCTOR OF EDUCATION TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE HEAD TEACHER’S VALUE SYSTEM INFLUENCE THE ETHOS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED PRIMARY SCHOOL Gillian Holmes The research stems from the researcher’s own experience of establishing an ethos in a Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary School, and a desire to find out how other heads have developed theirs. Using a case study approach, the research asked heads to explain their personal values, and if and how they used these to establish their school’s ethos. The data generated has provided a detailed description of each school and multiple perspectives of the head teacher’s influence upon their school. The case consisted of six Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary schools in rural Essex. Five semi-structured interviews took place in each school, one with the head teacher, followed by interviews with two teachers and two members of the support staff. An observation in each school looked for evidence of the ethos through all aspects of the setting, including the use of indoor and outdoor areas, the content of displays, and the interaction between the pupils and the adults. Each school’s most recent inspection reports from Ofsted and the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools were scrutinized for references to school ethos, and values, which could contribute towards the data collected in each school. The analysis of the data supports research literature, which highlights the important role of an effective head teacher. The knowledge that has also emerged is the dichotomy faced by some head teachers: whether their personal values serve as a guide to the underpinning of their school values or whether they adopt professional values that support the Christian distinctiveness of the school, even when these are at variance to their own personal beliefs. These embedded values support the development of the ethos in their schools. This research has provided new insights into the development of the school ethos and encourages heads to reflexively consider how their personal values impact upon their school. Key words: Christian distinctiveness, leadership, spirituality, values, ethos. i | Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank all the head teachers and staff who were willing to be interviewed for this research, although they must remain nameless, their generosity in giving up their time and privacy was much appreciated. My grateful thanks go to Dr Simon Pratt-Adams, my first supervisor @ Anglia Ruskin University, for his patience, encouragement, advice and belief in my ability to complete this thesis. I also wish to thank Dr Heather Maycock, my second supervisor, for her support. Thanks to my family for their patience and support. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all head teachers working in Church of England primary schools in recognition of their commitment to the role. ii | Page List of Abbreviations BHA – British Humanist Association. C of E – Church of England. Church Schools – in the UK schools owned or part-maintained by churches, mainly Roman Catholic and Church of England, but also some Methodist, Quaker and other Christian denominations. DES, DfE, DfEE, DfES,DCFS – Department of Education and Science, Department for Education, Department for Education and Employment, Department for Education and Science, Department for Children, Schools and Families. Along with the Board of Education these are the different titles used since 1944. HMSO – Her Majesty's Stationery Office. LEA – Local Education Authority. NC – National Curriculum. NCC – National Curriculum Council. NCSL – National College of School Leadership. NPQH – National Professional Qualification for Head teachers. NS – National Society, previously known as the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church. Ofsted – Office for Standards in Education. PSHE – Personal, Social and Health Education. QCA – Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, responsible for curriculum from 1998. RE – Religious Education, used since the 1988 Education Act to describe the curriculum subject, rather than any form of religious observance. RI – Religious Instruction – the name given for religion as a classroom subject in the 1944 Act. SACRE – Standing Advisory Council on RE, set up in every LEA after the 1988 Education Act. SCAA – School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, established in 1992 to ensure quality in the curriculum, replaced by QCA. SEAL – Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning. iii | Page SIAS - Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools. (Changed to SIAMS in 2013) SIAMS – Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools. SMSC – Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural education. TTA – Teacher Training Agency. VA - Voluntary-aided schools, one type of church school, in which the church or foundation body appoint two-thirds of the governors and is allowed to require denominational worship and/or RE. VC – Voluntary-controlled schools, the church or foundation body has minimum control, only appoint one-third of the governors and RE must be taught according to the LEA agreed syllabus. Disclaimer: Throughout this work I will be using the terms: Church of England (C of E) school, Christian school and Church school. This is because different authors use these different terms. I am always referring to C of E schools. iv | Page TABLE OF CONTENTS: Page: Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Dedication ii List of Abbreviations iii Disclaimer iv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1. Preamble 1 1.2. An outline of the thesis 2 1.3. Conceptual framework 4 1.3.1. Leadership 5 1.3.2. Spirituality 7 1.3.3. Ethos 7 1.3.4. Values 8 1.4. Conclusion 9 Chapter 2: Historical Background to Church of England Schools in England 11 2.1. Introduction 11 2.2. The beginning of elementary education for the poor 12 2.3. The early twentieth century 16 2.4. The 1944 Education Act 17 2.5. Post Butler 19 2.6. The 2001 Dearing Report 22 2.7. Post Dearing 24 2.8. Conclusion 27 Chapter 3: A Review of the Relevant Literature 29 v | Page 3.1. Introduction 30 3.2. Leadership 32 3.2.1. Characteristics of an inspirational and effective leader 33 3.2.2. The vision of the effective leader 35 3.2.3. Christian school leadership 38 3.3. Spirituality 42 3.3.1. Spirituality in contemporary society 42 3.3.2. Different interpretations of spirituality 43 3.3.3. Spirituality within the education system 46 3.3.4. Spirituality in Christian schools 48 3.3.5. Spirituality in the curriculum 50 3.3.6. Spirituality in the C of E school 52 3.4. Ethos 54 3.4.1. A distinct Christian ethos 54 3.4.2. The effect of the Christian ethos on the pedagogy of the 57 School 3.5. Values 60 3.5.1. Shared values 61 3.5.2. Christian values 63 3.5.3. Core or universal values 65 3.6. Human rights 66 3.6.1. Children’s rights 67 3.6.2. Rational morality 68 3.7. Conclusion 70 Chapter 4: Research Methodology 72 4.1. The research paradigm 73 4.2. The choice of the sample for research 74 4.3. Case study 74 4.4. How the case study was chosen 75 vi | Page 4.5. Interviews 77 4.5.1. Semi -structured interview schedule 79 4.6. Additional methods used in the research 79 4.6.1. Environmental observation 79 4.6.2. Document analysis 81 4.7. Data analysis 82 4.7.1 An example of how the data collection method and the analysis led to one of the findings 84 4.8. Validity, reliability and generalisability. 85 4.9. Ethical considerations 86 4.10. Acknowledged limitations of the research method and conclusion 87 Chapter 5: Background to the Schools in the Case Study 89 5.1. St Anne’s school 90 5.2. St Botolph’s school 93 5.3. St Catherine’s school 97 5.4. St David’s school 100 5.5. St Egbert’s school 103 5.6. St Francis’ school 106 5.7. Conclusion 110 Chapter 6: Findings and Analysis 111 6.1. Factors that had motivated the head teachers to apply to their schools 111 6.2. Head teachers’ experience of spirituality in their lives and in their schools 114 6.3. The influence of the local church 119 6.4. Head teachers’ personal values that have driven their vision 122 vii | Page 6.5. Head teachers’ influence on their school’s ethos 130 6.6. Conclusion 136 Chapter 7: Discussion 137 7.1. Head teachers feel that they are in the right place 137 7.2. Schools are described as having a family feel 139 7.3. Head teachers take their schools on a journey 140 7.4. Head teachers describe their school’s values 142 7.5. Personal values or professional values 144 7.6. Developing an overtly Christian ethos 146 7.7. Developing Christian distinctiveness 148 7.8. Conclusion 150 Chapter 8: Conclusions 152 8.1. The contribution to knowledge 153 8.2. The research process 154 8.3. The head teacher’s responsibilities 156 8.4. Future research 157 8.5. The final reflections 160 Chapter 9: The Significance of the Research to Practice 162 9.1. The significance of the research to my own learning and experience 162 9.2. The significance of the research to the policy and practice of C of E schools 164 9.3.