Why restructure?: an international survey of the roots of reform1

Abstract

There is a widespread movement towards a restructuring of educational administration, as is evidenced by reforms emphasizing school‐site management in the UK, New Zealand, a number of Australian states, and in various US and Canadian cities (e.g. Chicago, Illinois and Edmonton, Alberta). What accounts for these reforms and the similar forms they have taken? Seven competing and complementary explanations are reviewed: a crisis in legitimation, concern about effectiveness, concern about efficiency, the managerial revolution, a populous movement, a crisis in capitalism and provider capture. Critiques of these explanations are offered from various political perspectives (far left, middle left and right). Competing values sometimes suggest similar structural reforms. Unless value conflicts are resolved, restructuring may lead to a further decline, rather than renewed success, for public education systems.

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