How are teachers motivated to continue to learn throughout their career in a high-stakes accountability context? This innovative mixed methods study employs inductive/deductive hybrid thematic analysis and self-determination theory to investigate teachers' self-reported motivations to continue their professional learning. Through analysis of…

This article is personal and rather anecdotal as it is an attempt to sum up my experience of 30 years of Ofsted inspections. The key questions remain what they always were. How do you deal with the sometimes conflicting requirements of support and accountability, objectivity and impartiality, styles of inspection, reporting and grading? Perhaps…

The aim of the paper was to analyse the ways in which collaborative governance appears in the context of lifelong guidance in Finland. The research question was 'What are (in terms of problem-solving, collaborative process and multi-relational accountability) the challenges for collaborative governance of lifelong guidance in Finland?' The…

Scotland is one of four nations that make up the UK. Its education system's roots lie within an inclusive and egalitarian approach to the education of young people. Subsequent legislation, policies and curriculum frameworks reflect this stance, and so the route that Scotland has taken towards supporting young people has differed from that of…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the trend of research on universities and accountability (UAA) in Southeast Asian (SEA) countries. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 115 journal articles, conference papers, books and book chapters were obtained from the Scopus database spanning the years 1996-2023. These documents were subsequently…

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the Norwegian education system has shown a growing inclination towards performance-based management. This mixed-methods study aims to gain a deeper understanding of Norwegian primary school teachers' perceptions of the implementation and application of the National Quality Assessment System. The results…

Accountability in education takes many forms. One of the most prominent in the Welsh context is school inspection, which is considered an important measure of school performance and a way of holding schools accountable for the public money they receive. However, inspections are not accepted as adding value to the system without exception, and much…

This research explores the relationship between multi-academy trust (MAT) brand objectives, brand advantage and subsequent risk mitigation strategies utilised to position MATs in England in a notional hierarchy. This is exemplified through empirical case-study research: the Co-operative Academies Trust model of school governance; the roles and…

This paper utilises the concepts of "post-performativity" and "the post-performative teacher" to explore the private school context in China. It does this by drawing on in-depth interviews with Chinese language teachers and utilising metaphor analysis to highlight three recurring teacher identities that collectively constitute…

The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of a standards-based curriculum for what constitutes knowledge in different teaching contexts. The research question is as follows: How is the logic of uniformity within curriculum standards recontextualised into actual teaching in different school environments, here focusing on the concepts…

The educational system in Ghana has undergone various reforms as a result of colonisation, changes in government and constitutional amendments. These reforms have been accompanied by changes in educational assessment programmes. This paper explored the history of educational assessment in Ghana, understanding how educational reforms, colonisation…

In South Africa, the scholarship of epistemic justice has taken on an historical gaze with higher education framed as a social institution that might ameliorate the historical traumas of colonialism. Undoing the legacies of colonialism has been framed as the democratisation of the knowledge project. Using the White Paper 3 of 1997 that posits…

To afford school middle leaders meaningful opportunities to initiate change, we must provide them with the space and flexibility to engage with agentic and creative responses to policy and practice. Whilst we argue that the tensions identified in Bennett's seminal reviews persist, there may, nonetheless, be opportunities for school middle leaders…

Purpose: To assess the potential of a paper diary for strengthening accountability in public agricultural extension services. Therefore a paper diary called 'Diary for Agricultural Extension Officers' was developed and tested in Uganda. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative case study research approach was applied for the development and…

College governing boards are widely held to be the keystone of institutional strategy and the prime locus of support, challenge and accountability in respect of the actions of the senior Executive. Whilst there are many normative prescriptions about the conditions and arrangements required for effective college governance, relatively little is…