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Belcher, Daniel (2021) Moral leadership in an age of accountability: reconciling contrasting imperatives: A study of executive headteachers in England. EdD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

This thesis explored how moral leadership was understood and enacted by executive headteachers working in an age of high accountability in England. The research investigated leaders’ moral frameworks, the moral tensions experienced in their roles and how they sought to reconcile any tensions between the moral and accountability imperative. The focus responded to growing calls for a reassertion of moral leadership in education and amid concerns that the accountability system is having a detrimental effect, constraining leaders and rewarding unethical practices.



A conceptual understanding of moral leadership is provided drawing upon the work of Sergiovanni, moral philosophy and moral development theory. The research adopted an interpretive methodology and phenomenological approach seeking to understand the inner life-world of leaders by means of an autobiographical life-grid and semi-structured interview. A sample of eleven executive headteachers participated in this qualitative study and findings were analysed. Leaders reflected on the impact and importance of the formative years on their moral framework, they discussed the personal, institutional, system and societal aspects of moral leadership and the moral tensions they faced in their roles and schools. Findings showed that a strong sense of moral purpose was evident among executive headteachers, but leaders were pragmatic. Tensions arising from accountability pressures were felt most acutely in schools considered vulnerable.

The major contribution of this thesis is a typology of executive headteacher responses to tensions between the moral and accountability imperative – compete, conform, contingent and conscience. This typology is described and aligned to Kohlberg’s stages of moral development theory. The findings will be of interest to practitioners, policy makers and academics.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (EdD)
Supervisors:	Oliver, Mary Stevenson, Howard
Keywords:	moral leadership, moral reasoning, ethical leadership, school leadership, executive headteachers, accountability
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education > School of Education
Item ID:	65774
Depositing User:	Belcher, Daniel
Date Deposited:	20 Mar 2023 11:08
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2023 11:08
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/65774

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