The Evolving Model of School Self-Evaluation in Ireland: How a Person’s Perception of Purpose and Power Determines Practice

The overall aim of this dissertation is to examine the impact of an evolving national policy of School Self-Evaluation (SSE) on a sample of school leaders and teachers in two second-level schools. Over the course of the 2012/2013 academic year, a series of focus groups (12 in total) with the school leaders (principal and deputy principal) and a sample of teachers in both schools were conducted. The research is situated within a social constructionist paradigm. The research question can be sub-divided into three distinct parts concerning attitudes, emotions and implementation practices of the focus group respondents to SSE. The conceptual framework of the “4 P’s” used in this dissertation to interrogate the research question in an academically rigorous manner is quite distinctive. The “4 P’s” of the conceptual framework represent Purpose, Power, Person and Practice. This dissertation explores the composition of various colliding contexts which set the parameters for the contemporary model of school self-evaluation emerging in Irish schools today. It examines the impact of an internalisation of the performativity and audit culture of New Managerialism along with advocating a deliberative democratic logic for SSE. The main finding is that a professional practitioner (school leader or teacher) perception of the purpose and power implications of SSE as a policy initiative will influence local practices which ultimately will determine levels of compliance. Those levels of compliance may be contrived (box ticking exercise) or committed (proactive engagement). The research findings would suggest that concerning SSE, the focus group respondents veered more towards a status of contrived compliance