Leadership of academy schools in england: sponsors and the realisation of the ethos and vision

This study involved exploring the leadership of sponsored academy schools, in particular sponsorship and the realisation of the ethos and vision. The research focused on: the motivations of sponsors; the roles of sponsors and academy principals and how the ethos and vision have been realised in their academies. This is a nested case study of five nests of differing sponsored academy types. It is a qualitative study which adopted a nested case study methodology and the semi-structured interview as a method. Nineteen key actors were interviewed from ten academies including sponsor representatives and principals. The findings show that there were a range of motivational factors for the motivations of sponsors. These varied from the holding of deep philosophical beliefs on the nature of education, to a philanthropic ‘giving back to the community’ and, for international sponsors, the status from joining the state education in England. The roles of academy sponsors and relationships with principals varied across the sample. Some sponsors have greater day to day involvement than others; they were more prescriptive in their relationship with the academy principal. There appears to be a relationship continuum for the principal and academy sponsor which varies from autocratic to laissez faire. The final research question explored how the leadership of academies has sought to realise their ethos and vision. The emergent themes of leadership, branding, buildings (BSF), educational values, sponsor vision and high aspirations were evident in all nests