How do headteachers lead in times of difficulty?

This research analyses how headteachers lead in times of difficulty, looking specifically at how they communicate policies to staff at such times, and what leadership styles they choose to adopt. The thesis draws on the work of Bourdieu and Foucault in considering the dominant discourses around state and institutional leadership. Its conceptual framework considers leadership styles and four processes acting upon Headteachers (namely: school context and culture; internal power structures; external accountability; and cyclical policy development and implementation). Data was collected from nine Headteachers facing three kinds of challenge (new Headship; improving teaching and learning; and structural change). The methodological approach is ground-breaking because it combines study of three types of data in a novel way. These were contemporaneous artefacts (the PowerPoint presentations given by the Headteachers at the moment of policy enactment), subsequent email commentary (provided by the Headteachers with the benefit of hindsight) and website analysis (undertaken by the researcher to gauge consistency of message). It was analysed using narrative and discourse techniques. The findings suggest that neoliberalism, in general, and the introduction of Multi-Academy Trusts, in particular, have created a range of different pressures that influence how Headteachers lead their schools. In times of difficulty, they try to communicate with staff in a way that is underpinned by their own values and those of their school. They construct and deliver their PowerPoint presentations with a view to inspiring their staff; Fairclough (2010) refers to the implicit use of values as part of the “style” of the text. This illustrates that Headteachers try to use transformational and ethical leadership styles, as promoted by the profession, but this can be constrained by the situations they face. Although distributed leadership is promoted by stakeholders in the profession, this does not result in a genuine distribution of leadership power, perhaps because difficult situations, by their very nature, heighten rather than lessen Headteacher accountability. The thesis ends with recommendations for practitioners (particularly Headteachers in similar situations), other policy actors and fellow researchers of educational leadership