This paper by Trevor Cobbold challenges the ‘conventional wisdom’ (and political consensus) that increased autonomy and local decision-making is good for schools and education generally.
Trevor draws on extensive research from the School Autonomy Reform and Social Justice research project to show the damaging effects of increased school autonomy on equity and social justice. The research indicates that increased autonomy does not improve student outcomes, does not lead to increased teacher autonomy, and does lead to an increasingly bureaucratic and ‘marketised’ schooling system and poorer outcomes for rural and regional schools.
