The application of a reflective practitioner methodology by clerks to college governing bodies in England: reviewing the benefits for clerks, and also for college governors and college senior staff

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the application of a professional reflective journal to support the role of the clerk to the college governing body in England. Background detail regarding the role of the ‘clerk to the corporation’ in England is provided. The paper explains the basis for the formation of a reflective journal using a critical incident analysis methodology. The critical incident of most importance to clerks to college governing bodies is assumed to be the meeting of the governing body. The paper also provides a theoretical framework within which to locate this approach to the formation and application of a reflective journal. Two applied studies of the use of a reflective journal are described, including responses from participating clerks from their reflective experience. The paper concludes with a summary of the usefulness of this innovative approach to professional development for clerks to college governing bodies and explores some possible next steps in the application of this reflective methodology within leadership of colleges.

KEYWORDS:

• Clerk to the governing body
• clerk to the corporation
• further education
• reflective journal
• critical incident analysis

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank

• Chris Jones, Jennifer Foote and Craig Williams for their commentary on earlier versions of this paper;

• the participating clerks and their respective college governing bodies;

• mentors to participating clerks in the reported studies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Correspondence from Association of Colleges, 8 January 2019.

2. Corporation clerks, also known as governance professionals, are critical to board performance.

3. From this point forward, for ease of reading, the role of clerk to the corporation will be referred to as ‘clerk to the college governing body’. It should be noted that this term is shorthand for a range of situations extending from a governing body for one college to a governing body for a group of entities including one or more college brands and maybe a subsidiary company and/or other relevant organisations consistent with the purpose of the ‘further education corporation’.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Education and Training Foundation for its funding of Study 2; the College Development Network (Scotland) for funding and supporting what will be known as Study 3.

Notes on contributors

Ron Hill

Prof. Ron Hill experience of working with the governance of colleges in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. His research interests include the remuneration of college governors, the self-review processes used by college governing bodies, and localism and colleges.

Joss Kang

Joss Kang experience of working on a range of national quality improvement projects to facilitate the quality of education and leadership in the further education and training sector.