Values-Driven Leadership Through Institutional Structures and Practices: How Successful Schools in England and Hong Kong “Absorb” Policy

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes how principals of high-performing secondary schools in England and Hong Kong establish structural arrangements aligned to their core values as educators. Such values-driven structures provide a platform by which principals create the conditions in which policy and reform can be managed and absorbed without compromising the core purpose and contextual priorities of these schools. The findings reveal how the participating school principals have carefully embedded and institutionalized these structures within the cultures of their organizations as part of a multilayered approach to leadership.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors wish to acknowledge the funding support of Economic and Social Research Council and Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong for its support through the ESRC/RGC Joint Research Scheme (ESRC/J017035/1).