Competition between public supervision and professional management: an ethnographic study of school governance reforms in Switzerland

Abstract

This article discusses insights from an ethnographic study of local governance practices in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, under changing policy conditions. Recent reforms introduced and strengthened the position of head teachers, enhanced the responsibility of the municipalities and introduced new quality management procedures in local supervision. Long-time participant observation in the meetings of the different local governing bodies in four case studies revealed not only new modes of governance practices but also changing relations between the governing bodies within a municipality. By ‘studying up, down and across’ institutional borders and hierarchies, we recognised that as a consequence of the reforms local school governance emerges as contested field in which head teachers, school boards and municipal councils try to expand their influence and to contain those of related bodies. By their enactments of policy reforms, local bodies negotiate rationalities between traditional public supervision and professional management of schools.

Keywords:

• school governance
• local supervision
• school-based management
• education policy

Acknowledgements

Earlier versions of this paper were given at the Ethnography and Education Conference 2012 and further at the workshop of the research group ‘education and society’ at the University of Teacher Education, Bern, in November 2012. We, furthermore, thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. The project was funded by the University of Teacher Education, PHBern [grant number 10 s 01 02], Bern, Switzerland (August 2011–April 2014).

Notes

1. On a national level, the Swiss conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (Schweizerische Erziehungsdirektorenkonferenz EDK) is increasingly influencing cantonal school governance by advocating the harmonisation of compulsory schooling (HarmoS) and the introduction of a national curriculum (Lehrplan 21) including the introduction of competency standards (Manz 2012).

2. The mentioned changes (REVOS 08) are included in the compulsory schooling law (Volksschulgesetz) of the Canton of Bern, revised in 2008 (http://www.sta.be.ch/belex/d/4/432_210.html; accessed July 9, 2012).

3. With more than 10,000 inhabitants, the municipalities of Redcastle and Bluehill are of above-average size in the canton, whereas the two villages of Brownwood and Greenmeadows belong to the majority of municipalities with less than 5000 inhabitants. Redcastle has six school units, where 11 head teachers working part-time are responsible for 70 classes; Bluehill encompasses eight school units with 60 classes managed by five head teachers on a full-time basis. The two small municipalities in the study comprehend four and two school units with 14 and 12 classes, respectively. We are thankful to the actors in the field for their support of our research.