What are schools for? Rethinking accountability and policy development

Chartered College of Teaching ¬∑ What are schools for? Rethinking accountability and policy development   Like many headteachers in the UK, I am grappling with a new norm in my school on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. However, unlike most headteachers, I have just completed a doctoral research project involving teachers and senior leaders in my school. I had presumed that my post-research self would gain some of the balance in my life that I felt sure I had lost. Instead, quite the opposite has happened. This imagined 'end' has become the 'beginning' of a newfound determination to utilise and share my research, for the reasons summarised below. My research explored the potential that a coaching culture, as a leadership style and process of professional growth, could have in a school. It was with a distinct sense of d√©j√†-vu, when preparing for my viva during lockdown that I began to reflect on its wider impact. During this time, many educationalists have rec