PRISM 2(2) prism-journal.blackburn.ac.uk

REVIEW: The Principal

Power and Professionalism in FE

http://prism-journal.blackburn.ac.uk/
ISSN 2514-5347

Vol. 2 (2): pp. 92-95

JOHN HARRISON
University Centre at Blackburn College
john.harrison@blackburn.ac.uk

Daley, M., Orr, K. and Petrie, J. (2017). The Principal: Power and Professionalism in FE.

London: UCL Institute of Education Press. ISBN: 9781858568447

Since the incorporation of Further Education in 1992, there have been numerous, far-

reaching critiques regarding both Further Education power structures and how senior leaders

can exist fruitfully, both economically and morally, in ever-shifting sands. A relatively recent

example can be found in Further Education and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Daley, Orr and

Petrie’s (2015) prequel to The Principal: Power and Professionalism in FE. The prequel

presents a collection of case studies and professional development proposals for teachers,

managers and senior leaders that celebrated critical pedagogies, creativity, and

independence as subversive strategies in the context of precarity.

Funding for Further Education in England was cut by more than a third between 2010 and

2018 (Belfield, Sibieta, & Farquharson, 2018) and yet, while the minority government halted

further cuts in 2017, the final wave of Area Based Reviews (aimed at cutting the overall

number of FE Colleges and leaving those which remained more resilient), the introduction of

the Teaching and Further Education Act (setting out key governmental priorities such as T-

PRISM 2(2) prism-journal.blackburn.ac.uk

Levels), and the creation of The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (to

provide oversight of college-based technical education as well as of apprenticeships) are

examples of why this publication is valuable. In support, consider the persistent, panoptical

pressure for continuous improvement and the context of ongoing uncertainty (Offord, 2018)

and internal debate (Robertson, 2019) about how to achieve such improvement. This

publication is well timed in offering a conciliatory and contemporary examination of the

effectiveness of leadership, agency, and professionalism in Further Education today.

Machiavelli’s The Prince is the metaphorical hook upon which expansionism, leadership

and austerity are examined. Machiavelli wrote his ‘little book’ in 1513 following political exile

and he intended it as a guide to remaining in, or seizing control of, power. The preface

contains an introductory letter from Machiavelli to Lorenzo de' Medici explaining his

qualification in proposing how to rule effectively. The contributors to this publication - made

up of current or former Further Education teachers, trade unionists, policy advisors,

researchers and students - utilise Machiavelli’s position ‘at the foot of the mountain’

(Machiavelli & Parks, 2009, p. 3) to provide a rigorous interrogation of the current state of

strategic and leadership practices in Further Education, with much focus on the manner by

which senior leaders exercise influence, power and control over their ‘fiefdoms’. Taken as a

whole, the contributors offer their own treatise on how to regain a level of control amidst the

ceaseless reorganisation of Further Education.

Part I utilises The Prince as the basis to raise critical questions about power and the role

of the principal in Further Education, offering leadership advice for current or aspiring

principals, and drawing from Machiavelli to critique policy and practice. In Chapter 1, Smith

provides a contemporary account of the state of Further Education, offering a potentially

tragic outcome, whilst Carol Azumah’s ‘letter from exile’ (Daley, Orr, & Petrie, 2017, p. 3) in

Chapter 3 is an example of the integration and relevance of The Prince within the wider aims

of the book. Page’s defence of the principal in Chapter 4 provides a degree of shelter for those

charged with the survival of a college, proposing that autocracy and managerialism are,

perhaps, examples of necessary ‘malcontents’ in a time of scant resources and fierce

competition.

Part II explores the power dynamics in post-compulsory education, with the shared

histories of Australia, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland providing a foundation

PRISM 2(2) prism-journal.blackburn.ac.uk

for global perspectives on Further Education. In Chapter 6, Jones provides an account of

Further Education in Wales drawing from his experiences of trade unionism and evidencing

the loss of trust in governance structures. Moodie’s case study of Australian technical and

further education in Chapter 9 is a discourse on privatisation and ‘for-profit’ control.

Part III of the publication invites colleagues to consider how they experience Further

Education and how, in turn, their professionalism is supported or hindered by current

practices in the sector. In Chapter 10, Husband questions the place of innovation within

Colleges, whilst Kholsa applies his experience of teaching to highlight the importance of

teachers feeling valued in Chapter 13.

Part IV provides an opportunity for contributors to explore transformative and

experimental pedagogies and strategies, those that can be located deep within already well-

established practices. In Chapter 16, Hammond reflects on his experience of navigating,

creatively, claustrophobic procedural systems, employing the tactics of the ‘dérive’ and

détournement. Shukie, in Chapter 17, argues for a new order of learning, using distributed

teaching and learning strategies and Community Open Online Course (COOCs) as

emancipatory and subversive educational frameworks.

Overall, the publication constructs a form of educational activism: a positive, critical and

far-reaching protest and call to action - to managers, leaders and teachers - to critique and

manipulate, positively, Further Education from the inside. The commonality amongst the

contributors is the recognition of the organisational, economic and cultural challenges, yet

they propose eloquently, with precision and, like Machiavelli himself, with no small measure

of humour, an exploration of spaces where teachers and managers can execute control,

influence and creativity as a response.

I have worked for the same Further Education College for almost 20 years, starting in 2000

at a time of increased, then sustained, government focus on the value of Further Education,

manifest most notably in forensic scrutiny of student retention and achievement rates as

indicators of value for money and, whilst less explicit, societal impact. More recently, the

necessary pursuit of continuous improvement (for example, in attrition levels and

achievement rates) is cemented as a fundamental and defining measure of success that leads

Colleges along the path of (at least) financial survival. In this vein, and with protest, the book

PRISM 2(2) prism-journal.blackburn.ac.uk

offers a score of ethical, professional and cultural challenges to those invested in Further

Education and will be of interest, and indeed use, to those who seek to contribute to

alternative, creative, dynamic, and ethical futures.

References

Belfield, C., Sibieta, L., & Farquharson, C. (2018, September 17). Institute For Fiscal Studies - IFS. Retrieved 29

June 2019, from Severe squeeze on further education and sixth-form funding in England website:

https://www.ifs.org.uk/

Daley, M., Orr, K. and Petrie, J. (Eds.) (2015). Further Education and the Twelve Dancing Princesses. London:

Trentham Books.

Daley, M., Orr, K., & Petrie, J. (Eds.) (2017). The Principal: Power and professionalism in FE. Trentham Books.

Machiavelli, N., & Parks, T. (2009). The Prince. Penguin UK.

Offord, P. (2018, March 6). Hull College Group to shed over 200 staff. Retrieved 1 July 2019, from FE Week

website: https://feweek.co.uk/2018/03/06/hull-college-to-shed-over-200-staff/

Robertson, D. (2019, February 27). Shrewsbury college lecturers start six days of strikes | Shropshire Star.

Retrieved 30 June 2019, from Shropshire Star website:

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/education/2019/02/27/shrewsbury-college-lecturers-start-

six-days-of-strikes/