Title: Centralisation and autonomy: a case study of 'constructed' views

Authors: Andrej Koren

Addresses: National School for Leadership in Education, Zupanciceva 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract: In the context of decentralisation-centralisation, the article addresses the issues of autonomy in the education system. From a post-modern perspective, the author deconstructs |autonomy| and surfaces the relational |nature|, the processes of autonomy-given and autonomy-taken relationship. From a qualitative, exploratory case study, |visibility| as constructed in interactions and being complex and perpetually changing, has emerged. The perpetual and unresolved tension between what participants in the study understood, perceived and |saw| as autonomy that was |given| to them by the |Centre| and what they |took|, wanted to take, saw and understood as their field of freedom for autonomous decisions and actions are discussed.

Keywords: education; leadership; school systems; head teachers; control; accountability; power; innovation; learning; autonomy; autonomous decisions; actions decisions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2007.012959

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2007 Vol.4 No.5, pp.487 - 500

Published online: 02 Apr 2007 *

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