The Management of Sixth Form Colleges: Implications For

The management of sixth form colleges: implications for leadership

Jacky Lumby

Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association, University of Exeter, 12th -14th September 2002.

Contact details:

Professor Jacky Lumby

International Institute for Educational Leadership

University of Lincoln,

Brayford Pool

Lincoln,

LN6 7TS.

Telephone: 01522 886190

Facsimile: 01522 886023

Email:

Research to date

Since the incorporation of the UK further education sector in 1993, research has explored how colleges have set about the task of leading and managing colleges. The literature is characterised by its discrete nature. It does not draw upon school improvement or effectiveness research, or what we know about leadership in schools. Rather, it has sought to understand the work of colleges as if they were dissociated from other parts of the UK system of education and training, and more allied to parallel elements of the public sector or to business and industry (Elliott & Hall, 1994; Gleeson & Shain, 1999). Consequently, insights gained from school research, for example on the impact of the socioeconomic profile of students on leadership and management (Thrupp, 1995) have been disregarded. Given the nature of students in the sector, with a large percentage of students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, this blindness to literature on schools which may be relevant is disappointing. Research has also largely focused on only one part of the sector, general further education colleges. The 105 sixth form colleges (SFCs) which form about a quarter of all colleges in the sector, have generally not been differentiated from general further education colleges (GFECs), and therefore by implication, have been assumed to exhibit the same characteristics.

This paper draws on research on sixth form colleges undertaken in 2000-2002 and highlights the fact that the leadership and management of sixth form colleges appears to be distinguishable from that of general further education colleges in a number of ways. The paper explores the causes of the differences, exploring whether factors such as socioeconomic intake, size, range of curriculum influence the approach to leading and managing.

The research

The research aimed to investigate the impact of government policy on sixth form colleges since incorporation. In order to understand the experience of sixth form colleges and their contribution to 16-19 education, it was felt necessary to collect data to reflect the perspective not only of sixth form colleges, but the alternative providers for this age group, secondary schools and general further education colleges. Data was collected in the following ways:

A national survey of the whole population of 105 sixth form colleges. Questionnaires were sent to the principal to be completed by the principal/member of the senior management team.
A survey by questionnaire of secondary schools and general further colleges in the then FEFC regions of the North West and South East
Five case study colleges, two in the North West, two in the South East, and one in the East Midlands.
Statistics held by the FEFC, LSC and DfES were analysed to identify patterns in the student profile and achievement of sixth form colleges.

The methodology combined qualitative and quantitative approaches in order to provide a broad overview of the sector and a more detailed in-depth view of the individual and collective experience and opinions of staff and students in sixth form colleges. For the focus on management, numeric data was collected on factual information, for example, numbers of restructures, the competitive /collaborative environment, the rise or fall in time given to management activities. This broad picture was supplemented with staff interviews, allowing managers to speak of their practice and teachers and students to provide their perspective on the nature and effects of management activity. 105 sixth form colleges were surveyed – the total for the country. 61 were returned (58 per cent). 50 of the respondents were principals. The remainder were members of the senior management team (SMT). 60 general further education colleges were surveyed in the North West and South East. 22 were returned (37 per cent), 12 from the South East, 10 from the North West. 15 respondents were principals/chief executive or deputy/vice. Other respondents were members of the SMT. Both the number and percentage of returns from general further education colleges were low, but many colleges in other regions with few sixth form colleges would have relatively little experience of working with them or of their role. Consequently enlarging the sample was not felt to be appropriate. Although tests of significance have not been applied to the data, the trends in the outcomes tend to be consistent, which is unlikely to be the case with insignificant, random variations. The existence of a recent prior survey using many of the same questions (Lumby, 2001) allowed comparison to triangulate the responses with those in the current survey. Results were generally congruent.

Differences in managing and leading

The data collected showed differences in the leadership and management of sixth form and general further education colleges. Firstly, sixth form colleges were more stable, with fewer organisational restructures since 1993. The survey data indicated that 40 per cent of general further education colleges had restructured 3 times or more since 1993. Sixth form colleges had restructured much less. 14 per cent had not restructured at all since 1993, and 46 per cent only once. Staffing was also more stable in SFCs. There is not much use of contract or part-time staff, in contrast to GFECs where the use of temporary staff in a variety of forms has reached unprecedented heights (FEDA, 1995; Goulding et al, 1998). The interview data made clear the extent to which both staff and students were the curators of culture. Consequently, the pre-1993 professional culture has been prolonged by the continuity of staffing in SFCs. The turnover in GFECs has been much higher.

The effects of incorporation had impacted differently also on the leadership and management of two types of institution. If time invested is an indicator of the importance and value attributed to areas of activity, the shifts in the use of time showed different patterns in sixth form and general further education colleges as shown in figures 1 and 2. All of the managers at first line, middle and senior levels have experienced a shift where more of their time is given to management activities. However, the change appears much more consistent across the three management levels of general further education colleges than in sixth form colleges. In the latter, senior managers have experienced the most noticeable shift in the amount of time given, particularly to financial management. Interview data confirmed this, with senior managers believing they had protected staff from the pressures of financial considerations. Middle managers, though they were aware of the effects of financial stringency on their own departments, largely saw the management of finance as primarily the role of senior managers.

The interview data from heads of department and teachers in the sixth form colleges showed a consistent focus on issues of teaching and learning and generally a positive celebration of the nature of their institution and its strengths. There was little criticism of senior staff and much support for them. Overall, the culture showed a cohesiveness and learner-centeredness which was significantly different to the culture of general further education colleges as indicated in the literature. The latter portrays general further education colleges as riven by disputes and antagonism between lecturers and particularly senior staff (Elliott & Hall, 1994; Elliot, 1996; Randle & Brady, 1997; Gleeson, 2001). Given that sixth form colleges and general further education colleges have been subject to the same national systems of funding and inspection, those factors assumed by much of the existing analysis to be the root of the change to a managerialist culture (Bailey & Ainley, 2000), the reasons why sixth form colleges have nevertheless retained a solidarity and learner-centred culture are likely to be internal and as such, to raise significant issues about leadership and management in the sector.

Figure 1. General Further Education college managers - changes in management activity

Figure 2. Sixth form college managers - changes in management activity

Analysing causes

Previous research on sixth form colleges has depicted them as benefiting from able and motivated students from a middle class background (Robinson & Burke, 1997; Hodkinson & Bloomer, 2000). This privileged intake has been linked with the noticeable “positive learning culture” in sixth form colleges (Hodkinson & Bloomer, 2000, p.192). A link between the socioeconomic profile of intake of schools and the nature of their leadership and management has been posited by Thrupp (1995) who argues that schools with a large number of disadvantaged pupils cannot be managed in the same way as those with a more privileged and therefore more compliant student body. Drawing on case study data he suggests that a non-compliant student body demands a great deal of additional time and effort from staff on daily operational issues, leaving less time to focus on the development of teaching and learning.

It is certainly the case that many students in sixth form colleges are relatively able and advantaged. In 1997/8, in terms of prior attainment, 70.8 per cent of 16 to 18 year olds entering sixth form colleges on FEFC funded, full time, full year courses had 5 or more GCSE passes. The figure for general further education colleges is 25.0 per cent They are also less likely to come from disadvantaged locations as students on full time, full year courses are less likely to be eligible for widening participation units (SFCs 23.4 per cent, GFECs 31.5 per cent). However, there is wide variation amongst the sixth form colleges. Approximately one in five have high or very high levels of deprivation. When the 33 per cent with average levels of deprivation are added to the 20 per cent with high or very high levels, well over half of colleges have an average level of deprivation or higher. One of the case study sixth form colleges had high levels of deprivation. Despite this, the culture reflected the same solidarity amongst staff, the same positive focus on teaching and learning evident in other case study colleges with more privileged intakes. It appears that the reason for SFCs ability to retain a positive and professionally based culture is not, or not solely, the nature of their student body.

Competition

A second difference between sixth form and general further education colleges which emerged from the surveys was the degree of competition each experienced. Generally speaking, GFECs felt under more pressure to compete. For example, 73 per cent of GFECs felt the funding methodology exerted a pressure to compete compared to 33 per cent of SFCs. 68 per cent of GFECs felt the need to increase income exerted pressure to compete compared to 23 per cent of SFCs. This might translate into more time being given to external relations and promotion of the college amongst GFECs leaving less time to focus on teaching and learning. However, the shift in time given to external relations was very similar in both types of college. The mean for both SFC and GFEC senior managers was in fact identical. Other hypotheses might be tested. For example, the degree of competition might be resulting in acceptance of students whose ability to cope with the programme(s) onto which they are enrolled is either questionable or demands a much greater degree of support from staff. If this were the case, then the situation is both positive in terms of widening participation, but also potentially negative in increased demands and stress amongst staff, if they are coping with wider range of student ability without additional resource (Stead et al, 1995). Certainly there was evidence of widening participation amongst both types of college, but more research is needed into the effects of this on the culture of the college and on teaching and learning. Staff interviewed were very aware that the influx of the ‘new sixth’, that is "young people continuing their full-time education beyond the age of 16 who are suited neither to A-level nor a course of vocational training of the kind traditionally offered in FE" (Dean, 1982, p. 182), was enforcing change and introducing the sort of difficulties in achieving daily tasks such as maintaining attendance levels and getting in homework which are depicted in Thrupp's case studies.

Diversity

The majority of student in SFCs are 16-18 year olds. The focus on this age group results in a certain intensity of purpose and coherence. However, within the SFCs staff signalled different cultures in those who taught or were students on vocational programmes and those involved with AS/A levels. Such cultural differences were relatively contained, given the small range of programmes in SFCs and the homogeneity of the age group. In general further education colleges, the range of programmes and students is more diverse, covering basic skills to higher education for students as young as 14 up to the retired. The differences in culture amongst the variety of student and staff groups may be further intensified by the common situation of multiple sites, where the culture of different geographical sites intersects with the culture of different teaching disciplines. Earlier research (Lumby, 2001) indicated that general further education colleges saw their purpose as meeting the needs of the whole community. This implies a very broad curriculum. The research on which this paper draws raises issues about the impact of such a diverse curriculum and market on the culture of organisation and the impact of that culture on teaching and learning.

The implications

It would seem that sixth form colleges have largely avoided the gulf which has opened between staff at different levels in GFECs and have maintained a professionally based, learner-centred culture. Evidence from GFECs suggests that such solidarity amongst staff is uncommon. This paper has had space only to raise some of the interesting questions which arise from the research. What factors have allowed SFCs to retain a cohesive and positive culture? If their size and curriculum and student homogeneity are factors, what are the implications for general further education colleges with their history and culture of greater diversity? What might be the anticipated impact on the leadership of schools if they move to a much more diverse curriculum, as may be the case in the light of the emerging 14-19 agenda? (DfES, 2002). Rather than one factor such as socioeconomic intake being primarily responsible for shaping leadership and management, it may be the intersection of a wider range of factors which tip the balance towards an organisation which is positive for leading learning and one which is educationally toxic. More research is needed on the impact of the range of factors in synthesis in supporting or impeding successfully leading learning.

Acknowledgements

Thank are due to the staff and students of colleges who generously gave their time to contribute to the survey and case studies; to Ann Briggs my research colleague, who also with Jan Simpson drew the graphs; to Michael Wilson, Derek Glover and Tony Pell for their contribution to analysis of the data; to the Nuffield Foundation for supporting the project.

References

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Dean, J. (1982) 17 Plus: the New Sixth Form in Schools and FE, Educational Research, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 182-187.

DfES (2002) 14-19: Extending Opportunities and Raising Standards: Summary Document, London the Stationery Office. Accessed online 19.6.02 http://www.dfes.gov.uk/14-19greenpaper/

DfES (2001) Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom 2001 Edition, London, the Stationery Office http://www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/VOL/v0302/vol05-2001.pdf accessed online 28.1.02

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