2012 UCEA Convention

Competition in schools: A multifocal approach. Huriya Jabbar, University of California, Berkeley A growing body of work examines how school leaders respond to market pressures, as well as the effects
of increased competition on student outcomes, but defining and measuring competition and its effects remain a challenge. This paper reviews recent literature on the effects of competition in education markets, highlighting important questions and challenges for further research, and proposes a set of conceptual tools to examine the social, political, and economic aspects of competition in schools.

Institutional Entrepreneurship in an Emergent Discursive Field of Ranking World Class Universities. Hanne Mawhinney, University of Maryland
Paper explores shifting patterns in the strategic dilemmas associated with institutional entrepreneurship in the discursive terrain of world class university rankings created by the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University through its Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Analysis revealed paradoxical conditions arising from competing sets of choices faced by universities in strategically engaging in the discursive terrain of ranking world class universities.

The purpose of educational leadership: Reconfiguring entrepreneurialism in public education.
Philip Woods, University of Hertfordshire
This paper considers the challenges to educational leadership in policy and social contexts that promote entrepreneurialism and the idea of the ‘enterprising self’. Two key challenges are addressed: meanings of entrepreneurialism, and the values conflicts entailed in the idea of entrepreneurial leadership. The paper considers the scope for responding to and shaping the discourse and nature of entrepreneurial leadership through democratic entrepreneurialism and adaptive strategies. The concluding section suggests implications for principal preparation and development.