Beruflich Dokumente
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examine the effects of ethical school leadership on improving equity and inclusion. The chapter begins
by examining some of the unintended and perverse effects (O’Neill 2013) of standardised assessment
and competition as measures for accountability, with a particular focus on the effects on students—such
as those with disability—who have been traditionally marginalised by mainstream schooling. Drawing on
our research in the United Kingdom and Australia, the chapter focuses on the rela-tionship between
in/exclusion and school culture, and how ethical leadership practices (Starratt 2012, 2014), as illustrated
through the use of collaborative inquiry processes, contribute to the development of inclusive practices
and cultures. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the ways that school leaders have used ethical
leadership approaches to promote inclusion through collaborative inquiry and critical reflection. These
processes represent ways in which educators apply an ethic of critique (Starratt 2012) by challenging
expectations of what is possible and drawing attention to new ways of thinking and new practices.
Finally, this chapter explores some of the challenges for educators, particularly those in leadership roles,
in establishing ethical and inclusive school cultures within current contexts of accountability.
248Inclusive Education for the 21st CenturyEffects of Standardised Assessment and School
CompetitionEducation systems around the world are facing increasing pressure to improve their
rankings on global league tables derived from stan-dardised testing regimes. Many approaches to
standardised student testing, such as NAPLAN in Australia, were initiated with the intention of
measuring student outcomes across schools. The 2008 introduction of NAPLAN was followed in 2010 by
the develop-ment of a national website. The My School website reports student performance in NAPLAN
by individual school and provides school demographic information, allowing for the comparison of
individual schools. The My School website was developed to inject new energy into education systems
and benefit those with the privilege of choice. However, growing evidence suggests that the narrowly
defined student outcomes measured by standardised assessment can result in a range of perverse
effects (O’Neill 2013) for students and schools, including driving competition between schools.