Writing a genealogical ethnography of a multi-academy trust

Abstract

The multi-academy trust (MAT) is rooted in the restructuring of schools in England through the process of academisation. MATs are independent, non-fee-paying education providers comparable to Swedish free schools and US charter Schools. Using Foucauldian thinking on genealogy I follow the emergence of the MAT. To do this, I trace the intersections and convergence of discourses and legislation which enabled the MAT to emerge. I analyse ethnographic data from a yearlong study of the Lawrence Trust which investigated the leadership praxis of the CEO. I argue disruptions and discontinuities in policy contribute to the advent of the MAT, though its history is non-linear. MATs are formed from a convergence of policy entanglements, an imbrication of discourses requiring new ways of leading. This article highlights the reorganisation of schooling through the existence of a MAT signified by the disintermediation of the local (regional) authority, and the decline of public education embodied in the corporatised leadership practices of the CEO.