TY  - JOUR
AB  - It is part of educational folklore that Australian State school
systems are highly centralised. A corollary of the lore is that schools
generally lack the organisational flexibility to cater adequately for
the diverse educational needs of their students. This article tests
these beliefs as they relate to the States of Queensland and New South
Wales. The research finds that the form of system‐level directives is
more prescriptive in the latter State. In both States, however, the
proportion of time which must be devoted to prescribed activities is
less than many would expect, both for teachers and pupils. Even where
head office directives appear to constrain, regional office staff can
practise “benign neglect” in their policing of the
directives, if they can see that there are educationally sound reasons
for doing so. The article finds that there is sufficient substance in
the folklore to give conservative principals an excuse to resist
introducing innovations in their schools. Any principals who are
determined to adapt their schools′ operations to better serve the
educational needs of their students are however, unlikely to be
prevented by central directives.
VL  - 28
IS  - 4
SN  - 0957-8234
DO  - 10.1108/09578239010140858
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/09578239010140858
AU  - Stone Marian
AU  - Harrold Ross
PY  - 1990
Y1  - 1990/01/01
TI  - The System the Ogre? Effects of System Requirements on
Schools′ Curriculum Structures
T2  - Journal of Educational Administration
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
Y2  - 2024/09/26
ER  -