A Vision for Christian Education Ethos: The Experiences of School Leaders in Two Schools and Implications for Practice

This chapter provides insights into the complexities of headteacherHeadteachers leadershipLeadership in Christian education based on research into school leaders’ development of Christian education ethos in two schools using interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith et al., Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Theory, Method and Research, Sage, 2009). Using creative data collection methods, a small group of pupils’ views of their education were elicited within the school’s ethos. The discussion focuses on the leadership experiences of a new secondary headteacher in a recently opened Christian Free School and a long-serving primary Church Academy headteacher. Whilst, the headteachersHeadteachers’ values were crucial in defining the visionVision for their schools’ education ethos, they experienced challenges in their deployment. They encountered factors which limited their leadership autonomy. Despite the headteachers experiencing internal struggles with their leadershipLeadership identity, pupil data indicated they understood the headteachers’ values. By comparing the data sets of leaders with pupils, I found congruence between the headteachersHeadteachers’ intended school ethos and the pupils’ experienced ethos. A practical methodology is provided for school leaders to adapt to investigate the influence of their vision and espoused values on pupils’ school experiences.