“It’s not just who your are, it’s what you do and how you do it” – What Makes a Good School Governor?

20th November 2012

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The 2010 White Paper on Education, “The Importance of Teaching” recognised governors as “the unsung heroes of our education system” . It outlined a range of measures to ensure they are “better respected and deployed” and more focused on “strategic direction” . These measures included better information and training as well structural reforms. The White Paper pledged to:

 
“legislate in the forthcoming Education Bill so that all schools can establish smaller governing bodies with appointments primarily focused on skills.”
 
However, what sort of “skills” these are is unclear. In this report by LKMco, commissioned by Teach First, we argue that being a good governor is not just about who you are – a stakeholder or an expert; it is about what you do and how you do it. We present a typology of four types of governors: ‘The Forensic’, ‘The Local’, ‘The Expert’ and ‘The Educationalist.’ 
 
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