England’s schools are run from Whitehall, while Canada’s are run by local boards—and a new study will compare the two systems to find out which model better serves democracy and fairness. This matters because school governance is caught in a tug-of-war. Centralised control can stifle local decision-making, while too much local freedom leads to patchy standards and unequal outcomes. The project will synthesise existing research and policy documents from both countries, published between 2015 and 2025, to map the trade-offs each model faces. If successful, the findings could reshape how schools are run—not just in England and Canada, but in any country grappling with how to balance accountability with community participation. The project will produce a narrative synthesis report with concrete recommendations for policymakers, school leaders, and researchers. It will identify where current governance structures create inequities in democratic participation and educational quality, and suggest how to fix them. The result would be a clearer, evidence-based blueprint for school governance that genuinely supports both equity and democratic values.
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Schools play a pivotal role in democratic societies by educating youth and fostering democratic values. However, school governance has been criticized for unclear authority lines and slow decision-making, raising questions about its capacity to uphold democratic values (Clapham, 2024; Tamtik & Colorado, 2022; Wilkins, 2019). These tensions arise from the conflict between centralized control and local participation. Centralization can limit schools' decision-making flexibility, while excessive local autonomy can result in inconsistent standards and lead to equity challenges (Pennacchia et al., in press; Clapham & Vickers, 2017). A comparative study involving Canada and England provides an excellent opportunity to examine this issue. England represents a centralized model of school governance, while Canada exemplifies a decentralized model. Examining the similarities and differences between these systems can provide valuable insights into how a more democratic, participatory, and equitable model of school governance might function. This knowledge synthesis project is going to evaluate existing knowledge on how public schools in Canada and England navigate governance structures to support democracy, participation, and place in their systems. The project aims to achieve the following objectives: 1) To examine the current state of knowledge on school governance in Canada and England; 2) To identify the trades-offs faced by different governance models in incorporating the values of democracy, participation and place; 3) To develop recommendations on how school governance models can support quality and equitable education while ensuring accountability and fostering meaningful participation among diverse stakeholders. This qualitative research project will involve document analysis (Bowen, 2009; McCulloch, 2004) and a narrative synthesis review (Popay et al., 2006) of secondary data. The methods include environmental scans and critical content analysis, utilizing three types of data sources: scholarly publications, non-governmental organization reports (e.g., National Governance Association in England, EdCan Network in Canada), and government documents (e.g., policy reports from Ministries of Education in Canada and the Department for Education in England). The project will focus on publications from 2015 to 2025. This project is significant as it addresses the essential role of public schools in promoting democratic values and equity in education. By examining governance structures, it aims to identify gaps that contribute to inequities in democracy, participation and place. A narrative synthesis reports produced by this project enables a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of this topic, offering insights to inform policy, practice, and further research on school governance.
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