The ethical climate of public schooling under new public management

The movement of public services into direct competition with their private enterprise counterparts is a common feature of public sector policy throughout the developed world. The publicly funded provision of school education has not been exempt from this trend. The creation of a competitive climate is placing public school leaders and teachers under pressure to improve performance in an environment where parents-as-consumers choose the schools to which they send their children. Drawing on data from two recent studies involving principals, a description is given of some of the difficult ethical situations encountered in schools and the professional values that are put under stress as a result of the new competitive climate. Some implications are outlined for the design of professional development programmes for school principals and teachers.