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What The Term Federation Can Be Confusing Or Misleading?

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The authors use their own single sentence definition of ‘Federations are pairs or groups of schools with close bonds’ Ford and McCue (2008) (pg. 4) to introduce what the term federation is defined as, enabling the reader to engage in the study from the outset. Similar to the work of Bell, (2010) the authors use sub headings allowing a clear, logical research process to be followed, including an introduction, methodology, literature review and findings. The title itself is somewhat unclear and ambiguous, with the opinion that the term ‘stars’ may perhaps refer to students, staff, or both. Parahoo, (2006) supports this arguing that titles that are too short can be confusing or misleading. However, the use of open, rhetorical questions within …show more content…

Throughout the study, the authors take an empirical stance admitting that they already know the answer to their hypothesis, a methodical approach noted by (Davies, 2007). Comments made by the authors support this particular argument, with quotes such as; ‘promoting the sharing and celebrating of good practice’ and ‘successful federation’ (pg.4) dismissing any possible limitations that federations may have. Taking the above into consideration, and the degree of neutrality, the confirmability of the research, in particular the findings are questioned by the reader. Ford and McCue (2008) use interpretative research paradigms, notably a qualitative approach, by means of interviews, questionnaires and case studies, using the theory of triangulation; an approach referred to the use of a variety of methods in one project aiming to explore the research from different angles (Davies, 2007). With limited evidence of wider reading within the methodology, it is evident that the authors have chosen this practical method as appose to a theoretical approach, in order to gain different perspectives and to interpret their results.

Themes/Key Questions
Throughout the study, a key theme of discovering the true impact of hard federations on leadership development is evident. Ford and McCue (2008) convey the origin of federations, outlining the standards that can be improved from their existence. However, with aspects of better

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