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Understanding the interactions between multiple actors in network governance: Evidence from school turnaround in China

2022; Elsevier BV; Volume: 91; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102590

1873-4871

Yuan Tao,

Public Policy and Administration Research

This study explores network governance in education in China, using the phenomenon of school turnaround as a research window. Drawing on data collected from document analysis, observation, and interviews in Shanghai, this qualitative empirical study examines the complexity of interactions between schools, local governments, and third-party actors in school turnaround through network governance. The findings identify three network governance patterns – government-led, third-party-led, and school-led networks. In different patterns, the tripartite actors play different roles (schools as obedient follower, reserved implementer, or conscious striver; local governments as dominator, accommodator, or facilitator; and third parties as government representative, self-interested leader, or supportive partner) and adopt different coping strategies in their interactions. Based on its analysis of the interactions between the tripartite actors, this article suggests network governance as a differentiated leadership practice. In this practice, network actors can, depending on their configuration, exercise different extents of powers and have different degrees of asymmetric power relations (i.e., unequal power distribution between actors), with different actors exercising leadership as the most powerful or influential actor in different networks.