Autonomous leadership and a centralised school system – an odd couple? Empirical insights from Cyprus

Purpose Although policy makers strengthen the necessity of ‘deregulation’, discussions about deregulation versus regulation in Europe still seem to be characterized by a lack of sophistication and require a more differentiated picture of specific forms of deregulation. As a consequence, the analysis of new educational governance approaches should consider the local actor’s interpretation of new roles and new responsibilities. Relating actions and reactions of school leaders to their formal environment should lead to more contextual patterns of responsiveness. Design/methodology/approach We investigate, based on a survey among Cypriot school leaders, whether school autonomy needs deregulation, or regulation towards autonomy, respectively. At the time of research the school system of Cyprus could be characterized as a “centralized” system and hence represented a suitable field of study. Using a factor model followed by a cluster analysis we explore the school leaders’ profiles of operative and perceived autonomy in different fields of governance issues and identify different types of leadership. Findings We find that the autonomy school leaders experience is not necessarily related to a ’defined’ degree of autonomy which is prescribed by educational law and driven by con-cepts of new public management. Their ‘perceived’ autonomy is also due to factors which can be located at a rather individual level. Originality/value Our findings provide insight into principals’ motives to adopt certain styles of leading schools, quite independently from new measures of educational governance. We conclude that greater emphasis on systematic support programs may prepare school principals for gains of autonomy as well as for potential sources of conflict.