oa Wat maakt goed onderwijsbestuur? - De gedragsmatige determinanten van taakuitvoering door raden van toezicht in het voortgezet onderwijs

What determines good educational governance? Behavioral determinants of supervisory boards’ task performance in secondary education.

We investigate how task performance by supervisory boards in secondary education is determined by the social dynamics that play within a board. We show how the controlling task plays out different from the advising task. The internal, behavioral dynamics about task conflict, the use of expertise, effort norms and social cohesion all determine the task performance. The outcomes of a survey study among all secondary schools in the Netherlands serves as the empirical underpinning for a process oriented model of good educational governance. As such we contribute to the emerging literature on behavioral governance. Implications of our study includes that anticipating governance that combines both the controlling and the advising task is best served by diversity of ideas and opinions within a board. Particularly since task conflicts in supervisory boards do not lead to less but rather to more social cohesion.