Andrew Pennington

Research

Before getting involved with research, I was a senior officer in two local authority education and children’s services departments. I am now a post-doctoral researcher at York St John University School of Education, Language and Psychology. My main research interests are concerned with: democracy, power and community engagement in the governance of schools; and the mental health and wellbeing of young people. I have a particular interest in the governance of Academies and Multi-Academy Trusts in England and the implications for local communities and wider democratic renewal.

Publications and conferences

PhD Thesis

‘Colonising Communities? Community Engagement, Democracy, and the Articulation of Power in the Governance of Multi-Academy Trusts in England’ York St. John University 2022 (https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/6278/)

Peer reviewed journal articles

Pennington, A,. Su, F., and Wood, M. (2024) Academisation, neoliberal technologies of governance and the rapid growth of multi-academy trusts (MATs) in England. Cambridge Journal of Education https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2024.2392537

Su, F., Wood, M., & Pennington, A. (2024) “The new normal isn’t normal”: to what extent has the Covid-19 pandemic affected secondary school children’s mental health and wellbeing in the North of England?Educational Review, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2024.2371836

Wood, M., Su, F. and Pennington, A. (2023) ‘You just need to work harder’: Misalignments between the rhetoric of social mobility and education for social justice.Power and Education, https://doi.org/10.1177/17577438231163047

Pennington, A. Su, F. & Wood, M. (2023): ‘Untangling the entangled knot’: a critical and genealogical examination of Multi-Academy Trusts’ (MATs) ideologies, power and governance in England, International Studies in Sociology of Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2023.2230980

Walker, E., Pennington, A., Wood, M. and Su, F. (2023) Lived experiences of educators and leaders in multi-academy trusts in England: The colonisation of schools, the erosion of community engagement and the need for alternative futures. Research in Education, https://doi.org/10.1177/00345237231196779

Margaret Wood, Andrew Pennington & Feng Su (2022) ‘Back to the future’: Thinking with Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) and Alec Clegg (1909–1986) on the promise of education,Oxford Review of Education, DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2022.2052828

Wood, M., Pennington, A. and Su, F. (2020), ‘The Past No Longer Casts Light Upon The Future; Our Minds Advance In Darkness’ : The Impact And Legacy Of Sir Alec Clegg’s Educational Ideas And Practices In The West Riding Of Yorkshire (1945-1974),British Journal of Educational Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00071005.2020.1799935

Pennington. A, Feng. S & Wood. M (2018) 'Pre-figurative practice and the educational leadership of Sir Alec Clegg in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England (1945-1974)