What is Coalition Building

In England, there is a middle school provision dominated by a performance orientated culture. In many schools this has led to a narrowing of the curriculum design, marginalizing subjects that are considered to be less academically rigorous. A period of austerity measures has also limited activity linked to pastoral care, character education, and enrichment. This chapter examines how a group of school leaders in the South of England endeavored to manage reform of their middle school curriculum in order to change this. The data analyzed is taken from documented communications that illuminate the narrative of what the school leaders espoused to achieve and how they went about achieving their mission. It is found that the leaders are ‘walking-the-talk' in terms of how their planning matches their articulated espousal. The conclusion is that the evidence of implementation indicates a sustainable transformation of the middle school programmed of instruction is likely.