British Muslim Schools: Institutional Isomorphism and the Transition from Independent to Voluntary-Aided Status

Abstract

This chapter draws on first-hand qualitative research carried out inside Muslim schools in the United Kingdom. In particular, insights are drawn from life-history interviews conducted with a key informant, ‘Nasira’, who led two Muslim primary schools through the transition from independent to voluntary-aided (VA) status. These narratives will demonstrate how making the transition from being independent to voluntary-aided Muslim schools necessarily resulted in processes of institutional isomorphism. These processes arise in response to commonly held perceptions and expectations associated with institutions operating within a given sector. As summarised by Dacin (1997, p.4), conformity to institutional norms creates structural similarities, or isomorphism, across organisations. These processes of change primarily affect the profile of staff, parents and pupils for independent Muslim schools which enter the maintained sector. To simplify discussions, the terms ‘School A’ and ‘School B’ will be used to refer to the first and second schools that Nasira, as head teacher in each case, saw through the transition from independent to voluntary-aided status. Whereas School A had already been in the state sector for four years at the time of the research, School B was studied during its final months as an independent school prior to becoming a state-funded Muslim primary school.