Writing a genealogical ethnography of a multi-academy trust

The multi-academy trust (MAT) is rooted in the restructuring of school provision in England through the process of academisation. MATs are independent, non-fee-paying education providers comparable to Swedish free schools and US charter Schools. In this article I write a genealogical ethnography using Foucauldian thinking to trace the emergence of the MAT. To do this I trace the intersections and convergence of discourses and legislation which enabled the MAT to emerge and then analyse ethnographic data from a yearlong study of the Lawrence Trust which investigated the leadership praxis of the CEO. I argue disruptions and discontinuities in policy contribute to the advent of the MAT, though its history is non-linear. MATs are formed from a convergence of policy entanglements, an imbrication of discourses requiring new ways of leading. This article highlights the reorganisation of schooling through the emergence of the MAT signified by the disintermediation of the local (regional) authority, and the ensuing decline of public education embodied in the corporatised leadership practices of the CEO.