Thesis advisor: Patrick McQuillan / This case study examines the micropolitical strategies that a coach and seven teachers utilized to negotiate ideological and epistemological beliefs during required common planning time meetings for the period of one semester in an urban middle school. Theories of micropolitics and critical discourse analysis guided the development of the research questions that emphasized the political nature of the transactions and interactions between individuals within a school and how these negotiations were affected by the cultural and political climate of the district and the ideologies of individuals within that school about how students learn. The findings revealed how coaching as a reform strategy is highly influenced by the context of the school. The observations of mandated common planning time meetings, interviews with the coach and teachers, and other artifacts suggest that the power relationships between the members of the school community and political tensions of time, autonomy, ideological conflict, and trust influenced the discourse and interaction of the coach and teachers and influenced the implementation of the school's reform initiative. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Curriculum and Instruction.

Teachers are leaving the education profession at alarming rates and the attrition of teachers has become a serious issue for many schools and districts around the country. The purpose of this study was to investigate the retention and attrition patterns in one elementary school through the lens of micropolitical theory; in particular, principal decision-making processes, leadership activities, and the relationship between principal and teachers were studied. This qualitative, single case exploration included classroom observations, document analysis, and focus group and individual interviews with one principal, seven novice teachers, and one lead mentor. The data was analyzed using categorical aggregation and a constant comparative analysis. Study findings provided evidence that a negative micropolitical state was present at the school under study, including an absence of shared values and goals, lack of positive interpersonal relations, and lack of collegiality, all of which served to discourage the growth of novice teachers as developing professionals. Teacher perceptions revealed that they were less than satisfied with their chosen profession, particularly lacking contentment with the principal leadership.

This thesis investigates the experiences of 21 women in leadership and management who chose to leave their positions in the central office of a large state education department in Australia between 1991 and 2001, despite a record of high achievement and, for most, many years of loyal service. In particular, I identified why the women left and elements of the organisational culture that altered their career directions. The study adds to existing knowledge about women in management in Australia and the phenomenon of ‘the glass ceiling’ (generally understood to refer to an invisible barrier which prevents women, because they are women, from advancing beyond low to middle levels of organisational management). It demonstrates that the few women who do make it into senior management positions often encounter resistance to their acceptance at that level where the predominantly male managers exclude those who are different. Using a qualitative research approach with in-depth, open-ended interviewing techniques drawn from a critical feminist perspective, I worked with the interviewees to explore their experiences as women in organisational management. In combining a phenomenological approach with critical reflection I aimed to create a dialogue on lived experiences while at the same time using theory to inform and reflect on those experiences. My focus shifts back and forth from the women’s stories, related in their own voices, to my critical interpretation through a feminist lens, of their life-worlds. The sample ranged from women leading projects and special programs to directors, executive directors and chief executives. All, with one or two exceptions , encountered barriers and described gendered micropolitical processes at work. The loss of talent is central to the research. The findings suggest that more could be done to retain women of high potential and, more broadly, to value talented and ‘different’ individuals who may disrupt the traditional understanding of ‘manager’ or ‘leader’. In a profound questioning of the corporate culture the research participants identified the micropolitical processes at work that often blocked career progress. They questioned political game playing, factional politics, unwritten rules, gatekeeping, the exclusiveness of the boys’ club, positional power, and the hierarchical and bureaucratic management structure. They observed that relational, inclusive and interactive management styles were not valued in a corporate culture that defined merit in masculinist terms. Many challenged excessive self-promotion and careerist politics; recognised techniques that excluded and marginalised women; and asked why men with mediocre performance records got promotions, often ahead of more qualified, experienced and talented women who worked passionately for ‘the good of education’. Yet these female leaders recognised that behaviours cannot be divided neatly along gender lines. Many of the interviewees cited examples of a new wave of women they considered had become honorary males, responsible for perpetuating rather than resisting deeply entrenched practices, and not supportive of other women. One experienced CEO, who had worked in a wide range of public sector positions, distanced herself from gender debates and rejected feminist arguments that identified leadership as gendered. Adding to the complexity of the stories, other women at executive level talked of survival, the exhaustion of the lone female, the overwhelming weight of expectations from others (both male and female) and the ethical dimension of working in an ‘alien’ environment. As the ’90s progressed, social justice discourses were lost in the neoliberal agendas of managerialism and economic rationalism and feminist voices were submerged.

The purpose of this study was to explore parent-school interactions in an early childhood education setting from a micropolitical perspective. Relying on the interpretivist perspective, a case study was undertaken as the methodology for exploring the interests, conflicts, strategies, and the patterns of interactions between parents, teachers, and administrators. This research was conducted in a private non-profit community-based early childhood development center in central Texas. Data were gathered through interviews, observations, the school documents collection, and field notes. The researcher first portrayed a general image of parent-school interactions at the research setting, the Big Bend Child Development Center (BBCDC). The BBCDC created an open and friendly environment for children and their parents based on the center’s philosophy and the Developmentally Appropriated Practice guidelines. Most of the parent-school interactions happened in informal arenas. Administrators and teachers provided different ways to get parents involved, and daily communication played an important role in building relationships within the BBCDC. Moreover, parents actively got themselves involved. Under the context of the BBCDC, parents’ school choice, the non-deficit discourse, and the process of socialization helped to reduce tension between parents, teachers, and administrators. Three groups of participants developed their own strategies of working with each other. Two types of strategies were found, including day-to-day strategies and facing-conflict strategies. All the day-to-day strategies were also used during the process of managing conflicts. The day-to-day strategies were “preparatory strategies” (Malen & Cochran, 2008), which were employed to accumulate resources that might be converted to influence at a later time. By analyzing the strategies, the researcher found that relationships, information, and authority were all resources of power which these three groups of participants gave every effort to gain. Four patterns of politics were found in this study, including operating cooperation, facing conflict, preventing conflict, and suppressing conflict. The important roles of administrators and daily communication on the micropolitics of parent-school interactions were discussed. Based on the findings, the researcher suggested implications for early childhood education administrators, for early childhood education research from a micropolitical perspective, and for future research. / text

O denominado Projeto Inclusivo nas escolas de Ensino Regular, embora desgastado na atualidade pelo seu uso excessivo sem a contrapartida governamental, bem como a de diversos setores da sociedade de ações efetivas , reflete problemáticas importantes de serem pensadas acerca da precarização e da desigualdade de suas condições. Para polemizar a formação escolar como um conjunto de relações marcadas por certos modos de inclusão/exclusão do educador e do aluno no processo de ensino-aprendizagem, implicados com a organização do trabalho e dos bens produzidos socialmente, este trabalho de pesquisa tentou abordar as condições em que o ensino acontece, circunscrevendo o tempo/espaço da constituição sócio-histórico-política da educação. Pensar as práticas educacionais é abraçar o desafio de deixar-se afetar por suas questões, potencializando acontecimentos. A questão é problematizar o Projeto Inclusivo e seus efeitos como formas de publicizar a vida e a produção dos critérios de organização político-pedagógica. Tornar público significa empoderar o outro de saber e ação, fazer circular as análises, tornar públicas as instituições (valores, critérios, princípios) em jogo para uma produção de conhecimento. O objetivo é fazer entrar nos diversos campos do cotidiano escolar uma nova micropolítica que abra as portas para as trocas, para a avaliação dos efeitos das práticas, potencializando intervenções efetivas. / The so-called Projeto Inclusivo in the regular schools, although eroded away nowadays for its overuse without the governmental response as well as the response from many other sectors of the society by means of effective actions, reflects important problematics to be considered in relation to its poor and unequal conditions. To arouse the controversies over the school formation as a group of relations marked by certain kinds of inclusion in and exclusion of the educator and the students from the process of teaching-learning, implicated in the organization of the work and the goods socially produced, the present research tried to discuss the conditions in which the learning process occurs, circumscribing the time/space of the social-historical-political educational constitution. To reflect on the educational actions is to accept its challenge and let oneself get involved in its issues, potentializing happenings. The main point is to arouse the Projeto Inclusivos problematics and its effects as forms of turn life and the political-pedagogical organizing criteria production into public. To turn something into public means give the other the power of knowing and acting, making the analysis circulate, turning into public the institutions (values, criteria, principles) that are involved in the knowledge production. The aim is to introduce in the many fields of the schools routine a new micropolitics that opens the doors to the changings, to the evaluation of the actions effects, giving force to effective interventions.

O denominado Projeto Inclusivo nas escolas de Ensino Regular, embora desgastado na atualidade pelo seu uso excessivo sem a contrapartida governamental, bem como a de diversos setores da sociedade de ações efetivas , reflete problemáticas importantes de serem pensadas acerca da precarização e da desigualdade de suas condições. Para polemizar a formação escolar como um conjunto de relações marcadas por certos modos de inclusão/exclusão do educador e do aluno no processo de ensino-aprendizagem, implicados com a organização do trabalho e dos bens produzidos socialmente, este trabalho de pesquisa tentou abordar as condições em que o ensino acontece, circunscrevendo o tempo/espaço da constituição sócio-histórico-política da educação. Pensar as práticas educacionais é abraçar o desafio de deixar-se afetar por suas questões, potencializando acontecimentos. A questão é problematizar o Projeto Inclusivo e seus efeitos como formas de publicizar a vida e a produção dos critérios de organização político-pedagógica. Tornar público significa empoderar o outro de saber e ação, fazer circular as análises, tornar públicas as instituições (valores, critérios, princípios) em jogo para uma produção de conhecimento. O objetivo é fazer entrar nos diversos campos do cotidiano escolar uma nova micropolítica que abra as portas para as trocas, para a avaliação dos efeitos das práticas, potencializando intervenções efetivas. / The so-called Projeto Inclusivo in the regular schools, although eroded away nowadays for its overuse without the governmental response as well as the response from many other sectors of the society by means of effective actions, reflects important problematics to be considered in relation to its poor and unequal conditions. To arouse the controversies over the school formation as a group of relations marked by certain kinds of inclusion in and exclusion of the educator and the students from the process of teaching-learning, implicated in the organization of the work and the goods socially produced, the present research tried to discuss the conditions in which the learning process occurs, circumscribing the time/space of the social-historical-political educational constitution. To reflect on the educational actions is to accept its challenge and let oneself get involved in its issues, potentializing happenings. The main point is to arouse the Projeto Inclusivos problematics and its effects as forms of turn life and the political-pedagogical organizing criteria production into public. To turn something into public means give the other the power of knowing and acting, making the analysis circulate, turning into public the institutions (values, criteria, principles) that are involved in the knowledge production. The aim is to introduce in the many fields of the schools routine a new micropolitics that opens the doors to the changings, to the evaluation of the actions effects, giving force to effective interventions.

Research shows that public school districts that follow traditional means of instruction and assessment are insufficiently preparing students for success in the today’s global world. As a result, students are entering into higher education institutions and the workforce without the necessary skills to succeed in these 21st century environments. Extant literature suggest that there is a broad consensus on this perspective in public and private sectors nationally and globally. Evidence shows that some school district superintendents and their respective school boards continue to focus on improving the current practices and student academic performance and assessment. Other instructional leaders recognize that their current systems may insufficiently equip students for their futures. Despite financial challenges, state regulations, and limitations of traditional community expectations, these leaders introduce and support innovative education programs that offer extraordinary college and career preparatory opportunities. Some of these innovative districts are recognized by their respective state Departments of Education such as the districts represented in this study that are recognized as Kentucky Districts of Innovation (DOI). This exploratory, multiple-case study examines how several rural Kentucky school districts address these challenges. They've designed, developed, and supported innovative programs to prepare their students for success in post-secondary education and future careers. The researcher examined a wide array of documents, including program applications, district budgetary documents, strategic plans, website information as well as conducted six interviews of three rural Kentucky superintendents and either their respective board chairs or a school board member. An analysis of these data identified leadership characteristics of these superintendents, their relationships with their board members, and how these relationships effect the design, development, and continuous support for innovation. The researcher identified four common themes: student preparation, rural identity, cultures of innovation, and communication. Both superintendent and board members created change to prepare students for their future. The superintendents closely identified with and leveraged their intimate knowledge of their respective rural communities to align education innovations to meet community needs. Superintendents nurtured cultures of innovation that encouraged and accepted informed risk-taking at all levels of the district. In turn, their boards of education supported these innovative efforts through the allocation of resources as well as positive patronage in local communities. Further, effective communication patterns supported positive relationships and built trust with their respective boards and communities. Findings from this study support the notion that complex decision-making processes that support education innovation begin with the school board’s decision to hire a school district superintendent. The support continues as the board also is well-educated about innovative practices, provides advice, and supports the district’s education initiatives. It is also evident that superintendents who lead their respective district’s education innovation initiatives are well-informed by extant literature, exemplary practice, and have the political acuity to ensure that they work in concert with their local boards of education. In conclusion, superintendents and the relationships they had with their school boards of education directly affected innovation efforts within these rural Kentucky Districts of Innovation.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:26:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Davis Moreira Alvim.pdf: 871029 bytes, checksum: f8c67e0940c100d9252563ac92969562 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The inventory of hypotheses about the post-modernity is extensive. Generally, those who think it like a historical period and not only an aesthetic tendency indicates at least two important features: first, the victory of the ephemeral and the banality against the critical power of the modernity and, second, the new modulation or mutation of the postwar capitalism. Another direction taken by contemporary debate characterizes our times by the emergence of a new sovereign power, which makes the state of emergency a rule and turns the concentration camp into to a paradigm of government. In both cases, the resistances were subjected to silence or placed in the background. To approach the problem we propose the following question: how the resistances occur in the post-modern times? However, we must add to the problem an inflection inspired by Deleuze: how to think a resistance in itself, apart of the categories of negative? It was necessary to investigate the notion of resistance, especially in the writings of Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze and, in this way, determine his contributions, disagreements and meetings around the concept. We attempt to think the resistance in themselves, freeing them from exogenous factors that determine their dynamics and observing its affirmative power. We conclude that the resistances contain, by one hand, defectors and micropolitical aspects, which are primary in relation to power, and, by another hand, connectives and inventive characteristics / A lista de hipóteses sobre a pós-modernidade é extensa. De forma geral, aqueles que a pensam como um período histórico e não apenas uma tendência estética indicam ao menos dois traços importantes: primeiro, a vitória do efêmero e da banalidade sobre a potência crítica e contestatória existente na modernidade e, segundo, a nova modulação ou mutação do capitalismo do período pós-guerra. Outra direção tomada pelo debate contemporâneo caracteriza nossos tempos pela emergência de um novo poder soberano, que faz do estado de exceção uma regra e transforma o campo de concentração em um paradigma de governo. Em um caso como no outro, as resistências foram submetidas ao silêncio ou colocadas em segundo plano. Para começar a enfrentar o problema, propõe-se a seguinte questão: como se dão as resistências no pós-moderno? Contudo, seria preciso acrescentar ao problema certa inflexão inspirada em Deleuze: como pensar uma resistência em si mesma, independente das categorias do negativo? Assim, foi preciso investigar a noção de resistência, especialmente em alguns escritos de Michel Foucault e Gilles Deleuze e, dessa maneira, averiguar suas contribuições, divergências e encontros em torno do conceito. Busca-se pensar as resistências em si mesmas, livrando-as de condicionantes externos que determinem sua dinâmica, observando sua potência afirmativa, sua força ativa e criadora. Concluímos que as resistências possuem, por um lado, aspectos desertores e micropolíticos que são primordiais em relação ao poder e, por outro, características conectivas e inventivas

Principals as agents in secondary schools shape the meaning of what goes on in the school. To some extent, what happens in the school is a reflection of their beliefs, values and the dominant societal norms. School-community partnerships are a result of competing values, beliefs and visions of what can contribute to the success of the school from the perspective of the principal, the policy of the district school board and the teachers’ interests. School-community partnerships are therefore generally a compromise between the values of the principal and the teachers in the school through nurturing relationships and interpersonal leadership style. This study focused on the role of principals in establishing and maintaining school-community partnerships in an urban district school board in southern Ontario. The study employed qualitative research methods, drawing on two case studies in secondary schools. Data for the study was collected over a period of eight months through in-depth interviews of two principals and sixteen teachers. I used a micropolitical conceptual framework to analyze the principal’s role in school-community partnerships. The conceptual framework contributes to revealing the role of agency in organizations. The study revealed that principals initiate, support, coordinate, approve, allocate resources and evaluate school community partnerships. Through these roles, principals influence how partnerships unfold in the school. Principals’ roles in school-community partnerships are a reflection of the leadership style they enact in schools. The role is indicative of her/his values, beliefs and preference. This insight is important as a variable to how policies are implemented at different levels on the chain of implementation. It confirms other research that have strongly suggested that policies can be implemented best if the principals’ and teachers’values and beliefs are consistent. The implementation of policies are negotiated on daily basis between the principal and the teachers and principals have upper hand in determining their outcome. The result from this study illustrates how the roles of individuals in an organization mirror their values and beliefs and in turn affect how policies are implemented. The presence of school-community partnerships in secondary schools, although mandated by the district school board policy are the result of the role played by principals rather than merely policy provision. The role of the principal that was not clear was evaluating partnerships. There is need for further study to examine the criteria of evaluating partnerships in schools in order to ascertain the total contribution of the same to the success of schools.

Principals as agents in secondary schools shape the meaning of what goes on in the school. To some extent, what happens in the school is a reflection of their beliefs, values and the dominant societal norms. School-community partnerships are a result of competing values, beliefs and visions of what can contribute to the success of the school from the perspective of the principal, the policy of the district school board and the teachers’ interests. School-community partnerships are therefore generally a compromise between the values of the principal and the teachers in the school through nurturing relationships and interpersonal leadership style. This study focused on the role of principals in establishing and maintaining school-community partnerships in an urban district school board in southern Ontario. The study employed qualitative research methods, drawing on two case studies in secondary schools. Data for the study was collected over a period of eight months through in-depth interviews of two principals and sixteen teachers. I used a micropolitical conceptual framework to analyze the principal’s role in school-community partnerships. The conceptual framework contributes to revealing the role of agency in organizations. The study revealed that principals initiate, support, coordinate, approve, allocate resources and evaluate school community partnerships. Through these roles, principals influence how partnerships unfold in the school. Principals’ roles in school-community partnerships are a reflection of the leadership style they enact in schools. The role is indicative of her/his values, beliefs and preference. This insight is important as a variable to how policies are implemented at different levels on the chain of implementation. It confirms other research that have strongly suggested that policies can be implemented best if the principals’ and teachers’values and beliefs are consistent. The implementation of policies are negotiated on daily basis between the principal and the teachers and principals have upper hand in determining their outcome. The result from this study illustrates how the roles of individuals in an organization mirror their values and beliefs and in turn affect how policies are implemented. The presence of school-community partnerships in secondary schools, although mandated by the district school board policy are the result of the role played by principals rather than merely policy provision. The role of the principal that was not clear was evaluating partnerships. There is need for further study to examine the criteria of evaluating partnerships in schools in order to ascertain the total contribution of the same to the success of schools.