What can the Study of Micropolitics Contribute to the Practice of Leadership in Reforming Schools?

Abstract

The author of this paper draws on illustrations of educational reform in the US to argue that the study of micropolitics is inevitable, advisable, and unavoidable. The inevitable political nature of schools stems from the context and socialization of schools and schooling. The study of micropolitics is necessary because of the claims against the credibility of administrator and teacher preparation programs. Though public schools have always had an ambitious mission, the increased expectations for reform make schools and their communities unavoidably more political. These conditions mean that the study of micropolitics is absolutely a question of survival for school leaders.