Managing the Drama: The Headteacher's Work in an Urban Primary School
- 1 May 1990
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Sociological Review
- Vol. 38 (2) , 247-271
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954x.1990.tb00911.x
Abstract
Previous studies of the work of primary school headteachers tend to adopt a fairly superficial approach to categorizing tasks and contacts. As part of an ethnographic study of teachers' work in an inner city primary school, I ‘shadowed’ the headteacher for three one-week blocks plus four interviews and numerous informal talks. Life at this school was intense and often dramatic. I develop an approach which suggests the headteacher's work contains ‘routines’, ‘events’ and ‘stories’ and give examples of each. Some ‘stories’ develop into ‘sagas’ or ‘social dramas’ and two instances are described. I examine how this headteacher not only copes with, but enjoys, what appears to be an increasingly stressful job.Keywords
This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
- Teachers, Gender and ResistanceBritish Journal of Sociology of Education, 1988
- What Professional Responsibility Means to Teachers: national contexts and classroom constantsBritish Journal of Sociology of Education, 1988
- Gender considerations in school management: masculine and feminine leadership stylesSchool Organisation, 1987
- The Role of the Primary School HeadEducational Management & Administration, 1987
- How Primary Heads Spend Their TimeEducational Management & Administration, 1986
- What Do Primary School Heads Actually Do All Day?School Organisation, 1985
- The Sociology of Feeling and Emotion: Selected PossibilitiesSociological Inquiry, 1975
- The One Best SystemPublished by JSTOR ,1974