Management of professionals in school practices

Abstract

This article investigates organizational reform changes as they are constructed in the interaction between managers and teachers in a school context. The empirical basis is comprised of case studies carried out in Danish upper secondary schools. An ethnographic approach and a concept of paradox related to an under-standing of professionals are used to investigate the practices involved in the change processes. The article argues that the ambiguity of a primus inter pares management position among professionals leads to several paradoxes, deadlocks, and detours, all of which affect the work for change in the schools. Significant paradoxes are identified on the basis of the empirical material, and methodological advantages of a pro-posed paradox perspective, are demonstrated.