Some Negative Effects of Principals’ Control-Oriented and Protective Political Behavior

Abstract

Although the micropolitics of organizations has received increased attention in recent years, few empirical studies of this phenomenon have actually been produced, particularly with regard to educational settings. The study discussed in this article examined politics in schools from the perspectives of teachers. An open-ended instrument was used to collect data, which were analyzed according to general principles for inductive analysis and qualitative inquiry. Of the 902 teachers who participated in the study, 276 chose (without any direction from the questionnaire) to describe specifically what are referred to in this article as control-oriented (manipulative) and protective political strategies used by principals. This article examines only this portion of the data and only these types of political strategies and tactics and their consequences for teacher work involvement and performance. Descriptive statements and conceptual understandings derived from the data argue that the use of control and protective strategies by principals has a negative impact on fundamental aspects of teachers' work in schools. The research data are discussed in terms of Etzioni’s compliance theory (1961 (1975) and Barnard's theory of authority (1948). The significance of the data is also discussed with regard to current reform efforts in American public school education.