The Politics of Favoritism: A Qualitative Analysis of the Teachers' Perspective

Abstract

In recent years, theoretical work focusing on alternative models of organization and specific new formulations of organizational power and politics has emerged in the professional literature. Notwithstanding, little theoretical or empirical research related to power and politics in educational settings has been produced, particularly from a qualitative perspective. The study reported in this article investigated teachers 'perceptions of politics in schools. An open-ended questionnaire gathered data from 902 teachers. The data were analyzed according to guidelines for grounded theory inquiry. Of the 902 teachers, 348 explicitly discussed favoritism as apolitical phenomenon. This article describes the meaning of favoritism from the perspective of teachers, with descriptive statements, themes, and hypotheses drawn directly from the data. There is a brief discussion of the study data regarding implications for organizational theory and further research employing an "everyday"political perspective.