Power Structures, Change, and the Illusion of Democracy: A Semiotic Study of Leadership and Policy-Making

There is ample evidence that the success or failure of school reform lies not only in the soundness and appropriateness of the reform model chosen, but primarily in its perception, acceptance, and endorsement by teachers. This essay expresses the concept of power as it applies to school reform that...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Spielmann, Guy, Radnofsky, Mary L
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.03.1997
Subjects
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

Loading…
Abstract There is ample evidence that the success or failure of school reform lies not only in the soundness and appropriateness of the reform model chosen, but primarily in its perception, acceptance, and endorsement by teachers. This essay expresses the concept of power as it applies to school reform that focuses on teacher empowerment and professionalization. The paper is based on a grounded theory developed from a qualitative case study that assessed the impact of a newly implemented, districtwide staff-development program. The data are analyzed using an ethnosemiotic approach to explain how a fundamental ambivalence in the concepts of "power" and "professionalism" may prevent the reform from succeeding, even in the absence of overt crisis or resistance. Data were gathered through interviews with and observations of 80 teachers and administrators over 7 months. The paper defines power qualitatively in four different modalities--power ("being-able-to-do"), independence ("being-able-not-to-do"), powerlessness ("not-being-able-to-do"), and submission ("not-being-able-not-to-do"). The study found that the reform framers had proceeded upon a series of false assumptions: neglecting to distinguish between having power over someone and having the power to act; treating power quantitatively as a one-dimensional commodity; and equating empowerment with professionalism without establishing a correlation between power and responsibility. Reforms must concentrate on changing the prevalent teacher culture, which is unfavorable to the professional ethic and to the establishment of truly democratic structures. Five figures are included. (Contains 23 references.) (LMI)
AbstractList There is ample evidence that the success or failure of school reform lies not only in the soundness and appropriateness of the reform model chosen, but primarily in its perception, acceptance, and endorsement by teachers. This essay expresses the concept of power as it applies to school reform that focuses on teacher empowerment and professionalization. The paper is based on a grounded theory developed from a qualitative case study that assessed the impact of a newly implemented, districtwide staff-development program. The data are analyzed using an ethnosemiotic approach to explain how a fundamental ambivalence in the concepts of "power" and "professionalism" may prevent the reform from succeeding, even in the absence of overt crisis or resistance. Data were gathered through interviews with and observations of 80 teachers and administrators over 7 months. The paper defines power qualitatively in four different modalities--power ("being-able-to-do"), independence ("being-able-not-to-do"), powerlessness ("not-being-able-to-do"), and submission ("not-being-able-not-to-do"). The study found that the reform framers had proceeded upon a series of false assumptions: neglecting to distinguish between having power over someone and having the power to act; treating power quantitatively as a one-dimensional commodity; and equating empowerment with professionalism without establishing a correlation between power and responsibility. Reforms must concentrate on changing the prevalent teacher culture, which is unfavorable to the professional ethic and to the establishment of truly democratic structures. Five figures are included. (Contains 23 references.) (LMI)
Author Spielmann, Guy
Radnofsky, Mary L
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  fullname: Spielmann, Guy
– sequence: 2
  fullname: Radnofsky, Mary L
BackLink http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED413647$$DView record in ERIC
BookMark eNqFy7sKwjAUgOEOOnh7A4fzAO0gFgU3aSsKCoW6l5CetgfTpJwkSN7eC-5O__Dxz6OJNhpnEZXmiQyVYy-dZ7QxZL3QHcYgdAOuR7go5S0ZDaaFHAcjWchwgCNUOJBxJN-3b8KHrygaZNvT-L1Lo0iG5CYepLtlNG2Fsrj6dRGtT8U9OyfIJOuRaRAc6iJPN9tdut_-4Rc57j5G
ContentType Report
DBID ERI
GA5
DatabaseName ERIC
ERIC - Full Text Only (Discovery)
DatabaseTitle ERIC
DatabaseTitleList ERIC
Database_xml – sequence: 1
  dbid: ERI
  name: ERIC
  url: https://eric.ed.gov/
  sourceTypes: Open Access Repository
DeliveryMethod fulltext_linktorsrc
ERIC ED413647
ExternalDocumentID ED413647
GroupedDBID ERI
GA5
ID FETCH-eric_primary_ED4136473
IEDL.DBID ERI
IngestDate Tue Dec 10 19:22:12 EST 2024
IsOpenAccess true
IsPeerReviewed false
IsScholarly false
Language English
LinkModel DirectLink
MergedId FETCHMERGED-eric_primary_ED4136473
Notes Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Chicago, IL, March 24-28, 1997).
OpenAccessLink http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED413647
PageCount 19
ParticipantIDs eric_primary_ED413647
PublicationCentury 1900
PublicationDate 1997-03-00
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD 1997-03-01
PublicationDate_xml – month: 03
  year: 1997
  text: 1997-03-00
PublicationDecade 1990
PublicationYear 1997
Score 2.4729555
Snippet There is ample evidence that the success or failure of school reform lies not only in the soundness and appropriateness of the reform model chosen, but...
SourceID eric
SourceType Open Access Repository
SubjectTerms Elementary Secondary Education
Leadership
Policy Formation
Power Structure
Professional Autonomy
Professional Development
School Restructuring
Semiotics
Teacher Empowerment
Teacher Influence
Teaching (Occupation)
Title Power Structures, Change, and the Illusion of Democracy: A Semiotic Study of Leadership and Policy-Making
URI http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED413647
hasFullText 1
inHoldings 1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
link http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwY2BQMTOyTEszNgeNuFuCDtW2TNJNMjVI1TU3TE0FnVRtlGYM2o3s62fmEWriFWEawcQAu8WR2BWVLsCy18zEnBm0g9ES0ukBbS6HCkPXLiNVFG6CDGyQFq0QA1NqnghDZgDoEjKFYPAhraXAnq2OAmQ5v44CsAevAGx8KXjm5JSCRqwU8tMUXFJz85OLEpMrrRQcFYJBF7cCo1UBtNSvEiTtA192DNYNOdJX1xd8n5Qog4yba4izhy7ISfEFkDMk4mFONRZjYAH281MlGBQMUsyTk4CtpxSzZGC1mphqmZpkbm5umWqemmiRZJiaJskgitUIKRzi0gxckLNWQQumZBhYgF5NlQXWoCVJcuAAAwCxWHdy
link.rule.ids 219,220,230,780,885,4490
linkProvider ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology
openUrl ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.title=Power+Structures%2C+Change%2C+and+the+Illusion+of+Democracy%3A+A+Semiotic+Study+of+Leadership+and+Policy-Making&rft.au=Spielmann%2C+Guy&rft.au=Radnofsky%2C+Mary+L&rft.date=1997-03-01&rft.externalDocID=ED413647