Narratives of Organizational Legitimacy: Catholic School Closures and Charter School Openings

• In Event: Socialization and Identity Development in Educational Organizations: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives on Instructional Improvement Efforts

Abstract

This research explored participants’ narratives of the closures of two Catholic schools and subsequent re-opening as public charter schools. Through the theoretical lenses of organizational legitimacy and methodology of organizational narratives, the qualitative case study examined participants’ negotiations of legitimacy within the old/new schools and considered the organizing processes for the two charter schools as they subsequently unfolded. Initial findings suggest that elements of legitimacy (regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive) are negotiated differently depending on participants’ memberships to varying stakeholder groups. Results also suggest that participants are negotiating changes in their perceptions of legitimacy concerning dilemmas of organizational/personal goals and formal/informal task structures.

Author

• Kari A Carr, Indiana University - Bloomington