Teachers' Work and (De)Professionalization: Historical and Contemporary Reflections on the Role of School Principals

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 73
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Knowledge, Teacher Labor, and Teacher Resistance in Neoliberal Times

Abstract

The role of school principal has occupied contentious space in the history of state schooling. While principal as “head teacher” implies someone who reflected the interests of teachers in their daily pursuit of “good teaching,” the principal as “site manager” suggests a role that ultimately serves the interests of the system at large. With the shift to neo-liberal modes of schooling these contradictions seem to be hardening, as both teachers and principals struggle to understand and deal with dramatic changes to their work. This paper draws on a variety of historical and sociological scholarship to explore concepts of (de)professionalization, their effects on teachers’ work, and the understandings and involvement of principals – then and now – in these matters.

Author

• Harry Smaller, York University