A Fine Balance: Navigating Tensions Between Power and Care in School Organizations

• In Event: 79.051 - MTCC Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: 79.051-10 - Leadership Behavior and Perspectives on Equity and Advocacy Issues

Abstract

Schools are expected to care for students, but many students do not experience care at school- especially students from historically underserved populations. One reason why implicates the way that school adults use their positional and relational power with students. The purpose of this study is to examine how adults, think about and use their power in efforts to care for students, and how students experience these efforts. At the organizational level, the existence of schoolwide expectations and common beliefs amongst teachers had implications for whether caring was practiced in a consistent way throughout the school. This study reveals the importance of consistent beliefs about caring and students’ potential amongst school adults to build capacity and solve organization-wide problems.

Author

• Jeff Walls, Washington State University