A middle management course: professional development or manipulation?

Abstract

The recent emphasis on raising standards has led to the widespread incorporation of business management strategies into school management structures. This is a trend which has created a flush of management courses for teachers at middle and senior management levels. This article presents a personal and critical response to one such course which was aimed at middle managers. This article asks whether the implicit values of this course provided professional development which would enable course members to act as leaders in their fields, or merely promoted a manipulative style of management. The author then presents an alternative approach to management training. This proposal is supported by a view that schools are best run by self critical and reflective leaders rather than technical and manipulative managers, and proposes a style of in-service education which promotes leadership as opposed to management.