Dealing with the Powers that Be

Abstract

This study drew on the life history approach, specifically life story through interview, to examine a bellwether case of an experienced teacher implementing a new senior high school subject in the area of physical and health education. Discussions with the teacher focussed on power relations at her school as they affected and were affected by the implementation process.

Two theoretical approaches were used to analyse the data. First, Ball's micro‐political conceptual frame (power, goal diversity, ideological disputation, conflict, interests, political activity, and control) was used to provide a meaningful basis for discussing her political activity. Second, in focussing specifically on power Gore's framework of four conceptions of power (‐as‐property, ‐as‐dominance, ‐as‐productive, and ‐as‐creative energy) took the analysis to a deeper level to probe how the teacher conceptualised, dealt with, and mobilised power.

These analyses revealed that in implementing the new subject she had to deal with disputed ideologies about the nature of physical education within her department and about the relative value of different subjects between her department and other faculties. She also had to contend with the pervasive ideology of mind over body as reflected in the traditional curriculum championed by the principal.

What strongly came through in this study was the teacher's strategic approach to deal with opposing forces, particularly how she negotiated avoiding direct confrontation with those who represented administrative power in her school. Besides teachers requiring substantial subject matter and content pedagogical knowledge (Shulman, L., 1987), as with Sparkes, Templin and Schempp's examination of physical education as a marginalised subject (Sparkes, A., Templin, T. & Schempp, P., 1990), this research suggests that those introducing a curriculum innovation need to understand the micro‐political forces that operate within their schools and to develop strategies that deal with those forces and to use them to advantage. Effective strategies, in this context, were associated with reducing professional isolation through developing professional networks and balancing a non‐confrontationalist approach with the need to take a stance on an ideological position. From this study, it is clearly evident that curriculum implementation is a political activity.