Taking it personally: examining patterns of emotional practice in leading primary schools in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

The exploration of the emotional practice of school leadership is a recent focus of enquiry with respect to scholarship on school leadership and management. This development provides a much needed addition to the recent proliferation of technical‐rational, managerial discourses on leadership. Three dimensions of this complex field of enquiry are examined in the literature presented in this paper: (a) the role that emotions play in the lives of individuals, (b) the emotional context of the task of school leadership and (c) the management of the emotional dimension of leadership and the impact of particular patterns of practice on the culture and fabric of school life. This provides a framework for the analysis of this in‐depth qualitative enquiry into the emotional fabric of school leadership in a sample of primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. The findings of the research identify a number of aspects of the complexity of the emotional landscape of leadership and provide an in‐depth insight into the patterns of practice that prevail in the sample with respect to the management of leaders' own emotions and the management of the emotional landscape of staff relations and school activity. The paper calls on school leadership development programmes to facilitate school leaders (principals) to reflect on the emotions of self and others, to engage in emotional learning and to understand the strengths and limitations of the emotional climate within their schools while cultivating a professional and supportive ethos committed to authentic relationships.

Notes

1. See http://www.education.ie for an overview of the evaluation of schools carried out by the Irish Inspectorate.