The impact of computers on the work of the principal: changing discourses on talk, leadership and professionalism

Abstract

This paper, based on a two-year study involving interviews with 30 principals about the impact of computers on their work, explores their responses through the concepts of talk, distributed leadership, professionalization and knowledge management. Gronn's elucidation of the ways power is handled through discourse is an interesting counterpoint to the principals’ accounts of the use of email and the push for immediacy. The current emphasis on distributed leadership mimics the distributive power of the network. There is some evidence that schools are becoming networks rather than hierarchies while professionalization has created communities that go beyond the boundaries of the school. Knowledge management is evident both in regulated activities and in informal communities used to support the dynamic structure of school life.