Politics of Life in Schools

Joseph Blase is a professor of educational administration at the University of Georgia. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1980 from Syracuse University, his research has focused on school reform, transformational leadership, the micropolitics of education, principal-teacher relationships, and the work lives of teachers. His work concentrating on school-level micropolitics received the 1988 Davis Memorial Award given by the University Council for Educational Administration, and his coauthored article published in the Journal of Educational Administration won the W. G. Walker 2000 Award for Excellence. In 1999 he was recognized as an elite scholar, one of the 50 Most Productive and Influential Scholars of Educational Administration in the world. Blase’s books include The Politics of Life in Schools: Power, Conflict, and Cooperation (winner of the 1994 Critic’s Choice Award sponsored by the American Education Studies Association), Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (1994, 2000, 2008); The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership (1995), Empowering Teachers (1994, 2000), Democratic Principals in Action (1995), The Fire Is Back (1997), Handbook of Instructional Leadership (1998, 2004), Breaking the Silence (2003), and Teachers Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (2006). His recent research (coauthored with Jo Blase and Du Fengning, 2008), a national study of principal mistreatment of teachers, appeared in The Journal of Educational Administration. Professor Blase has published over 120 academic articles, chapters, and books.

• The Micropolitical Perspective - Joseph BlaseThe Micropolitics of Radical Change - Stephen J Ball and Richard BoweBudgets, Management and Control in British SchoolsContrived Collegiality - Andrew HargreavesThe Micropolitics of Teacher CollaborationCommunity Influence and School Micropolitics - H Dickson CorbettA Case ExampleWhen District Authority Intrudes Upon the Local School - Paula Kleine-Kracht and Kenneth K WongThe Cognitive Politics of Principals and Teachers - Gary L AndersonIdeological Control in an Elementary SchoolThe Cultural Chasm Between Administrator and Teacher Cultures - Catherine MarshallA Micropolitical PuzzleThe Micropolitics of Leadership in an Urban Elementary School - William D Greenfield JrThe Everyday Political Perspectives of Teachers Toward Students - Joseph BlaseThe Dynamics of DiplomacyToward a Micropolitics of Classroom Interaction - David Bloome and Jerri WillettAnalysis and Discussion - Joseph BlaseSome Concluding Remarks