Management strategies in practice - an empirical study of changes in upper secondary high school

Abstract

Reform of the public sector has been on the agenda in Denmark, as in many other western countries, during the last two or three decades. New Public Management (NPM) has had major implications for professions and the managers who are handling the changes and creating new organizations - the front line providers and supporters of public services. This article investigates the changes initiated by organizational reforms as they are constructed in the interaction between managers and teachers in school contexts. The empirical basis of the article is case studies carried out in two types of Danish upper secondary high schools, Stx and Htx. The focus of investigation is the challenges and implica - tions for the actors involved in translating NPM reform into practice. The article uses an ethnographic approach and a concept of paradox as a lens to explore the ongoing micro-processes of change. As it is often the case, the managers are recruited among teachers according to the ‘primus inter pares ’ principle, i.e. the best among equals. Thus, they are former teachers, with the same academic background as the schools’ employees. The article argues that the position of a ‘primus inter pares ’ manager among professionals creates several paradoxes, deadlocks and detours, all of which strongly affect the work of change in the schools. The ‘primus inter pares ’ position not only creates unforeseen constraints in the management processes; but it also leads to organizational deadlocks. Organization - al paradoxes are reinforced when managers avoid managing out of respect for teachers’ autonomy in the new cooperative processes, while teachers express their need for more management in their efforts to fulfill the reform’s expectations.