The 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 Blase The Micropolitics of Radical Change - Stephen J Ball and Richard Bowe Budgets, Management and Control in British Schools Contrived Collegiality - Andrew Hargreaves The Micropolitics of Teacher Collaboration Community Influence and School Micropolitics - H Dickson Corbett A Case Example When District Authority Intrudes Upon the Local School - Paula Kleine-Kracht and Kenneth K Wong The Cognitive Politics of Principals and Teachers - Gary L Anderson Ideological Control in an Elementary School The Cultural Chasm Between Administrator and Teacher Cultures - Catherine Marshall A Micropolitical Puzzle The Micropolitics of Leadership in an Urban Elementary School - William D Greenfield Jr The Everyday Political Perspectives of Teachers Toward Students - Joseph Blase The Dynamics of Diplomacy Toward a Micropolitics of Classroom Interaction - David Bloome and Jerri Willett Analysis and Discussion - Joseph Blase Some Concluding Remarks