The Micropolitics of Resistance to Educational Change: A Case Study of a Lebanese Private School.

Abstract

Recently, studies on the micropolitical behaviors of principals, teachers, and middle managers during change processes in schools have been increasing (Blase, 2005). These studies have emerged vis-à-visa a staggering emergence of educational change initiatives, which have made their way into the Lebanese public and private education sector. Change in educational institutions is already met by numerous challenges (Fink & Stoll, 2005; Hargreaves, 2005) especially that change is accompanied by a disruption of the status quo and traditions (Altrichter & Moosbrugger, 2015), which intensifies political interaction and generates micropolitical structures and power dynamics that can either work to support or hinder the change process (Björk & Blase, 2009). As the role of principals becomes paramount during the process of change, Oplatka (2004) asserts that there is no universal theory in educational administration that can be applied and is effective in all contexts especially when transferring from an Anglo-American context to developing countries. Thus, the need to study principalship within the specific and unique social context of a country (Oplatka, 2004). Furthermore, in order to contextually understand challenges pertaining to school-wide educational change, scholars of micropolitics of educational change assert the importance of understanding the micropolitical landscape of schools during the process of change, and the micropolitical behaviors and strategies used during the process. The purpose of the study is to investigate and understand the behaviors of teachers and principals during the process of school change through the lens of micropolitics. The study also aims to develop a grounded, context-based understanding of the factors that hinder and facilitate the process of change and highlight how principals can positively use micropolitics to manage resistance, enhance collaboration, strengthen the school community and seek opportunities for change and growth. Thus, the study is placed within the context of Lebanese schools through a qualitative case study of a Lebanese private school that has and is still undergoing major change. The study followed a constructivist grounded theory methodology based on Charmaz's (2006) constructivist grounded theory approach. Focus groups and individual interviews were used to collect data. The case study results and discussion underscores the importance of achieving educational change through transforming the school toward continuous renewal rooted in its unique identity by effecting a bottom-up approach to change. This is important especially in a school context with a long history and an organizational culture deeply rooted in tradition. The study showed that the principal adopted non-conflictive strategies to avoid challenging deeply rooted norms and triggering resistance, while she mobilized support for the change among pro-change individuals and built a leadership team supportive of the change initiative. A key strategy that emerged from the study is the school leadership’s differentiated approach in managing groups of teachers, mainly those who were pro-change and those who were still against change. The study also identified several strategies based on “power with” dynamics that the school followed, which played a major role in the success of the planning and implementation of the school-wide change. The strategies aimed at creating a participatory approach to leadership and create opportunities for all faculty and staff to take part in decision-making. The actions also aimed at building strong communication channels between the leadership and faculty and ensure continuous support during the whole change process.