Understanding performance management in schools: a dialectical approach
International Journal of Educational Management
ISSN: 0951-354X
Article publication date: 14 March 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a dialectical framework for the examination of performance management in schools.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based upon a qualitative study of ten headteachers that involved in-depth semi-structured interviews.
Findings
The findings identified four dialectical tensions that underpin performance management in schools: the responsibility to teachers and the responsibility to pupils; external accountability and professional autonomy; discipline of teachers and support of teachers; fixed processes and improvisational practices.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides a means of examining the performance management of teachers from an alternative perspective, one that embraces tensions and contradictions and gives headteachers a richer understanding of how teachers are evaluated and judged.
Originality/value
This paper moves beyond the traditional perspective of performance management in schools as a means of subjugation and control and offers an original dialectical framework within which to examine the phenomenon.
Keywords
Citation
Page, D. (2016), "Understanding performance management in schools: a dialectical approach", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 166-176. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-06-2014-0087
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited