School Principals as Agents: Autonomy, Embeddedness, and Script
Agents, Actors, Actorhood: Institutional Perspectives on the Nature of Agency, Action, and Authority
ISBN: 978-1-78756-081-9, eISBN: 978-1-78756-080-2
Publication date: 5 April 2019
Abstract
Ongoing discussions of the paradox of embedded agency may benefit from considering embedded agency from the perspective of the actors themselves. Drawing upon opinions of school principals who are encouraged to take initiative in their spheres of authority and yet still are subject to centralized performance assessments, the author redefines embedded agency as a matter of orientation. Secondly, the author presents a new typology for the notion of embedded agency and the way it is practiced in daily life. Finally, the author considers the tension that is inherent to the modern workplace, which is agentic and yet highly structured. From the perspective of school principals, the author shows how the professional role identity of mid-level managers is scripted and thus dictates the domains in which they can present a sense of agency.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgment
This research is generously supported by a grant awarded to the author by The Leonard Davis Institute for International Studies.
Citation
Mizrahi-Shtelman, R. (2019), "School Principals as Agents: Autonomy, Embeddedness, and Script", Hwang, H., Colyvas, J.A. and Drori, G.S. (Ed.) Agents, Actors, Actorhood: Institutional Perspectives on the Nature of Agency, Action, and Authority (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 58), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 43-64. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20190000058005
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited