Speaker
Description
Research has paid extensive attention to how contemporary societal demands shape ideas about appropriate practices in PE and its positive consequences for society´s citizens. It has also showed how PE teachers reproduce traditional practices. Largely overlooked, however, is the role and impact of school leaders, even though they are ultimately responsible for decision-making, division of labor, and distribution of resources in policy implementation, thus arguably vital in the construction of appropriate practices. To address this gap, the aim of this study is to explore how school leaders’ actions influence the transformation of practices and beliefs within PE. Conducting semi-structured interviews with 13 school leaders, the author examines what types of institutional work school leaders engage in as they navigate government-initiated policy. The analysis reveals that school leaders engage in structural work, operational work, conceptual work, and relational work when navigating government-initiated policy. The results indicate that most of the power to shape the implementation process is passed on to PE teachers. This means that even though school leaders are the ones in possession of strategic resources and other forms of power they might not be the ones making significant impact on practices and beliefs within PE. The theoretical significance of these findings lies in their potential to shed light on how transformation processes are manifested and their impact on institutionalization. In practice, knowledge about how ideas and practices guide future decisions can be used in efforts to support those working in and/or with PE, struggling to develop the subject.
