This article reports on a case study investigating the micro-politics of policy enactment in a school in England. The case is sited in the literacy policy of a primary school in challenging circumstances as it joins a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). Data gathering consisted of interviews with the school headteacher, assistant headteacher, and literacy…

The literature on the lived experiences of early-career researchers (ECRs) has not fully leveraged the analytical potential of the concepts of 'sponsorship' and 'gatekeeping' when examining the importance of senior scholars in their work lives. This article conceptualises the micro-politics of seniors' sponsorship of ECRs based on 19…

This study investigated principals' perceptions of Illinois teacher evaluation reforms, applying education policy implementation theory and micropolitics of personnel evaluation as conceptual frameworks. Interviews were conducted with 20 Illinois public school principals. Findings revealed micropolitics influenced the development and…

Principal professional learning is shifting in many districts in the United States of America away from didactic, central office-managed workshops to include more peer-led learning opportunities. Yet researchers have largely failed to examine issues of positionality and authority in principal professional learning, despite international…

The article discusses parent-teacher relationships in school micropolitics based on beginning teachers' stories. We employ a narrative approach and investigate how micropolitical conditions and strategies are portrayed in beginning teachers' stories of parent-teacher relationships. The research material consists of narrative interviews with seven…

This article reports on research for The Literacy Policy project. The focus is the micro-politics of policy enactment, sited in the literacy policy of a multi-academy trust (MAT). A semi-structured interview was conducted with the CEO of a MAT to ascertain what literacy policy means to them. The contribution is to add to existing literature on the…

Government implemented education access policies occupy a prominent place in the discourse on access to education. Education access issues have, thus, been examined almost exclusively from macro-level structural perspective. The micro-politics that take place behind the scenes after structural access issues have been resolved is minimally…

Universities present themselves as meritocratic organizations; however, there is evidence that such claims are 'rationalised myths'. This article is concerned with the perceived effect of micropolitics on academic careers in two case study universities: a collegial Spanish and a managerial Irish one. The data are drawn from 86 semi-structured…

The purpose of this paper is to use data compiled from a recent study of a transitioning novice coach to outline some potential pitfalls transitioning coaches can avoid as it pertains to navigating micropolitical issues with their new athletes.

Recent studies of caring school leadership have focused on the way that caring leaders support teachers and influence the school environment. Though caring is understood improve educational outcomes, questions about the interpersonal and organizational enactment can lead to significant disagreements--micropolitical contests. Using case study data,…

Instructional coaching has emerged as a popular policy lever for improvement efforts in an era of teacher evaluation. In this environment, coaches often face conflicting demands between their educative duties to develop teachers and their reform-oriented responsibilities to implement district policy. Coaches can wield facets of teacher evaluation…

School counselors are urged to create systemic change within a school system by working as an advocate, leader, and collaborator within the school. Each of these roles requires a school counselor to be skilled in micropolitics and micropolitical literacy. This article explores the main concepts of micropolitical theory and its application to the…

The underrepresentation of female faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is a globally acknowledged gender equity concern; however, it remains under-researched in post-Soviet contexts. Using a theoretically informed analysis, this paper explores how female STEM faculty members navigate their gender…

Adoption of Maker programs entails deep cultural and structural changes within schools. In this case study, we interviewed a principal and seven faculty members in a high school in the United States, after the first year of implementing making-centered curricula. We report how faculty members responded to the reform, their motivations and beliefs,…

In most schools everywhere, democracy and participation continue to be carried out through the usual channels based on representative democracy and the vote of elected representatives. However, this reality is not monolithic, and we do find centers committed to practise a full and more profound democracy. Based on a case study, the article…