Identity-Based Othering and Collaborative Leadership: Implications of Contradictory Messages for New Administrators

Abstract

A study of beginning administrators in a school district reveals that they receive contradictory messages about school leadership. Although the school district emphasizes collaborative, facilitative leadership through documents and orientation of new administrators, bureaucratic, political, and identity-based messages reinforce traditional hierarchical structure and the othering of teachers. The contradictions make it difficult for new administrators to develop strong, coherent identities. Those who possess a strong sense of leadership dentity at the beginning of their 1st year as administrators may have a better chance of resisting the pull of traditional leadership models. Although the findings are not generalizable, they raise important contemporary issues in the identity development of new administrators.

This article examines the teacher–administrator relationship, particularly the “we–they” construction that tends to underlie the relationship. The norm of othering tends to exist whether parties perceive the teacher–administrator relationship in their particular settings to be generally positive or adversarial. The focus of this article is how vice principals in one school district, while making the transition from teaching to administration, make sense (or not) of the teacher–administrator relationship.