Wielding Power Positively in Schools

A school should be a collective decision-making environment and any “leader” who is banking on their authority to expect blind compliance and support is misguided. I have had the chance to experience many leaders in my time in education, and the most egalitarian and supportive leader was the one who commanded the greatest respect amongst the staff and presided over a united and happy workplace.

Those who ruled with an iron fist or expected their vision to be implemented regardless of the staff members’ expertise, opinions and existing strength of practices found the most opposition and oversaw workplaces that were divided, possibly even toxic, and a high turnover of staff resulted.

Leaders cannot exist on authority alone - they must cultivate positive relationships and place collective decision-making at the centre of the school’s operations. If they are more governed by their own ego than embracing the abilities, views and cultural knowledge of those on the staff then they are starting a fight that can only destabilise the school and their own grip on power.

Some leaders employ deliberately Machiavellian tactics to see who will jump on board with them and who they will target to remove from the staff. Think this is an overreach? Let me share with you an experience I had where a “leader” sat around six staff members down and spelled out the order in which the leadership team was going to get rid of us - yes, it was that brazen! People were removed from leadership roles within the school and replaced with inexperienced “yes” people who would not question the methods of the “leader”. 

Jordan Baker’s 2019 article in the Sydney Morning Herald reported an “alarming surge” in complaints of bullying against leaders. Riley et. al. (2009) reported that 99.6% of 800 school teacher respondents to their bullying in the workplace study stated that they had been bullied. The overwhelmingly largest statistical group reported as undertaking bullying behaviour was the principal class.

Schools are filled with knowledgeable, passionate and intelligent people, and if their talents are under-utilised or ignored by a leader who does not understand what they can offer to the school then a disciplinary response may provide a temporary reprieve to the leader, who may feel they do not have to deal with opposition from the person they are in conflict with (under threat of disciplinary action) but it hardly provides a positive solution and can only serve to further offend the already unhappy staff member. To deal effectively with this type of situation, the leader needs to put aside their ego, and embrace what the staff member brings to the table. Of course, the staff member also needs to be willing to make compromises in order to create a more comfortable and productive workplace.

Speaking from experience, I know I made many attempts to approach leaders with ideas, peaceful discussion and advice as I did not want to work in an environment where conflict was impacting everything I did. This is especially so considering that the leader has considerably more power and influence than someone in a hierarchically inferior role, and exacerbating conflict only serves to further harm their ability to go about their business without the fear of daily targeting. I lived more than a decade with this fear and I am not alone.

In a conflict situation where a more junior staff member and a more senior staff member are involved, the great majority of power and support sits with the leader. Yes, there are policies and procedures in place to deal with such matters officially. However, if a staff member is to report an incident of bullying or harassment by a leader, they are often required by the hierarchical chains to report to the very person whom they are in conflict with, or a close colleague of this person - an issue again mentioned in Jordan Baker’s Sydney Morning Herald article (Staff Bullying Complaints Surge in Schools).

Additionally, the regional offices are regularly blindly supportive of their leaders; often because they have had a vested interest in placing them in these positions in the first place. This was certainly a factor in my decision to never make a formal complaint. An example of a regional office’s inappropriate support for a leader I can provide is that I was once told to falsify an attendance record (the leader in question was concerned about absence data and how this may reflect on the school - this is a measure in annual reporting in some states). I refused, and at first opportunity called the regional office to inform them that I was not going to take part in this blatantly illegal (and arguably immoral) direction. I was told I would get a call back after the person I spoke to sought advice from a higher office. Fifteen years later I am still waiting for that call, but within two minutes of my call ending an email was forwarded by the leader in question, directing me to mark the absence of the child in question - I’ll let you fill in the blanks about what actually occurred there.

If the situation were reversed, and a leader made a complaint about an underling, I have little doubt that the regional office would be wholly supportive of the leader’s claims. Perhaps the most degrading aspect of the aftermath of this type of conflict with a leader is that if the staff member then wishes to seek employment in a different environment, they cannot rely on a positive reference from their leader. They are faced with the possibility of a less than positive recommendation, or the absence of school leaders on their application, which essentially discounts any chance of being successful in their application. In this circumstance the staff member is essentially powerless to secure alternative teaching roles, such is the power of the leader’s recommendation (or lack thereof).

Parties in conflict need to work towards an amicable solution. It is neither the leader’s right to expect full and total compliance simply due to their job title, and likewise it is incumbent upon the more junior staff member to present concerns in a positively-framed and productive manner.

Further reading
Baker, J (2019). Staff Bullying Complaints Surge in Schools, Sydney Morning Herald, August 18th 2019.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/staff-bullying-complaints-surge-in-schools-20190816-p52huj.html 

Rosner, S. (2024). Upward Bullies; A Hidden Menace in Our Schools, Education Today, February 9th, 2024.
https://www.educationtoday.com.au/news-detail/Upward-Bullies-6145 

Machiavelli, N. (2003). The prince (G. Bull, Trans.). Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1532)

Image by Mica Asato