Negotiating meaning in multiple communities of practice: reconciliation and dis-identification in the identity work of headteachers leaving Anglican primary schools

Thomson, Pat; Whiteoak, Daphine

Abstract

Understanding why headteachers leave their posts and leave headship before retirement is crucial to limit the haemorrhaging of headteachers from the system. We utilise the communities of practice framework to examine the identity work of Anglican headteachers as members of multiple communities. The challenges of negotiating meaning can lead to dis-identification with members and/or the practice of communities and is made more complex by the need to reconcile different forms of membership across boundaries. This conceptual framework provides a powerful analytic tool through which to understand the identity work of headteachers and headteacher departure.

Citation

Thomson, P., & Whiteoak, D. (2018). Negotiating meaning in multiple communities of practice: reconciliation and dis-identification in the identity work of headteachers leaving Anglican primary schools. In R. McGinity, S. J. Courtney, & H. M. Gunter (Eds.), Educational Leadership: Theorising Professional Practice in Neoliberal Times. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge

• Acceptance Date: Aug 10, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Oct 16, 2019
• Publication Date: 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2021
• Publisher: Routledge
• Edition: 1st
• Book Title: Educational Leadership: Theorising Professional Practice in Neoliberal Times
• Chapter Number: 5
• ISBN: 9781317217367
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1214513