| Abstract: | If teachers' views of their work are strongly influenced by school-level processes, and if it can be shown that there is a tight connection between teachers' views of their work and their actual conduct in the classroom, then what students gain morally and intellectually from their experiences in school may be contingent, in important ways, on the avowed philosophy of the school and the commitment of the school principal to that philosophy. Although this chain of reasoning may be lengthy and somewhat fragile, it is filled with interesting implications. This paper is a first step in examining these potential connections. Using multiple case study methods, an analysis is presented around principals' and teachers' views regarding the school philosophy, the organizational structures that allow for its implementation, and to what any congruence between them might be attributed. |
