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Lost in translation? Emotional intelligence, affective economies, leadership and organizational change

journal contribution
posted on 2011-08-01, 00:00 authored by Jillian BlackmoreJillian Blackmore
Not until the late 1990s did the rational/emotional binary embedded in mainstream literature on educational leadership and management come under challenge. Now the emotional dimensions of organisational change and leadership are widely recognised in the leadership, organisational change and school improvement literature. However, the dissolution of the binary did not draw from feminist social theory, critical organisational theory, the sociology of emotions or critical pedagogy. Instead, the strongest influence in educational leadership and administration has been from psychological theory, management theory and brain science, mobilised particularly through Goleman's notion of emotional intelligence. This article undertakes a feminist deconstruction of two texts: one from organisational theory by Goleman and the other on educational leadership and school improvement, in order to explore how ‘emotion’ has been translated into educational leadership. As a counterpoint, I identify the gaps and silences, appropriations and marginalisation identified from feminist perspectives. I argue that the emotional labour of teaching and leading cannot be individualised because emotion is both relational and contextual.

History

Journal

Journal of educational administration and history

Volume

43

Pagination

207-225

Location

Abingdon, England

ISSN

0022-0620

eISSN

1478-7431

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2011, Taylor & Francis

Issue

3

Publisher

Routledge