ABSTRACT
This chapter situates this book about the gender politics of educational change within extant research on the following three areas: school change, gender and teaching, and the micropolitics of schools. I start with a review of the research on school change and how it contributes to our knowledge of the meaning of reform for teachers. I then review the significance of the culture of the school and existing power relationships among individuals in shaping the school change process. I argue that the literature on the school change process oversimplifies the role of teacher agency in reform and portrays culture as monolithic and shared, downplaying the importance of the micropolitical struggles that may ensue as teachers with varying ideologies grapple with reform. Most importantly, I critique the inattention to gender in the school change literature, arguing that what we have learned about the role of gender in teachers’ work lives is significant in shaping the process of school change.
