ABSTRACT
Institutional politics provoke questions that are central to any improvement effort. Improvement is a value-laden concept and process. It is therefore not surprising that people in a particular work environment think differently and want to act differently in order to influence and shape their future and the futures of others. Understanding the politics of teacher improvement efforts is a recognition that, in school, there is inevitably an interplay between competing interests. Reflective practice will raise political questions, because improvement is concerned with ‘interests’, ‘power’, and the resolution of ‘conflict’. Improvement can be seen as who gets what, where, how, when and why.
