ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on Bourdieu’s theoretical toolkit in unique combination with Holland and Lave’s conceptualisation of dialogism to illuminate the mechanisms and effects of power relations on both the field of educational leadership and on the professionals whose activities constitute this field. The chapter uses these theories to enable new insights into the National Challenge strategy, introduced by New Labour in England to improve attainment in low-achieving schools – these often being disproportionately affected by poverty. Bourdieu’s concept of hysteresis is used to explain the dissonance between leaders’ present habitus and that required to succeed in a corporatised policy landscape.
