Theoretical Foundations: Affect and Emotions in Educational Administration

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the ways in which emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour are treated by various theoretical perspectives that influence the work of school-level leaders. Notions of professionalism and the scientific/rationalist roots of administrative theory (e.g., Taylor, 1911) relegated emotions and other subjective leadership qualities to the sidelines of the seminal debates in the educational administration field. That has changed since the turn of the twenty-first century as scholars have begun to acknowledge that the very nature of school-level leadership involves emotional components and success as a school-level leader demands effective emotional regulation. The chapter includes an evidence-based analysis of the role(s) that emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour play in school-level leaders' work. I also discuss two broad categories of theoretical perspectives surrounding the emotional aspects of school-level leadership. The first primarily considers how school-level leaders personally experience emotional phenomenon in schools, while the second prioritizes how socio-contextual elements that influence their emotional experiences in the workplace. I conclude the chapter by discussing how school-level leaders manage emotions they experience as part of their job is an important piece missing from the models and frameworks.

Citation

Hauseman, C. (2023), "Theoretical Foundations: Affect and Emotions in Educational Administration", The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders (Transforming Education Through Critical Leadership, Policy and Practice), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 15-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-136-320231002