| Read a Post for Rites of Passage: Coercion, Compliance, and Complicity in the Socialization of New Vice-Principals | | | | Reply to this Post | | | Political Socialization | | Posted By: Fred Welfare on November 27, 2011 | | | | The move towards the administrative position is for those personalities who are obedient, compliant, and docile. The creative, innovative, and autonomous need not apply. The process is selective all the way through but the selections are based on the feelings and attitudes of others, not on objective or rational criteria. As this article spells out, abilities are not required. Although this article will resonate more with teachers who do not become administrators or who wish they had not than with administrators who experienced success and moderate stress, candidates and new administrators should realize that their situation in their political culture is subordinate. The attitudes of their colleagues and superiors will not be as ridiculing as from their fellow candidates. They will experience loose coordination and made to feel subordinate throughout the selection process and into their new position. Their values will be questioned and they may not be able to assert them successfully - they will have to suppress those values others find objectionable. As they progress, mechanisms of exclusion will activate against them until they can realize those forms of conduct which gain acceptance with most others. But, this means that they will sacrifice their original values. Political socialization in our culture means that we live with blinders and we suppress our feelings when others get angry! |
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