Lecture 5 Power and authority

2016-05-08T17:15:22+03:00

Power is something that is not so often discussed in organizations. This is because power is often misunderstood; it may be seen something ‘dirty’ or unwanted. But, actually, power is very important, and some people in the organization have power, and some others do not have it. In this lecture we define power and examine the sources of power.

Before any lecture either print or save to your computer the assigned PowerPoint presentation.

Assignment before the lecture: None.

Open or save the PowerPoint slides related to this lecture EDLS210_S6_L5.pdf

Listen to the lecture, and afterwards do the assignment given below.

&amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;Cannot display this embedded content because your browser does not support iframes.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt;

Write your learning experiences into your personal Reflective report

Assignment after the lecture: Select an organization you know and write analyses (a journal) of 2-3 pages describing the main elements of structure, culture, and power in it. You may use the thinking and notes you might have done during the previous lectures in this session. At the end of this journal, add also some general elements of power and authority in your country. Use especially chapter 4 in Bennett and given articles and supplementary articles mentioned below in order to deepen your analyses. This is an individual work and should be returned only to the instructor – not to the discussion area.

Return your journal

For additional material about organizational structure in school, please refer to the following articles: (

Chrispeels, Janet H. and Martin, Kathleen J. (2002)
Four School Leadership Teams Define Their Roles Within Organizational and Political Structures to Improve Student Learning, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 13:3, 327 - 365
http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/sesi.13.3.327.3430

For additional material about organizational culture in school, please refer to the following articles:

Angelides, Panayiotis and Ainscow, Mel (2000)
'Making Sense of the Role of Culture in School Improvement', School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 11:2, 145 - 163
http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/0924-3453(200006)11:2;1-Q;FT145

De Witte, Karel and van Muijen, Jaap J. (1999)
'Organizational Culture: Critical Questions for Researchers and Practitioners', European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8:4, 583 - 595
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/135943299398186

Sun, He-Chuan, Vandenberghe, Roland and Creemers, Bert (2003)
'Dilemmas faced by a university president in educational reforms',
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 16:2, 233 - 250
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0951839032000060590

Glover, Derek and Law, Sue (2004)
'Creating the Right Learning Environment: The Application of Models of Culture to Student Perceptions of Teaching and Learning in Eleven Secondary Schools', School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 15:3, 313 - 336
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09243450512331383232

For additional material about organizational power in school, please refer to the following articles:

Bennett, Nigel and Harris, Alma (1999)
'Hearing Truth from Power? Organisation Theory, School Effectiveness and School Improvement', School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 10:4, 533 - 550
http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/sesi.10.4.533.3492