Management of professionals in school practices

This article investigates organizational reform changes as they are con-structed in the interaction between managers and teachers in a school context. The empirical basis is comprised of case studies carried out in Danish upper secondary schools. An ethnographic approach and a concept of paradox related to an under-standing of professionals are used to investigate the practices involved in the change processes. The article argues that the ambiguity of a primus inter pares management position among professionals leads to several paradoxes, deadlocks, and detours, all of which affect the work for change in the schools. Significant paradoxes are identi-fied on the basis of the empirical material, and methodological advantages of a pro-posed paradox perspective, are demonstrated.