Professions, paradoxes and organizing: Empirical analysis og organizational change processes in a school setting

This paper empirically investigates organizational change in the making as it is constructed in the interaction between managers and professions in a school setting. The empirical basis is three Danish upper secondary schools, all in the process of translating a school reform into practice. Using an ethnographic approach and a concept of paradox as an exploring lens, the paper investigates the micro processes at work. The results of the empirical research point to challenging basic assumptions generated by the classical professions’ theory of autonomous and self-reliant professions. The paper contributes to clarify the particular tensions and paradoxes that emerge in the relational management processes and adds to our understanding of management of professions in schools.