Resistance to Planned Change and the Sacred in School Cultures

Abstract

Norms embedded in a school's culture vary according to their alterability and their capacity to establish meaning for professional identity. Staff tend to be unable to imagine satisfactorily performirg their roles if some condition or event interferes with adhering to the expectations for behavior that reside at the core of their professional purpose. Metaphorically labeling such norms as "sacred," this article argues that challenges to the sacred are greeted immediately with forthright resistance and subsequently if the threat continues with the creation of a culture of opposition. Data from three case studies of high schools are used to support the argument and to provide examples of what is meant by sacred norms.