Thesis abstract:

There is rich and vast research that exists when considering organisational and educational leadership theory (Sinclair, Evers, Keddie, Niesche, Gronn, Eacott). Researchers (such as Blackmore, Oplatka and Tamir, Fletcher, Sachs) particularly consider the place of women in educational structures. The work of Nixon and Sinclair (2017) prompted me to further consider the impact that these systems have on the aspirations of females pursuing educational leadership roles. Similarly, once a teacher returns to work after becoming a mother, her deemed value and identity shifts and her contribution is often shaped by the organisational structures that exist in the school system.

When a teacher becomes a mother, they often become invisible or less influential in the eyes of students. After ‘disappearing’ for maternity leave, the return of that teacher is often in a part time capacity and without the same level of leadership they had before they became a mother. Similarly, the role and influence of mothers in the most popular texts for the HSC can reveal further aspects that contribute to how the students perceive the positioning and empowerment (or lack thereof) of mothers.

Narrative theory, with a focus on the identity and subjectivity of teachers who are mothers, will contribute to the theoretical framework by giving agency and space to the stories and voices of the mothers who are often marginalised and muted in organisations. It is through these discursive narratives that we can begin to see shifts and changes in the culture of organisations.