The emotional labour of educational leading: a practice lens

In this chapter, we examine the heightened volatilities and politics of the emotional labour of leading in contemporary times. We begin the chapter by ‘zooming out’ to examine the practice architectures which prefigure schooling, teaching and leading practices in the state of Victoria and how they shape the intersubjective spaces of educating. Drawing on case studies of schools defined as exemplary in building socially cohesive communities, we then ‘zoom in’ to examine the practice landscapes of the case study sites and how varied types of emotional labour were enabled and constrained within them. We analyse emotional labour primarily through the contested emotion of caring, examining how ‘caring’ practices are variously bundled together with other emotions as part of the labour of leading. We analyse how these practices emerge and circulate in the sites, their political impacts, and their relationship with practices such as teaching and learning. We conclude by teasing out the implications of this analysis for practice architectures theory, educational leading and emotions as fields of scholarship and practice.