Leadership and emotion in the primary school — reflections from four primary headteachers

Leaders in schools rely for their effectiveness on a good deal of interpersonal contact. Partly stimulated by writers on emotional intelligence (Cooper and Sawaf, 1997; Goleman, 1995), there is a renewed interest in the emotional side of schools. Fineman proposes that the idea of the rational organisation is a naïve assumption by those who manage (Fineman, 2001). This article reports on a study of four primary school headteachers, and asks how they experience the management of emotion in their daily interactions, and how it impacts on their approach to leadership. It also explores the implications for further research.