THE MICROPOLITICS OF MACRO REFORM

At a time when almost every area of social policy in the UK is undergo ing a period of radical 'top-down' reform, several writers have identi fied a key role for ethnographic research, which examines the social p rocesses through which macro changes in structure and funding are expe rienced and reconstructed at the micro level. This paper presents one such study. Empirical data are used to chart the complex, interconnect ed processes through which national reforms helped destroy the previou s balance of micro-political power in a school, ultimately leading to fundamental changes in policy and practice in a previously 'progressiv e' comprehensive. The school's fate highlights the importance of micro -political power, but also compels us to consider the wider forces at work on the school. The teachers' micro-political struggles make sense only when viewed against the backdrop of sweeping conservative reform at the macro level.