THE EMOTIONAL FALLOUT OF THE NEW EFFICIENCY MOVEMENT IN PUBLIC-ADMINISTRATION IN AUSTRALIA - A CASE-STUDY

Public enterprises are coming under increasing pressure to provide sol utions to broader social and economic issues such as unemployment and income distribution. The public school system in Australia has been un der just such pressure, the consequences of which include a restructur ing of the system of schooling with a vocational and efficiency emphas is. A new efficiency movement has arrived in Australia. Privatization looms in the background as the ever-present threat if public schooling is unsuccessful in its adjustment to the demands of economic realitie s. Efficiency has become the major touchstone for administrative actio n, but the sociopsychological consequences of this new order for the m anagers of schools have largely been ignored. This article explores th ese issues and, drawing from a recent study by the author, also descri bes the emotional fallout for individual school managers in the face o f administrative reform.