JOURNAL OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRARION 
                                                                            Vol 10, No 1, Spring 2022 
                                                                                ISSN: 2538 - 4724                                          University of Kurdistan 
                                                                                                                                                                 
                            The Unspoken Side of Academic Textbooks on School Management 
                                                                                                       1
                                                                           Shirkoh Mohammadi  
                       
                                                  Abstract 
                                                  Every year, numerous academic textbooks on school management are published in Iran, 
                                                  yet only a small number of them are well received by academics. A common research 
                          ARTICLE                 method to analyze the content of these popular textbooks is content analysis which identify 
                          INFO                    only the overt messages of the textbooks. However, every textbooks have also a covert 
                          Article history:        massages that may attract such a wide audiences too. Therefore, the unspoken side of the 
                          Received:               textbooks is as important as the spoken side. Thus, two most popular and frequently 
                          01/10/2021              published textbooks in the  field  of  school  management,  namely,  ‘An  Introduction  to 
                          Accepted:               Educational  Management’,  which  has  been  republished  45  times,  and  ‘Theoretical 
                          01/05/2022              Foundations and Principles of Educational Management’, which has been republished 25 
                          Available               times, were selected and analyzed through symptomatic reading. The results showed that 
                          online:                 the narration of these two books is based on a rational paradigm which views schools as 
                          Spring 2022             an  integrated  and  coordinated  entities  but  neglects  the  game  of  power  that  always 
                                                  accompanied by contradiction and tension. Because to preserve of rational rhetoric, the 
                          Keyword:                textbooks rely on logic-based principles and only some theories are discussed in the books 
                                                  that are silent about power dynamics. Alagheband’s narration (the author of the books) 
                          symptomatic             tends to leave everything, related to ‘power dynamics’, unspoken. This narration would 
                          reading,                attract two groups of audiences; the first group is schools actors and other practitioners of 
                          discourse               educational system that are tired of school contradictions and its unfair world. Therefore, 
                          analysis, the           rational paradigm which remain unspoken on the game of power acts like as a remedy to 
                          game of power           tiredness and perceived unfairness. The second group is some educators concerned with 
                                                  the educability of educational management knowledge. They need to simplify the concepts 
                                                  of and detoxify educational management complexities and inconveniences accordingly.  
                       
                       
                                                                  
                                      Mohammadi, Sh. (2022). The unspoken side of academic textbooks on school management, 9(4), 32-
                                      43. 
                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                                            
                      1. Assistant professor at the department of Educational Management, faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy, Semnan University – Semnan, 
                      Iran.       
                      Corresponding Author:                                                                                                                              Email: sh.mohammadi@semnan.ac.ir 
                  Problem statement                                          reality  that  audiences  avoid  to  face  it.  This  is 
                      Numerous textbooks has been published in Iran          possible  by  using  symptomatic  reading.  In  the 
                  on school management area up to now. However,              symptomatic reading, the researcher seeks to know 
                  not all the textbooks has become popular and well-         what is left unspoken in the text and try to identify 
                  received by many academics. Only a handful of              its  covert  messages.  By  using  the  symptomatic 
                  them  are  frequently  published  and  republished         reading, a researcher can discover ‘deviant world’ 
                  many times. This popularity may leads to some              that is introduced in the text.  
                  questions. Why other textbooks written in the area             Although some researches have examined the 
                  have not been so well received? Why many of the            content of the educational and academic textbooks, 
                  textbooks  have  failed  to  achieve  the  maturity        they have only focused on the explicit and overt 
                  required to be presented as an academic textbook?          content of the text and also on the messages that the 
                  And why they could not reveal the realities that           author has deliberately presented to the audiences. 
                  audiences may seek for. Such seemingly simple              But the unspoken side of the textbooks have been 
                  questions have complex and controversial answers.          not discovered up to now. Whereas, explaining the 
                  Because many experts believe popularity is not a           textbooks  means  to  show  that  the  text  has  an 
                  virtue. In this regard, Lewis and Thompson, noted          unspoken  and  silence  facts  (Story,  2004). 
                  that popularity of a story (in this case, academic         Therefore,  in  symmetric  reading  we  need  to  go 
                  textbook)  is  not  synonymous  with  maturity  and        beyond  the  appearance  of  the  text.  That's  why 
                  reality.  In  contrast,  popularity, in many cases, is     Macherey  Has  criticized  the  traditional  way  to 
                  opposite  to  the  reality.  Because  in  many  cases,     evaluate  the  literary  and  notes  that  these 
                  reality is harsh and unfair and many audiences tend        evaluations  showed  only  the  issues  which  is 
                  to  escape  from  the  harsh  and  unfair  reality.        presented by the author. So the weaknesses of this 
                  Therefore.  They  received  only  some  cultural           evaluation is that it has presented the claims made 
                  productions  (such  as  textbooks)  that  present  a       by the author in a clearer and more precise manner 
                  simplistic narration of the world; a narration that is     but  it  cannot  identify  the  covert  issues.  In  this 
                  silent  about  harshness  and  unfairness.  In  fact,      regard,  symptomatic  reading  tries  to  explain  the 
                  because  such  a  cultural  productions  present           silences and unspoken sides of the text which has 
                  simplistic narration of the world that are fare from       not been presented by the author. In fact, criticism 
                  unfairness, tension and contradiction, so they are         means to show what cannot be spoken in the text. 
                  well received by the popularity of audiences (Story,       Meanwhile what is seemed to be most important in 
                  2004).  In  this  regard,  as  Lewis  and  Thompson        the text is exactly its unspoken side (Story, 2004).  
                  noted,  popularity  may  leads  to  an  addictive          If we deeply explore the content of the popular and 
                  tendency to reparation. Such a situation stem from         widely  circulated  textbooks  in  one  field  and 
                  what  Lewis  points  out,  that  the  popular  stories     identify  its  unspoken  sides,  we  will  better 
                  make  an  addiction  to  fantasy  and  romantic            understand  the  fact  that  the  audience  of  these 
                  narrations.  Such  a  widespread  tendency  towards        textbooks avoided it. Among such books, two of 
                  fantasy narrations, in turn, leads to incompatibility      the  best-selling  ones  on  the  school  management 
                  with real life (Story, 2004).  Because popular story       were selected which have attracted a considerable 
                  present a simplistic narration of the world and focus      acceptance among academics. Both textbooks has 
                  on  the  less  important  issues,  therefore  by           been written by Alagheband. One of the textbooks 
                  discovering  what  has  not  been  spoken  on  the         entitled    ‘An     Introduction     to   Educational 
                  textbooks,  we  can  understand  what  audiences           Management’, reprinted 45 times in Iran until 2014, 
                  escape from it. In the other words, if we identifying      and  has  been  a  sourcebook  in  almost  all 
                  the covert (unspoken) massage, we can discover a           universities,  workshops  and  training  courses  for 
                                                                          33 
                                                                                                                                   
                  school principals in Iran. The second book is ‘The        and  motivations  of  the  patients.  In  fact,  the 
                  Theoretical    Foundations     and   Principles    of     unconscious domain is an area of the patient’s life 
                  Educational  Management’  by  the  same  author,          which is not perfectly expressed, since it contains 
                  which has been published 25 times in Iran until           tendencies  which  the  patients  themselves  are 
                  2014. It is one of the main sources for the M.A. and      unaware  of  it.  Interestingly,  it  is  only  the 
                  PhD entrance exams and has been well-received             psychoanalyst who can step into the domain by 
                  among academics in the field. The  fundamental            recognizing  the  unspoken  issues  of  the  patients. 
                  questions of the current research were, what the          Symptomatic reading also assumes its fundamental 
                  audiences might have been escaping from and have          assumption that what is conveyed directly in the 
                  received  remarkably  to  the  content  of  such          text is not necessarily the reality of the whole text, 
                  textbooks? And what issues are remained unspoken          but an important aspect of the text is the aspects and 
                  in the text which yet have attracted such a wide          elements  might  have  been  left  unspoken. 
                  audience?                                                 Therefore,  the  text  is  unable  to  reflect  or  retell 
                     Theoretical foundation                                 (McMillan, 2008). 
                     It has already been explained that the audiences          Psychoanalysis has an analytical application in 
                  of the popular cultural productions tend to escape        symptomatic  reading;  since  it  can  reveal  the 
                  from a harsh or maybe unfair reality in one hand          justifications  and  the  tendencies  that  attract  the 
                  and the popular cultural productions have unspoken        audience to a particular text. If we return to the 
                  sides  which  attract  them  on  the  other  hand.        fundamental problem of the present research and by 
                  Unspoken sides can describe the audience's hidden         relying  on  the  audiences’  psychoanalysis,  it  is 
                  fears, anxieties and tendencies. This issue leads us      possible to understand the pure tendencies of the 
                  to  the  theoretical  foundation  of  the  audience's     audience  of  educational  management  textbooks. 
                  psychological economics. In the meantime, Lacan's         From an economic point of view, the author of 
                  theory  provides  an  appropriate  framework.  The        these  two  textbooks  has  had  a  great  fortune  to 
                  central  idea  of  Lacan's  psychoanalytic  system  is    attract  the  audiences.  Nevertheless,  these  two 
                  that  reality  are  not  perfectly  presented  to  the    textbooks also have unspoken sides that show this 
                  audiences;  rather,  there  are  always  silences  and    stable tendency in the audiences and are tried to 
                  unspoken issues in an agent speeches and massages         explore in the present research.  
                  that  reveal  his/her  psychological  tendencies             Many  theorists  of  educational  management 
                  (McMillan, 2008). In fact, the reality cannot be said     believe  that  there  is  too  much  emphasis  on  the 
                  completely, meaning there are always issues in the        effectiveness  of  the  schools  to  account  the 
                  real  world  that  cannot  be  articulated  through       technical-economic demands of the environment. 
                  speech.  This  fact  that  some  realities  remain        That’s  why  academic  textbooks  are  focused  on 
                  unspoken can be due to incapacity or impossibility        effectiveness    and   responding     to   technical-
                  (Abazari and Khorshidnam, 2014). In other words,          economic  demands.  Some  theorists  have  also 
                  an agent cannot or will not always be able to tell the    criticized this mechanism of the education system 
                  whole reality; thus, such an unspoken issues that         and  pointed  out  that  schools  have  not  been 
                  cannot be presented can explain and interpret the         established  only  to  meet  the  economic  and 
                  audience's  psychological  orientations.  In  this        technical  needs  and  demands,  but  they  have  to 
                  regard, the psychoanalytic system can be helpful in       institutionalize  social  and  human  values  (for 
                  the  process  of  symptomatic  reading,  since  the       example, Larsen, 2011). These theorists have also 
                  fundamental assumption of psychoanalysis is that          criticized the way principals prepare to enter the 
                  reality is not necessarily what the Patients say but      school. They believe that the academic courses for 
                  the unconscious domain determine the inclinations,        preparation  of  the  principals  have  unnecessarily 
                                                                        34 
                                                                                                                                 
                   focused  on  the  academic  achievement  and  the            speak about the dark side of the organization and 
                   effectiveness of schools while other human values            prefer to be silent about them (Harris and Jones, 
                   such as social equality, democratic values and so            2018). The academic textbooks in the field also 
                   one have been mostly neglected (Larsen, 2011).               rarely speak about the negative and harmful effects 
                   This is one of the unspoken issues of organizational         of the leaders of the educational system or many of 
                   and academic education; in which, only teachings             the texts are silent about the leader mistakes and 
                   and contents are allowed to be tackled that are in           dysfunctions. In this regard, some researches have 
                   line with the issue of academic achievement and              estimated that only 5 percent of the organizational 
                   school effectiveness. This silence show that how             researches have addressed the negative and dark 
                   academic  effectiveness  and  achievement  have              sides  of  the  organizations  (Wardy  and  Weitz, 
                   become  the  ideological  discourse  of  the  current        2004).  Of  course,  such  a  small  number  of 
                   educational  system.  Discussed  by  Althusser,              researches  which  examined the dark side of the 
                   ideological discourse creates a closed system, and           organization  have  opened  new  windows  for  the 
                   therefore raises only those issues that can solved by        audiences. For example, most recently, Samier and 
                   the discourse. However, in order to maintain these           Milley  (2018)  have  explored  the  concept  of 
                   boundaries, ideological discourse is silent on issues        ‘maladministration  ‘in  education  focusing  upon 
                   that  may  take  it  beyond  the  boundaries  (Story,        examples  of  weak  or  toxic  leadership  and 
                   2004).                                                       management          practices.      They       describe 
                      Such  a  silence  is  not  only  limited  to  human       ‘maladministration’ as the phenomena of harmful 
                   values or social equality, but any doctrine which            administrative  and  organizational  behaviors  in 
                   counters the ideological discourse is seemingly left         educational  systems.  They  outline  a  range  of 
                   unspoken through the text; whether this silence be           destructive  practices  that  occur  in  educational 
                   related  to  gender  differences  (for  example,             organizations, such as negligence, the mistreatment 
                   Blackmore, 2005); cultural and ethnic diversities            of  people,  professional  dishonesty,  fraud  and 
                   (for example, Bates, 2005) or the politics and power         embezzlement,  abuse  of  power,  and  corrupt 
                   dynamics      (for    example,     Watkins,      2005).      organizational cultures.  
                   Accordingly,  nowadays,  the  field  of  educational             The  ‘black  box’  of  destructive  or  punitive 
                   leadership  and  management  is  focusing  on                leadership needs to be explored in greater depth in 
                   concepts  and  issues  such  as  transformational            order to capture the experiences of those who find 
                   leadership,  distributed  leadership,  instructional         themselves at the sharp end of certain leadership 
                   leadership,    and    effective    management  and           behaviors and practices. More research studies are 
                   leadership  and  so  one  which  totally  concentrate        required     that    provide     insights    into    the 
                   only on the positive, simple, and routine aspects of         organizational  contexts,  cultures,  and  conditions 
                   the  system  (Harris  and  Jones,  2018).  This  is          that  enable  and,  indeed,  reinforce  negative 
                   because  a  large  part  of  the  literature  on  change     leadership  and  management  behaviors.  The 
                   leadership  has  focused  on  the  transformational          available  research  evidence  would  suggest  that 
                   leadership  theory  which  depicting  a  formal  and         ‘dark-side ‘leadership traits are closely related to 
                   powerful version of leader - a leader who can make           greater employee stress (Furnham 2017), reduced 
                   positive and significant changes in the education            job satisfaction (De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia 
                   system (Leithwood and Sun, 2012). Being silent               2017), and significantly lower levels of personal 
                   about the issues that are harsh, hard and maybe              well-being (Mathieu et al. 2014).  
                   anxious  cause  to  popularity  of  such  narration.             Methodology 
                   These  optimistic  and  simplistic  reports  of                  The  present  research  aimed  to  identify  the 
                   leadership and educational management avoids to              unspoken  sides  of  the  school  management 
                                                                            35