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 solutions to broader social and economic issues such as unemployment and income distribution. The public school system in Australia has been under just such pressure, the consequences of which include a restructuring of the system of schooling with a vocational and efficiency emphasis. 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 realities. Efficiency has become the major touchstone for administrative action, but the sociopsychological consequences of this new order for the managers of schools have largely been ignored. This article explores these issues and, drawing from a recent study by the author, also describes the emotional fallout for individual school managers in the face of administrative reform.