INT. J. LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION, APRIL–JUNE 2011, VOL. 14, NO. 2, 129–150 International Journal of Leadership in Education ISSN 1360–3124 print/ISSN 1464–5092 online © 2011 Taylor & Francis http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2010.536261 Taking it personally: examining patterns of emotional practice in leading primary schools in the Republic of Ireland JARLATH BRENNAN and GERRY MAC RUAIRC Taylor and Francis TEDL_A_536261.sgm 10.1080/13603124.2010.536261 International Journal of Leadership in Education 1360-3124 (print)/1464-5092 (online) Article 2011 Taylor & Francis 0000002011 GerryMac Ruairc gerry.macruairc@ucd.ie The exploration of the emotional practice of school leadership is a recent focus of enquiry with respect to scholarship on school leadership and management. This development provides a much needed addition to the recent proliferation of technical-rational, managerial discourses on leadership. Three dimensions of this complex field of enquiry are examined in the literature presented in this paper: (a) the role that emotions play in the lives of individu- als, (b) the emotional context of the task of school leadership and (c) the management of the emotional dimension of leadership and the impact of particular patterns of practice on the culture and fabric of school life. This provides a framework for the analysis of this in-depth qualitative enquiry into the emotional fabric of school leadership in a sample of primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. The findings of the research identify a number of aspects of the complexity of the emotional landscape of leadership and provide an in-depth insight into the patterns of practice that prevail in the sample with respect to the management of leaders’ own emotions and the management of the emotional landscape of staff relations and school activity. The paper calls on school leadership development programmes to facilitate school leaders (principals) to reflect on the emotions of self and others, to engage in emotional learning and to understand the strengths and limitations of the emotional climate within their schools while cultivating a professional and supportive ethos committed to authentic relationships. Introduction The exploration of the emotional practice of school leadership is a recent focus of enquiry with respect to scholarship on school leadership and management. This research trajectory provides an additional much needed challenge to the recent proliferation of a technical-rational, managerial discourse on leadership. Although this neoliberal dominance of literature on leadership is the subject of considerable critique (Gleeson and Husbands Jarlath Brennan is a primary school teacher and a PhD candidate in the School of Education, University College Dublin, Roebuck, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. His work to date includes the emotional work of school leaders with specific emphasis on the impact context has on this aspect of leadership practice. Gerry Mac Ruairc, PhD, is currently working as Director of the Masters’ in Education in the School of Education, University College Dublin, Roebuck, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Email: gerry.macruairc@ucd.ie. He is a former primary teacher and school inspector. He is also a fellow of University College Dublin, in teaching and academic development. His research interests include educational disadvantage, leadership of schools in challenging circumstances. He is deeply committed to providing a better insight into the reproduced pat- terns of inequality that persist in the education system. In doing this he maintains a theoretical and analytical focus on the complexity of the issue and the deeply embedded nature of the marginalisation in the structures and practices that constitute the education system.