TY - JOUR

T1 - When FE lecturers go the extra mile

T2 - The rhetoric and the reality

AU - Lobb, Rhonda Mary

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - This paper explores the concept of ‘going the extra mile’ from the perceptions of 30 lecturers and six middle managers working within the further education (FE) sector. Until now, the phenomena of discretionary behaviour has only been researched using a scientific, positivist approach adopting the construct of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Whilst much of the OCB literature pertains to industry, there has recently been a growing interest in exploring the construct within educational settings. Eschewing the dominant positivist approach to the OCB literature, which attempts to establish causal relationships for discretionary behaviour, this article reports on a study which applied the insights of social practice theory to the analysis of discretionary behaviour in FE settings. This article goes on to reveal how conventional, individualistic and rational approaches to behaviour analyses can frequently disguise what is really going on within these complex organisations. What emerged from the study was that ‘discretionary acts’ mean different things to different people in different situations and consequently the OCB construct is too narrow a view of this phenomenon. The study additionally shows that when organisations adopt the individualising narrative of ‘going the extra mile’ they consequently split and divide their workforce into an economy of employee worth which is a crude and unhelpful chopping ‘good’ from ‘bad’.

AB - This paper explores the concept of ‘going the extra mile’ from the perceptions of 30 lecturers and six middle managers working within the further education (FE) sector. Until now, the phenomena of discretionary behaviour has only been researched using a scientific, positivist approach adopting the construct of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Whilst much of the OCB literature pertains to industry, there has recently been a growing interest in exploring the construct within educational settings. Eschewing the dominant positivist approach to the OCB literature, which attempts to establish causal relationships for discretionary behaviour, this article reports on a study which applied the insights of social practice theory to the analysis of discretionary behaviour in FE settings. This article goes on to reveal how conventional, individualistic and rational approaches to behaviour analyses can frequently disguise what is really going on within these complex organisations. What emerged from the study was that ‘discretionary acts’ mean different things to different people in different situations and consequently the OCB construct is too narrow a view of this phenomenon. The study additionally shows that when organisations adopt the individualising narrative of ‘going the extra mile’ they consequently split and divide their workforce into an economy of employee worth which is a crude and unhelpful chopping ‘good’ from ‘bad’.

U2 - 10.1080/13596748.2017.1314679

DO - 10.1080/13596748.2017.1314679

M3 - Journal article

VL - 22

SP - 186

EP - 207

JO - Research in Post-Compulsory Education

JF - Research in Post-Compulsory Education

SN - 1359-6748

IS - 2

ER -