The “Invisible Rucksack”

In a previous blog, we explored the “heroic leader” versus the “boring manager” debate, noting how society often over-hypes leadership while ignoring the crucial, everyday stability that good management provides. Today, we are looking at a new path forward for schools, drawing heavily on the work of academics Michael Fertig, Michael Connolly, and Chris James.

They argue that to truly fix how we organize and run our schools, we need to stop getting bogged down in the endless definitions of leadership and instead focus on a concept that is vastly underplayed: Educational Responsibility [1, 2].

Here is how viewing school organization through the lens of responsibility provides a powerful way forward for both teachers and school leaders.

1. Rethinking Management: The “Invisible Rucksack”

We often think of management as a series of bureaucratic actions—filling out forms, coordinating schedules, and controlling staff. But Fertig and his co-authors suggest we have this wrong. They define management not primarily by actions, but as a state of mind [1, 3].

At its core, educational management means being delegated and carrying the responsibility for the proper functioning of a system [1, 4]. It is an internal sense of obligation and commitment to making sure things work [3]. For a Head of Department or a Principal, this responsibility often feels like a heavy burden. The authors use a brilliant metaphor to describe this: managers carry an “invisible rucksack on their backs” into which other people continually “throw rocks” by adding new problems and responsibilities [3, 5].

The Way Forward: We need to stop viewing management as “uninspired care-taking” and start respecting the massive psychological and emotional weight of the invisible rucksack [6, 7]. When a school fails, we quickly blame a “lack of leadership,” but very often, it is actually a failure of management—a failure in carrying the responsibility for the foundational systems that make a school run [8].

2. Rethinking Leadership: Influence vs. Responsibility

If management is carrying the responsibility for a system, then what is leadership? The authors define leadership simply as the act of influencing others to achieve goals [9].

Here is the catch: You can influence people without actually carrying the responsibility for the system you are influencing [10]. For example, a charismatic veteran teacher might influence younger teachers to ignore a new curriculum policy. That is highly effective leadership (influence), but it is not responsible, and that teacher does not carry the “rucksack” if the curriculum system fails—the Head of Department does [11, 12].

The Way Forward: We must demand responsible leadership. Anyone in a school can influence others, but the way forward requires that individuals take personal responsibility for their own influencing actions, ensuring they align with the school’s goals [13].

3. Reclaiming “Teachers as Professionals”

One of the most profound observations Fertig and his colleagues make is that the modern obsession with making every teacher a “leader” has actually come at a heavy cost. The rise of “teachers as leaders” has overshadowed the traditional, vital concept of “teachers as professionals” [14].

Being a professional inherently means acting with a deep sense of responsibility toward your students, your colleagues, and your institution [14]. We don’t necessarily need every teacher to view themselves as a transformative leader constantly driving change; what we desperately need is for teachers to be empowered as deeply responsible professionals [14, 15].

The Takeaway for School Organisations

So, what is the way forward for school leadership and management?

It is time to build a culture of Educational Responsibility. We must explicitly recognize and support the managers who carry the heavy, invisible rucksacks that keep our schools functioning safely and effectively [7, 8]. At the same time, we need to shift our focus away from the glamorous hype of “leadership” for everyone, and instead cultivate a teaching staff grounded in profound professional responsibility—educators who influence their peers and students positively, ethically, and responsibly every single day [14, 16].