Undergoing a “moult” to learn to manage: The identity transition of school managers[Faire sa “mue” pour apprendre à diriger : La transition identitaire des personnels de direction d’établissements scolaires]

This research is based on a reflection on learning management, specifically when one becomes a "promoted manager" (Gadéa and Pochic, 2009). It is part of a partnership with the Institut des Hautes Etudes de l'Education et de la Formation (IH2EF) which trains and supports National Education executives in taking up managerial roles. To contribute to the enriching management training, we seek a better understanding of the processes at work when accessing managerial roles. Thus, our research question expresses an exploratory approach: How does the identity transition of new heads of establishment unfold as they assume their roles? Findings from qualitative field research, mainly through semi-structured interviews with new directors of National Education schools, highlight an "identity dynamic" (Kaddouri, 1999). By accessing managerial functions, new directors alter the core elements of professional identity, identity for others, and self-identity (Dubar 2010). We aim to identify the characteristics of this "identity dynamic" and the tensions it provokes (Dubar, 2010), which requires a visible change in the new managers' relationship with others, both in clothing appearance and in selfcontrol and discourse-elements that relate to "identity for others." This change causes identity tensions between identity ascribed by others (the institution, the group to be managed) and self-identity (Dubar, 2010), but it is facilitated by an internal negotiation (between inherited identity and aspirational identity) facilitated by the permanence of values and the perceived continuity of commitment among school leaders in service of French National Education. This research provides training perspectives: given the importance of identity dynamics, it argues for experiential learning of management, designed to facilitate identity transition by testing the managerial role through adapted teaching methods, such as simulations (Chevalier et al., 2018), critical incidents (Bournois and Bourion, 2009), and theater-inspired sessions (Salgado, 2008).