Legitimacy through alternate means: schools without professionals in the private sector.

The new institutionalism predicts that professionalism is a key element of organizations' ability to be seen as legitimate. Emphasizing the professionalism and formal credentials of its members lends legitimacy to the organization, protecting it from scrutiny. What happens when this norm of professionalism is absent? How do schools legitimate themselves, if not through professionalism? This paper examines a population of small, secular non-elite private schools that overwhelmingly hire uncertified teachers. Using data from 60 private school principals in Toronto, Canada, I examine the ways in which private schools tap into alternate means of legitimacy. This study finds that small, secular 'rogue' private schools fail to invoke norms of professionalism as a means to garner constituent support and legitimacy. I argue that these schools substitute an innovative, unconventional 'caring consumer ethos' in place of teacher professionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]