This book describes the amalgamation of an English grammar school and secondary school into a comprehensive school. It employs techniques found in microsociology to discuss the background of the two schools and record the social and political practices behind the event and their relation to good educational practices. The text emphasizes a historical understanding of the politics of the school and the resistance to, and the possibilities for, change. It focuses on ways to close the gap between theory and practice in education and examines the political process that was used to promote change. The text analyzes the deadlock that arose among stakeholders and the fallout from the sudden resignation of the new school's head teacher, all the while discussing the ideological battles that unfolded so as to explicate the choices made by those involved. The book states that organized school systems dominate individuals in an authoritarian manner--no person or persons controlled the school, and so no one was responsible. The volume uses a narrative approach to reveal accountability and provide a long-term view of the school. It concludes that authority should seek a nonembedded authority rather than a self-serving security at the cost of liberty. (Contains an index and 99 references.) (RJM)