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From Empiricism to Hermeneutics: Educational Leadership as a Practical and Moral Activity

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN: 0957-8234

Article publication date: 1 January 1991

282

Abstract

With the demise of the empiricist theory of knowledge and the increased prominence of postempiricist and hermeneutical perspectives, it is clear that various aspects of our social lives – including educational leadership – should no longer be thought of in terms of technological or instrumental rationality and technical expertise. Although the current philosophical ferment allows for different ways to rethink leadership, this article examines the implications of one school of thought – philosophical hermeneutics – for the research on, and especially the practice of, educational leadership. The central point is that this perspective, when interpreted in terms of how we think of ourselves as persons, results in a conceptualisation of leadership as a predominantly practical and moral activity.

Keywords

Citation

Smith, J.K. and Blase, J. (1991), "From Empiricism to Hermeneutics: Educational Leadership as a Practical and Moral Activity", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 29 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000002467

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1991, MCB UP Limited

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