Educational Management: Redefining Theory, Policy, and Practice

Citation

Bradshaw, L.K. (2001), "Educational Management: Redefining Theory, Policy, and Practice", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 187-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea.2001.39.2.187.1

This book presents a rich source of ideas, questions, and challenges for research, theory development, policy and practice in educational management. Readers will quickly recognize that the issues raised are neither new nor owned by single cultures. In fact Ray Bolam notes that “although we have moved a great deal, we continue to wrestle with several important issues which have been a concern from the outset” (p. 194). For example, the shift toward self or site‐based management has required new skills of headteachers in England and Wales and school leaders in other countries around the world. At the same time, external mandates and the pressures of accountability have increased the complexity of those roles and raised concerns about preparation and continuing professional development.

Educational Management: Redefining Theory, Policy, and Practice was a major contribution of a Seminar Series on educational management that was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council from 1997 to 1999. The purpose of the Series was to review and evaluate the evolution of policy, practice, theory, and research in educational management since the discipline was first established in the UK in the 1970s. This edited work contains 17 of the papers presented and was designed to accomplish two goals: to redirect the field of educational management toward a focus on teaching and learning and to meet the needs of teachers and educational institutions.

Much remains to be learned about schools and self‐management. What have been the results? How have the responsibilities of school and college leaders changed? What different grades of autonomy exist in the schools? Are there differences in self‐management practices and results at primary and secondary schools? How is self‐management affected by large‐scale government reform? Papers in the first section of the book address such questions about self‐management. Geoff Southworth describes the phenomenon of increasing external mandates, including national curricula, that diminish the headteacher’s capacity to provide instructional leadership. Accountability and the increasing emphasis on school effectiveness defined in terms of measurable outcomes for students continue to change the role of the school leader, and there continues to be tension between scientific and humanist approaches to management theory. The required skills are broader and more complex. Rosalind Levacic and her colleagues emphasize the need for school leaders to employ combinations of skills and theoretical approaches, and Les Bell notes that in a professional culture, movement toward an educational marketplace does not have to be competitive, but may be cooperative or collaborative depending on the relationships among headteachers.

Without consensus regarding the nature of educational management, the effective preparation and continuing professional development of educational leaders is difficult, if not impossible. Questions addressed in the section on professional development have a familiar ring. What is leadership? What should a preparation program look like? What is the evidence that the proposed curriculum would improve leadership, the quality of schools, and student achievement? What are the professional development needs of educational leaders at different stages in their careers? What can be learned from business and industry? How can school leaders promote the continuing professional development for teachers?

The socialization of new school leaders involves organizational and professional learning, and studies of the “stages” of headship revealed different patterns in leadership and organizational changes during different career stages. Dick Weindling notes that internally appointed managers tend to make fewer changes than those appointed from outside. Although new school leaders report that they learned from negative experiences, it was helpful to have worked in deputy or assistant positions with leaders who prepared them to assume a leadership role. Entry into a leadership role is characterized by “surprise” and the need for sense‐making, and the actions taken during the first year form the base for the accomplishments of the second year. Structural changes are often implemented before curriculum changes, and previous innovations are fine‐tuned as leaders gain experience. This research base would be strengthened by longitudinal studies, and a deeper understanding of predictable stages could be used to improve preparation and support for school leaders.

Agnes McMahon identified a variety of inequities that limit the continuing development of teachers as more decisions regarding professional development are made at the local level: time, funding, expertise, support of the administration, and the number of opportunities available. Professional development expertise includes both the skill and content knowledge needed to provide training and the capacity to design and implement appropriate professional development activities with follow‐up and support.

The professional and management knowledge of school leaders and their ability to establish relationships with their superiors and the individual teachers is discussed by Michael Eraut. “For headteachers to maintain critical control over their own practice, they will need to be aware of their habits and routines and their ways of thinking about people and situations, even if they cannot easily explain them” (p. 123). His analysis provides a foundation for identifying components of training for new school leaders.

The focus of the third section of the book is how to conduct theory building and research to assure connections to improved practice. Mike Wallace demonstrates the need to view school management using a mixed perspective emphasizing culture and politics. Chris James introduces the need to integrate psychodynamic and social systems theory in order to explain and address anxiety, emotions, and their defenses in the school setting. Valerie Hall explains the need to examine the genderedness of those in management positions and to understand the masculinities and femininities that are reproduced and reinforced in organizations. Janet Ouston, Philip Hallinger, and Ronald Heck challenge assumptions that school leaders play an important role in school success.

The final section of the book addresses research in educational management and continues discussion of themes that emerged across many chapters. In the framework for a research agenda in educational administration, leadership, and management proposed by Ray Bolam, there is a clear focus on school improvement. This instructional focus is consistent with a prevailing expectation that the continuing evolution of the field of educational management must contribute to improved teaching and learning.

In sum, the 18 chapters present a wealth of intriguing research questions and thoughtful overviews of the related research in the field – a delightful treat for those who enjoy participating in an intellectual brainstorming session to identify research questions that need to be asked. Even more empowering for the reader and researcher are possible research agendas, suggestions of appropriate methodological approaches, and an overarching conceptual framework that addresses the management of teaching and learning, the influence of individual characteristics and contextual frameworks, and the implications for training and development for educational leadership. If successful, the research generated by the book will expand existing knowledge, promote school improvement, inform theory and practice, and engage practitioners collaboratively as research is planned, implemented, disseminated, and used. The task is formidable, but the authors have done an outstanding job of providing the information needed for a meaningful start. In addition to the many questions, they provided scholarly reviews of theory and existing research, and they identified opportunities for stronger linkages to the field. These efforts will increase the likelihood that the research undertaken will improve teaching and learning and contribute to a conceptual framework for the field of educational management.