Search results

An attempt is made to redefine educational leadership and to create a new “practical theory” of educative leadership which is of relevance to all concerned with the management of education. The approach, techniques and early outcomes of a research project in Australia designed in 1985 and mounted in 1986 to create the new “theory” are reported.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

This article argues that a major review of the theory of educational administration is required if it is to regain a credible role in academic and practical circles. It does this by considering the case of regional directors in Victoria, Australia, a role similarly endangered on present assumptions and trends. The argument has four major parts. First is a brief summary of some reasons why the dominant theoretical perspective of the field is losing the credibility it once had. Second is a description of the context of a case study about what it is, or was, to be a regional director of education (RDE). Third are some of the major practical and theoretical implications of the case study and how they relate to other recent research projects. Four, on these bases, it is proposed that a new practical theory of educative administration will require a non‐foundational epistemology, a Deweyan moral theory as well as an economic‐political and sociological imagination.

Suggests that it is reasonable to expect researchers in the field of educational administration to establish the relative value of the knowledge they propound. Draws on the branch of philosophy devoted to the study of the nature of knowledge; epistemology. Argues for new forms of awareness, criteria and processes to help with the growth of trustworthy knowledge. Concludes that there is a need for a post‐paradigm approach that celebrates coherence and multi‐perspectivism.

Major political intervention into the administration of education in New Zealand sought to encourage responsiveness as a norm of professional, administrative and organisational practices in a wider context of social and economic reform. The author was engaged for six months as a policy analyst by the New Zealand Government and that experience is drawn on to summarise the background and nature of the intervention; the Picot proposals to be implemented are set out and the expected performance of institutional managers is identified.

With this issue The Journal of Educational Administration commences its twenty‐fifth year of publication. Just five years ago, on the occasion of its twentieth year of publication, I reviewed the role of the J.E.A. in a special editorial — “Twenty Years A Journal: An Anniversary Statement.” Since that time there have been several developments in the publication of the J.E.A. that are perhaps worthy of comment on this our silver jubilee.

The administrative policies in the state school systems of New Zealand and Australia have undergone radical changes in recent years. Research into the origins and patterns of the reforms, their progress and problems encountered, shows that the holistic reforms were intended to achieve higher levels of economic efficiency, educational effectiveness and political quiescence. Two major restructuring strategies are identified, the corporatisation and the politicisation of educational administration. These purposes and strategies are found to cohere with a neo‐pluralist theory of state. A provisional theory of systemic restructuring is developed comprising a Gestalt of three realms: the existential, the social and the material. Three questions for further research are posed. Why have Australian state education ministers and their chief executives been developing new national structures rather than waiting for their restructure of state systems to deliver reforms? What are the origins and dynamics of administrative policy myths? To what extent can a centralist corporate managerialism cohere with a philosophy of educative leadership?

How stressful is the role of inspectors of schools and senior educational administrators of a large state department of education? How do they compare with teachers and other professional groups in the perception of their occupational stress? The purposes of this study were (1) to determine the prevalence of self‐reported role related stress in senior educational executives, (2) to examine the influence of biographical characteristics on their perceptions of stress, (3) to investigate the sources of perceived stress, and (4) to test for evidence of ill‐health or other negative coping processes. The paper presents the general findings and reveals some significant relationships between general well being, personality type and physiological symptoms. Four reliable stress factors were extracted: teacher assessment, time management, disruption to family life, and aspects of representing the system. The data also show that this group claims significantly higher levels of affective disturbance than other professional groups. Insights gained from this study provide a guide for remediation that should be undertaken at both organisational and personal levels.

The maintenance of a distinction between management and leadership behaviours at the conceptual and/or practical level negates the search for a “practical theory” of leadership. If management is viewed as an art, management and leadership behaviours are inextricably intertwined in an organisational setting. Both activities are part of the cultural action of an organisation.

Addresses briefly five complex issues in higher education: professional development spanning all categories of staff; the role of a centre of professional development (CPD) in context; the philosophical framework and models within which a centre might operate; the role of a centre in strategic planning and policy formation, and the contribution that a CPD might make in assessing and enhancing quality. Develops four main arguments with regard to the CPD at the University of Auckland. The CPD should support continuous improvement, promote organizational learning, and provide policy and practical advice regarding the management of quality. It should conduct organizational research and development, primarily through international benchmarking. The CPD also needs to research the implications of information technology, especially in the reconstruction of teaching, research and organization. Above all it needs to understand its organizational role of helping to construct cultural networks of mutual moral obligations.