This paper is a response to recent challenges to educational leadership research from Eacott. Using a personal narrative approach, and drawing, in the main, on research from the International Successful School Principalship Project, it is argued that current research questions are worthwhile, he methodologies used are trustworthy and appropriate, and that there is no compelling reason to abandon these.
{"title":"Educational Leadership Research: Is There a Compelling Reason to Change?","authors":"David Mark Gurr","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2019.1.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2019.1.6","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is a response to recent challenges to educational leadership research from Eacott. Using a personal narrative approach, and drawing, in the main, on research from the International Successful School Principalship Project, it is argued that current research questions are worthwhile, he methodologies used are trustworthy and appropriate, and that there is no compelling reason to abandon these.","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42292096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This Special Issue Editor’s introduction provides an overview of the rationale for the Issue and a summary of the papers. Importantly, it does two things: first, it locates the work in the field and in particular the absence of sustained dialogue and debate – or more specifically the logic of academic work (argument and refutation) – concerning theoretical research programs; and second, it demonstrates how journals (or other scholarly outlets/forums) can facilitate a social epistemology. In doing so, the introduction (and the Special Issue at large) identify an issue of timely relevance and provides a generative alternative that works towards overcoming (not necessarily resolving) the issue
{"title":"The Problems and Possibilities of the Relational Approach: An Introduction to the Special Issue","authors":"Scott Eacott","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2019.1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2019.1.1","url":null,"abstract":"This Special Issue Editor’s introduction provides an overview of the rationale for the Issue and a summary of the papers. Importantly, it does two things: first, it locates the work in the field and in particular the absence of sustained dialogue and debate – or more specifically the logic of academic work (argument and refutation) – concerning theoretical research programs; and second, it demonstrates how journals (or other scholarly outlets/forums) can facilitate a social epistemology. In doing so, the introduction (and the Special Issue at large) identify an issue of timely relevance and provides a generative alternative that works towards overcoming (not necessarily resolving) the issue","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41854367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Classic organizational theories build on substantialist assumptions and grant ontological status to organizations. Relational theorizing provides germinal resources for an epistemological breakthrough in how we come to understand organizations and organizing. This paper, based on my 2018 book ‘Beyond leadership: A relational approach to organizational theory in education’, serves two purposes. First, it provides an overview of the relational research program – both the methodological framing and the three key intellectual resources of ‘organizing activity’, ‘auctor’, and ‘spatio-temporal conditions’. Second, it serves as the stimulus paper for the contributors to this Special Issue dedicated to dialogue and debate on the potential contribution of the relational research program to the field of educational administration and leadership
{"title":"Starting Points for a Relational Approach to Organizational Theory: An Overview","authors":"Scott Eacott","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2019.1.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2019.1.2","url":null,"abstract":"Classic organizational theories build on substantialist assumptions and grant ontological status to organizations. Relational theorizing provides germinal resources for an epistemological breakthrough in how we come to understand organizations and organizing. This paper, based on my 2018 book ‘Beyond leadership: A relational approach to organizational theory in education’, serves two purposes. First, it provides an overview of the relational research program – both the methodological framing and the three key intellectual resources of ‘organizing activity’, ‘auctor’, and ‘spatio-temporal conditions’. Second, it serves as the stimulus paper for the contributors to this Special Issue dedicated to dialogue and debate on the potential contribution of the relational research program to the field of educational administration and leadership","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43899609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of this scholarly essay is to offer a number of logics of academic arguments as follows: leadership as contested/seductive theories, leadership as an organizing activity, and leadership as praxis. Each academic argument presents its own theoretical, communicative and practical challenges, often necessitating a beginning again in search of leadership’s ontological status; that is, in what sense is leadership real? Methodologically, the authors rely on asking pragmatic and constructivist questions (i.e. what difference does it make?) regarding problematic relationships among diverse researchers and between themselves and practitioners. With some amount of courage and a great deal of ignorance, the authors jump into the rabbit hole of relational sociology, leaving answers as next steps to the wisdom of our readers
{"title":"New Beginnings, Repeated: The Continuing Search for Educational Leadership","authors":"I. Bogotch, Scott C. Bauer, Eleanor Su-Keene","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2019.1.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2019.1.5","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this scholarly essay is to offer a number of logics of academic arguments as follows: leadership as contested/seductive theories, leadership as an organizing activity, and leadership as praxis. Each academic argument presents its own theoretical, communicative and practical challenges, often necessitating a beginning again in search of leadership’s ontological status; that is, in what sense is leadership real? Methodologically, the authors rely on asking pragmatic and constructivist questions (i.e. what difference does it make?) regarding problematic relationships among diverse researchers and between themselves and practitioners. With some amount of courage and a great deal of ignorance, the authors jump into the rabbit hole of relational sociology, leaving answers as next steps to the wisdom of our readers","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46032941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Embedding the relational approach as a research project is a viable alternative to normative conceptualisation and practice of leadership. However, as the shift from substantialist assumptions to relational theorising gathers momentum, the evolving nature of the argument so far suggests that more needs to be done to bolster its robustness. Rather than being a refutation, this commentary reengages with the relational approach in a way that attempts to locate it within the historical development of theorising in educational leadership as a specialised field. More specifically, it focuses a large part of its analysis on the strength of underpinning ontological theorising which, arguably, nullifies binaries without accounting for (assumptions about) them as it shifts its focus on relations. To ensure parallel monologues begin to engage and that auctors draw on an array of knowledges, the commentary reviews the relational approach and provides alternative avenues and resources to further its aims
{"title":"Moving Forward Amidst the Swirls: Reframing The Relational Approach as a Step ‘Beyond’ Leadership","authors":"Jean Pierre Elonga Mboyo","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2019.1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2019.1.3","url":null,"abstract":"Embedding the relational approach as a research project is a viable alternative to normative conceptualisation and practice of leadership. However, as the shift from substantialist assumptions to relational theorising gathers momentum, the evolving nature of the argument so far suggests that more needs to be done to bolster its robustness. Rather than being a refutation, this commentary reengages with the relational approach in a way that attempts to locate it within the historical development of theorising in educational leadership as a specialised field. More specifically, it focuses a large part of its analysis on the strength of underpinning ontological theorising which, arguably, nullifies binaries without accounting for (assumptions about) them as it shifts its focus on relations. To ensure parallel monologues begin to engage and that auctors draw on an array of knowledges, the commentary reviews the relational approach and provides alternative avenues and resources to further its aims","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42063620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article stands in support of Eacott’s primary intention of promoting a relational approach to leadership. However, its distinctiveness is in how this relational quality of leadership is understood, described and defended. In contrast to the essentially philosophical description provided by Eacott, this article offers a far more research-informed and practical understanding of leadership as a relational phenomenon. It begins by highlighting widespread international corporate research, which is paving the way for the general acceptance of leadership being a relational phenomenon. Also, the article draws upon a multidisciplined array of understandings to illustrate what can be considered as the relational foundational of leadership, which are then captured within seven fundamental principles of relational leadership practice. The final section of this article offers a pathway for those who wish to work towards enhancing their relational leadership capacity
{"title":"Leadership as a Relational Phenomenon: What This means in Practice","authors":"C. Branson, Maureen Marra","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2019.1.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2019.1.4","url":null,"abstract":"This article stands in support of Eacott’s primary intention of promoting a relational approach to leadership. However, its distinctiveness is in how this relational quality of leadership is understood, described and defended. In contrast to the essentially philosophical description provided by Eacott, this article offers a far more research-informed and practical understanding of leadership as a relational phenomenon. It begins by highlighting widespread international corporate research, which is paving the way for the general acceptance of leadership being a relational phenomenon. Also, the article draws upon a multidisciplined array of understandings to illustrate what can be considered as the relational foundational of leadership, which are then captured within seven fundamental principles of relational leadership practice. The final section of this article offers a pathway for those who wish to work towards enhancing their relational leadership capacity","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48534926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Calls for a social epistemology in educational administration and leadership are not new. As a field of inquiry, parallel monologues have come to dominate scholarly outlets and forums. But, parallel monologues arguably violate the logic of academic work – argument and refutation – with significant implications for the rigor and robustness of knowledge claims. This Special Issue sought to provide a forum for sustained dialogue and debate on the problems and possibilities of the relational approach that I am advancing. As the concluding paper, and a rejoinder to the contributions, here I highlight the difficulties of generating dialogue and debate and how going beyond our own complicity is challenging, but arguably rewarding, academic work
{"title":"The Relational Approach and Social Epistemology in Educational Leadership: A Rejoinder","authors":"Scott Eacott","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2019.1.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2019.1.7","url":null,"abstract":"Calls for a social epistemology in educational administration and leadership are not new. As a field of inquiry, parallel monologues have come to dominate scholarly outlets and forums. But, parallel monologues arguably violate the logic of academic work – argument and refutation – with significant implications for the rigor and robustness of knowledge claims. This Special Issue sought to provide a forum for sustained dialogue and debate on the problems and possibilities of the relational approach that I am advancing. As the concluding paper, and a rejoinder to the contributions, here I highlight the difficulties of generating dialogue and debate and how going beyond our own complicity is challenging, but arguably rewarding, academic work","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48097020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The complexity and intensity of reforms over several decades in the United States of America led to large-scale systemic reform and shifted superintendent roles from emphasis on management tasks to pivotal actions in the complex algorithm for managing and leading change initiatives. National commissions, task force reports, and nationwide research on the American superintendency informed need for changes in school-district leadership. This article provides a scholarly and objective analysis of issues surrounding five roles superintendents assume and the emergent need for district-level team leadership to address successfully diverse and complex challenges in contemporary education.
{"title":"Superintendent Roles as CEO and Team Leader","authors":"L. Björk, Tricia Browne-Ferrigno, T. Kowalski","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2018.2.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2018.2.3","url":null,"abstract":"The complexity and intensity of reforms over several decades in the United States of America led to large-scale systemic reform and shifted superintendent roles from emphasis on management tasks to pivotal actions in the complex algorithm for managing and leading change initiatives. National commissions, task force reports, and nationwide research on the American superintendency informed need for changes in school-district leadership. This article provides a scholarly and objective analysis of issues surrounding five roles superintendents assume and the emergent need for district-level team leadership to address successfully diverse and complex challenges in contemporary education.","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2018-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45171876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the United States, long-standing school choice policies and practices in Arizona have developed into a market-based system of schooling for many residents in the state, especially in the larger cities. In this study, I analyze qualitative data gathered from school leaders and parents in one Arizona district public school who discussed marketing pressures and various notions of accountability and whose perceptions related to rapidly growing school choice reforms and increasing testing demands. I also describe the ways in which many members of the school team (e.g., school administrators, teachers, staff) were affected by ever-increasing competitive expectations. By examining market pressures experienced by parents and other stakeholders, we can understand better some consequences of expanding school choice policies and programs on those experiencing educational reforms in local settings.
{"title":"Market Pressure and Arizona Public School Leaders: “That Package is Like a Brand New Cadillac!”","authors":"A. Potterton","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2018.2.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2018.2.7","url":null,"abstract":"In the United States, long-standing school choice policies and practices in Arizona have developed into a market-based system of schooling for many residents in the state, especially in the larger cities. In this study, I analyze qualitative data gathered from school leaders and parents in one Arizona district public school who discussed marketing pressures and various notions of accountability and whose perceptions related to rapidly growing school choice reforms and increasing testing demands. I also describe the ways in which many members of the school team (e.g., school administrators, teachers, staff) were affected by ever-increasing competitive expectations. By examining market pressures experienced by parents and other stakeholders, we can understand better some consequences of expanding school choice policies and programs on those experiencing educational reforms in local settings.","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2018-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46146569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article describes research on system and school leadership from three perspectives. At the system level, leadership was evident at the senior levels of the central and regional systems, with principal network leaders having potential to exercise occasional leadership. Principals tended not to operate as system leaders because they had limited influence across multiple schools. At a regional level, it was clear that directors acted as system level leaders, exerting wide influence on clusters of schools to improve. At a school level, the work of the principal, other school leaders, and critical friends was more important to the improvement journey of the school than system leadership. It seems that whilst system leadership can be important, it needs to work in conjunction with school leadership to maximize influence on school success.
{"title":"System Leadership and School Leadership","authors":"David Mark Gurr, Lawrie Drysdale","doi":"10.30828/REAL/2018.2.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30828/REAL/2018.2.4","url":null,"abstract":"This article describes research on system and school leadership from three perspectives. At the system level, leadership was evident at the senior levels of the central and regional systems, with principal network leaders having potential to exercise occasional leadership. Principals tended not to operate as system leaders because they had limited influence across multiple schools. At a regional level, it was clear that directors acted as system level leaders, exerting wide influence on clusters of schools to improve. At a school level, the work of the principal, other school leaders, and critical friends was more important to the improvement journey of the school than system leadership. It seems that whilst system leadership can be important, it needs to work in conjunction with school leadership to maximize influence on school success.","PeriodicalId":41311,"journal":{"name":"Research in Educational Administration & Leadership","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2018-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45384709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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