Gabriele Lakomski

Science in Educational Administration: A Postpositivist Conception.

Arguments about the strengths and weaknesses of traditional logical empiricist conceptions of science have figured prominently in debates over the nature and content of theories of educational administration. In this article, we briefly review some of these debates and their consequences for administrative theory, concluding that much of the dispute is misconceived owing to the widespread acceptance of foundational assumptions about knowledge justification. As an alternative, we urge the adoption of a nonfoundational, coherentist view of knowledge justification that leads to a much broader conception of science, one we think is more suitable for developing a systematic new science of administration. We conclude by outlining some consequences of our new science for postmodern developments in the field and approaches to organizational design and leadership.

Theory in educational administration: naturalistic directions

Provides an overview of a rather large research program, developed over the last 15 years, that seeks to offer a new perspective on the nature of theory and practice in educational administration. The core ideas of the program, together with a considerable amount of detail, can be found in three books by Evers and Lakomski. However, because these volumes stand in a developmental sequence, there is merit in presenting in a brief compass an account of our overall strategy, especially in relation to the nature of administrative theory, and some of the conclusions reached along the way. The discussion has two main parts. First, the central theoretical features of our program are outlined, indicating some earlier results flowing from their application to various debates in educational administration. Then, some examples are offered focused on the main concern of our most recent research – developing and applying this framework to a cluster of problems about administrative practice and the nature of practical knowledge.

Functionally adequate but causally idle: w(h)ither distributed leadership?

Purpose – The purpose of this conceptual paper is to argue that leadership, including distributed leadership, is a concept of folk psychology and is more productively viewed as an emergent self‐organising property of complex systems. It aims to argue the case on the basis that claims to (distributed) leadership outrun the theoretical and empirical resources distributed and other leadership theorists can offer to support them.Design/methodological approach – The paper employs contemporary scientific as well as traditional philosophical criteria in determining the knowledge claims made by distributed leadership theories. Of particular importance are the coherence theory of evidence that employs the super‐empirical virtues, especially coherence to establish the scientific virtue of theory, and the conception of leadership as part and parcel of folk psychology.Findings – When considering the basis of claims to distributed leadership from a neuroscientific and empirical perspective, there is little basis in fa...

Science, systems, and theoretical alternatives in educational administration: The road less travelled

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical reflection on ideas that have been published in the Journal of Educational Administration over the last 50 years that present perspectives on the nature of educational administration and its various aspects, that are alternatives to the mainstream systems‐scientific view of educational administration.Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a standard analytic philosophy methodology with a focus on argument structures found in epistemology. The approach is to argue that the content and structure of administrative theories is shaped significantly by background epistemologies that determine the nature and justification of administrative knowledgeFindings – Epistemologies for both the traditional systems‐science approach to educational administration and a range of alternatives are identified and specified, and the most characteristic features of these approaches that follow from their epistemologies are described. The paper permits inferences...

Passionate Rationalism: The Role of Emotion in Decision Making.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that emotion has a central role to play in rational decision making based on recent research in the neuroanatomy of emotion. As a result, traditional rational decision‐making theories, including Herbert Simons modified model of satisficing that sharply demarcates emotions and values from rationality and rational decision making, need substantial revision. The paper concludes by outlining some central features of a theory of emotional decisions that is biologically more realistic than the traditional rationalist‐cognitive model.Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs contemporary scientific as well as traditional philosophical criteria in its argumentation. Methodologically, it can be described as an example of applying naturalistic philosophy to a central issue of human thought and experience, and how humans are able to value things at all on the basis of their neuroanatomy.Findings – The paper presents some initial features of a new theory of emoti...

Methodological individualism, educational administration, and leadership

There are two major categories of explanation for organisational performance: structural and individual. With the shift away from systems-theoretic accounts that occurred in the 1980s, structural explanations have been replaced increasingly by the individualism of leadership and leader-centric explanations, especially when it comes to schools. In this paper, we argue that leader-centric accounts involve a commitment to methodological individualism and that there are four serious problems with this view. First, it is logically difficult to describe individual actions without recourse to structures. Second, methodological individualism fosters a centralised mindset inviting the attribution of leadership where none may exist. Third, evidence for distributed cognition compromises leader-centrism. And fourth, administrative tasks themselves are often highly structured. In response to these problems, we urge a more balanced approach to organisational functioning, one that involves both structures and individuals.

Greenfield's Humane Science.

field and Peter Ribbins, entitled ’Educational Administration as a Humane Science’, presents an admirable set of markers for the many stations of Greenfield’s intellectual journey due to the skill, persistence, and sensitivity of his partner in dialogue. This conversation shows very clearly that Greenfield’s journey was characterised by a consistent concern for, and worry over, the role of science in human

Case Study Methodology and the Rational Management of Interaction

to manage interaction better in terms of improving co-operation and reducing or eliminating conflict. To do so successfully we need accurate or true assessment of the actions, events or processes in question. Case studies are generally presumed to provide such knowledge by their advocates subject to the method’s emphasis on directly observing and questioning people who were involved in specific situations or conflicts. Participants’ interpretations of dwhat went ond are thus considered to be privileged accounts qua people’s proximity to the events themselves. It is argued here that such epistemological assumption is untenable and that case studies which base the accuracy of their findings on participants’ interpretations or understandings claim more than they can validly justify. While undoubtedly presenting a much’ richer texture of events and processes than other empirical methods, case studies do not contain adequate criteria for judging these events. This is so because they rely on an inadequate notion of kowledge, that of dunderstandingd which goes back to Max Weber’s work. If we are interested in the better management of interaction in schools and other organisations, then we must develop a theory of knowledge which is adequate, that is, which allows us to sort accurate from inaccurate 4 interpretations of events and actions. The paper concludes with an epistemological proposal which is not only theoretically more coherent than the method of dunderstandingd but is also practically more relevant.

The incomplete naturalist. Donald Willower on science and inquiry in educational administration

Considers Willower’s theory of inquiry and his stance on science and epistemology which is derived from Dewey’s pragmatist philosophy. Argues that Willower’s naturalism, following Dewey’s understanding, remains incomplete because Dewey did not have at his disposal the required causal neurobiological detail of human learning and cognition. Such detail has recently become available, and Dewey’s biological metaphors are now being cashed out in relation to the causal mechanisms of inquiry, with interesting consequences for Willower’s theory of inquiry. Concludes the article by exploring the notion of reflective inquiry in relation to human cognition, research methodology and organizational cognition.

Knowledge, Certainty, and Openness in Educational Administration@@@Knowing Educational Administration: Contemporary Methodological Controversies in Educational Administration Research

Preface. Acknowledgements. Educational administration and the theory of knowledge. Knowledge and justification. The theory of movement: past and present. The Greenfield Revolution. Hodgkinson on humanism in administration. The cultural perspective. Administration for emancipation. Ethical theory and educational administration. Policy analysis: values and complexity. Research in educational administration: against paradigms. Author index. Subject index.