1.4 Theories of educational management  (Page 27/29)

Morgan (1997, p. 359) argues that organizational analysis based on these multiple perspectivescomprises two elements:

•A diagnostic reading of the situation being investigated, using different metaphors to identify or highlightkey aspects of the situation.

•A critical evaluation of the significance of the different interpretations resulting from the diagnosis.

These skills are consistent with the concept of the“reflective practitioner”whose managerial approach incorporates both good experience and a distillation of theoreticalmodels based on wide reading and discussion with both academics and fellow practitioners. This combination of theory and practiceenables the leader to acquire the overview required for strategic management.

While it is widely recognized that appreciation of theory is likely to enhance practice, there remainrelatively few published accounts of how the various models have been tested in school or college-based research. More empirical work is needed to enable judgements on the validity of the modelsto be made with confidence. The objectives of such a research programme would be to test the validity of the models presented inthis volume and to develop an overarching conceptual framework. It is a tough task but if awareness of theory helps to improvepractice, as we have sought to demonstrate, then more rigorous theory should produce more effective practitioners and betterschools.

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Ball, S. (1987). The Micropolitics of the school: Towards a theory of school organization. London:Methuen.

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Bush, T. (1999). Crisis or crossroads? The discipline of educational management in the late 1990s. EducationalManagement and Administration, 27(3), 239–252.

Bush, T. (2003). Theories of educational management: Third Edition. London: Sage.

Bush, T. (2006). The National College for School Leadership: A successful English innovation, Phi DeltaKappan, 87(7), 508-511.