Chapter 6 The Art of Educational Leadership by Dr. Fenwick W. English, Presented by Dr. William Allan Kritsonis
- 1. Understanding the Landscape of Educational Leadership Chapter 6 William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
- 2. Purpose “…to describe the conceptual landscape of educational leadership, including the major epochs of foundational writings which inform leadership studies in the past and present.”
- 3. Modernism “Modernism…continues to dominate thought in education and educational leadership in particular.”
- 4. Central Tenets of Modernism I. Epochs Pseudo-scientific Early scientific Behaviorism Structuralism Feminist & Critical Theory Critical Race Theory Queer Theory
- 5. Modernism… “still at play in the leadership discourse of contemporary times” is the dominate influence largest number of scholars, writers, researchers remain engaged
- 6. Modernism’s Key Beliefs Rationality is the best approach to promote insight and understanding Science represents progress Objective and neutral
- 7. The Pseudo-scientific Epoch Frederick W. Taylor (1856 – 1915) 1 st premier management consultant Was an engineer in the steel industry Created and introduced “scientific management” in 1911 “ one best way”
- 8. Modernism… Understood that “planning” and “doing” are different “ The planner is needed to supply the doer with direction and measurements, with the tools of analysis and synthesis, with methodology and with standards.” -Peter Drucher, 1974
- 9. Job De-skilling “where work tasks are separated and broken down into smaller and smaller pieces until the education levels required to engage in the work are so lowered that labor costs can be reduced.”
- 10. Job De-skilling…. Job de-skilling requires: Planners Workers Absolute managerial authority
- 11. Question: What is the bottom line? Answer: efficiency and profitability! Question: Should education truly be run like business?
- 12. Scientific Management isn’t “scientific” at all! Mainstream American business management Total Quality Management (Deming, 1980’s-1990s) Strategic Planning
- 13. Total Quality Management TQM Aimed at reducing variability Enhances control Attains greater precision Language permeates administrative texts!
- 14. The Early Scientific Epoch Henry Fayol (1842 – 1925) Called the “Father of Modern Management Theory” Believed 5 primary functions of administration: Planning Coordinating Organizing Controlling Commanding (leadership)
- 15. Early Scientific Epoch Mary Parker Tollett (1868 – 1933) Developed the “law of the situation” A) compromise B) domination C) integration - the best! Laid ground work for organization development
- 16. Early Scientific Epoch Chester Barnard (1886 – 1961) Functions of the executive: 1. Purpose as a requisite for unifying organization 2. Establish effective communication A. understandable B. consistent with subordinates’ understanding of organization’s purpose C. consistent with individual’s own personal purposes D. able to be carried out by the individual
- 17. The Behaviorism Epoch Anchored by the work of Herbert Simon; offspring of B.F. Skinner Observable and measurable actions under the conscious control of an individual who is responding to stimuli in a specific situation In line with SM and TQM
- 18. The Behaviorism Epoch Simon – rational organizational behavior Maximizes results at the lowest cost Casts out the human dimension Eliminates personality as a domain
- 19. The Behaviorism Epoch Douglas McGregor Theory X and Theory Y Based on an analysis of managers’ behaviors in business
- 20. The Structuralism Epoch A study of whole units or structures represents the key to understanding individual phenomenon (behaviors) The Social Psychology of Organizations Katz and Kahn (1966) – combined the views of psychologists and sociologists
- 21. The Structuralism Epoch General Systems Theory Ludwig von Bertalanffy Organizations In Action James Thompson Structure in Fives Mintzberg Reframing Organizations Bolman and Deal – Frame theory
- 22. Feminist/Critical Theory Epoch modern movement began with Betty Friedman’s The Feminist Mystique transformations include: androgyny and gender polarization Kathy Ferguson’s The Feminist Case Against Bureaucracy – huge impact in business, public and educational administration Jurgen Habermas – Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action
- 23. Feminist/Critical Theory Epoch The fundamental impact of the Feminist/Critical Theory Epoch was a change in perspective that encouraged women to adopt different personas within the workplace that contrasted with traditional, societal roles. The literature created during this epoch also coached women on how to overcome subservience and gain equality by manipulating the bureaucratic, political and social systems within the workplace.
- 24. Critical Race Theory Epoch Is centered on the notion that racism is endemic in American life and exists in educational institutions in a myriad of forms Not individual but institutional/structural Purpose is to end racial inequality Recognizes the importance of historical context and the personal accounts of individuals who have experienced situations that counter dominant perceptions
- 25. Critical Race Theory Epoch Key Texts in CRT include: Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge by Richard Delgado, 1995 “Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education” by Gloria Ladson-Billings and William Tate, Teachers College Record, 1995
- 26. The Queer Theory Epoch Challenges the social system’s construction of sexual identities and seeks to expose them as invalid descriptors Advances 5 perspectives: Seeks to come to terms with sexual identity Works to deconstruct sexual norms and practices in institutional life Is confrontational Sees sexual identity as more than sexual Views society as political and cultural
- 27. The Post Modern Epoch The prevailing thought is that postmodernity has no coherent theme, except in what it chooses to reject. It posits that there are no realities outside of a person’s culture and experience. Reality is constructed, multidimensional and multitheoretical. Postmodernists deny the “reality” that anchors modernism
- 28. The Post Modern Epoch Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) – presented the anatomy of de-construction, a way to take apart textual passages. 1 st reading – interpretation of the text 2 nd reading – look for contradictions, hidden silences, binaries, and circularities in the text The 2 nd reading may offer a very different reading of what most people think the text is about Texts are about what is and is not said.
- 29. The Post Modern Epoch “De-construction makes it possible for postmodernists to expose the flaws and assumptions in modernism as irrational. Yet postmodernism does not offer any alternative because to do so would be to center something in its place.” Fenwick English, 2007
- 30. Kitsch Management “Kitsch” is a slang term for “rubbish or trash” Have high emotional appeal – usually sentimentality Requires no knowledge, understanding, critique or analysis Satisfies immediate desire Non-challenging Does not question socio-political reality or vested interests Reinforces prejudices
- 31. Kitsch Management Avoids unpleasant conflicts Promises a happy ending Stephen Covey – The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Jim Collins – Good to Great Spencer Johnson – Who Moved My Cheese? John Maxwell – The 360 Degree Leader Larry Julian – GOD Is My CEO
- 32. Kitsch Management “ These texts oversimplify reality and promise a rationality that does not exist in the real world. Because they avoid dealing with managerial subtleties and erase situational complexities and conflicts, they are at their base ideologies being passed off as codified wisdom.” - Fenwick English, 2007 Jim Collins – TQM, “managementspeak”, timeless principles, absolute certainty, equate to Fantasyland
- 33. Q&A