BARKER'S BEHAVIOR SETTING THEORY: A USEFUL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH ON EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
| Published date | 01 January 1985 |
| Date | 01 January 1985 |
| Pages | 82-90 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009903 |
| Author | S.J. EKLUND,M.M. SCOTT |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME XXIII, NUMBER 1 WINTER, 1985
BARKER'S BEHAVIOR SETTING THEORY1: A USEFUL
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH ON
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
S. J. EKLUND AND M. M. SCOTT
Research in educational administration is in need of a general theoretical perspective
which could be used to guide the development of an empirical base for a comprehensive,
ecologically valid, theory of administration. This paper presents a description of Roger
Barker's Behavior Setting Theory and attempts to argue its utility as a broad-based
conceptual framework for research on educational administration.
CURRENT THEORY CONTROVERSY IN
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
The current theoretical controversy in educational administration is more
a controversy over the lack of theory in the area and the reasons for this
lack than it is a debate over which of several alternative propositions best
fits a body of empirical data. Reviews pointing out these problems have
been written by Hoy, Erickson, and Bates.2 The most warranted conclusion
appears to be that, to date, no viable theory of administration has been
developed.
Several substantial problems appear to have plagued theory development
in educational administration. These include: (a) a low rate of research in
the area - not enough studies are done; (b) design problems are frequent
in those studies which do appear;3 (c) no programmatic thrusts have been
developed in virtually any of the potential research subareas of educational
administration;4 (d) there is a lack of prior theory upon which to build;5 and,
finally, (e) there appears to be a poor match between research generated
in the area and actual administrative practice.6
Two provocative perspectives have appeared recently which may shed
some light on the theory muddle in educational administration. One is well
illustrated in a paper by Foster7 in which he discusses what he calls a "crisis
in legitimacy" for administrators and concludes that "administration has
divorced itself from the practical problems ... as (it has) become more
rational and objective." This paper is interesting in that it may be signaling
a transition from one era of models of administration to another. The past
era has been dominated by models such as Management by Objectives and
others of that genre which do not appear to have been particularly compatible
with educational administration. Foster suggests (as do Bates and Clark,
S. J. EKLUND is Associate Director in the Centre on Aging and Aged and Associate Professor
in the Department of Educational Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. 47405.
M. M. SCOTT is Professor in the Department of Educational Pscyhology, Indiana University.
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