EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION: SOME PHILOSOPHICAL AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
| Published date | 01 February 1981 |
| Date | 01 February 1981 |
| Pages | 115-139 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009843 |
| Author | DONALD J. WILLOWER |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME
XIX,
NUMBER 2 SUMMER 1981
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION: SOME PHILOSOPHICAL
AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
DONALD J. WILLOWER
In this paper, which was presented at a Conference for Lecturers in Educational
Administration held in Melbourne in August 1981, the author expands upon past
criticisms of the phenomenological and Marxist perspectives, provides an extensive
analysis of the concept of loose coupling and puts forward a philosophical alternative
to the phenomenological and positivistic positions. The interplay of philosophical
viewpoints with issues in theory, research and preparation in educational
administration is emphasized.
INTRODUCTION
The intellectual scene in educational administration is characterized by
diversity and change, and that is all to the good. New and varied ideas and
approaches, or old ones newly applied, and constructive controversy give
a field vitality. In such circumstances, imaginative thinking and the
exchange of ideas are stimulated, viewpoints are examined critically, and
underlying assumptions are probed and exposed.
When this is done, our debts to the past become clearer. Indeed, much
of what is currently being discussed has a certain deja vu quality when
seen from the broad perspective of the history of ideas in education, in the
social sciences, but most of all, in philosophy. Such a perspective reminds
us of the wide range of ideas that have marked efforts to resolve
fundamental intellectual problems. Even though these problems are as
intractable as they are enduring, they remain intriguing, and their con-
sideration can be instructive.
Clearly, the big philosophical questions bear heavily on current
concerns in educational administration. The great question of metaphysics
is "What is reality?". Central here are such matters as stability and change,
uniformity and diversity, and regularity and chance. The great question of
epistemology is "What is knowledge?" or put in more contemporary terms
"How do you know?". Central here are such matters as the nature of
inquiry and of verification, objectivity and subjectivity, and the relation of
the abstract and concrete. The great question of ethics is "What is right?".
Central here are such matters as the nature of the good society presumably
including the good organization and the good school, the good life, and
DONALD J. WILLOWER is Professor of Education in the Division of Education Policy
Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Professor Willower is a frequent contributor to The
Journal.
116 Willower
what one ought to do in situations that require judgments of value and
moral choices.
Questions such as these have been the concern of serious thinkers since
at least the time of the early Greeks. Sometimes reformulated,
occasionally even rejected as significant questions, they have remained
anchor points throughout the history of philosophy down to the present
day.
I have been asked to comment on educational administration as an
intellectual pursuit with special attention to the American situation. In
doing so I will show how philosophical considerations can illuminate some
of the conceptual controversies that mark contemporary thinking in
educational administration, and can provide the basis for critical analysis.
Three areas of educational administration will be touched upon: the
conceptual, empirical studies, and more briefly, university preparation
programs.
First some caveats. I will try to confine my remarks to the U.S. and
Canadian aspects of the American situation, although it should be noted
that there is considerable movement in educational administration in Latin
American nations.1 However, even so narrowly defined an American
situation is hard to capture because there is much diversity. Furthermore, it
is unrealistic to put boundaries around a field of study. After all, scholars in
various parts of the world read the same materials, and often publish in
each other's countries. Finally, my views act as a filter for my remarks. Put
another way, someone else might tell you a different story. But, in spite of
all this, I will try to paint a broad picture in the three areas, leaving out
much but, I hope, catching the main trends. Also, I will try to be explicit
about some of my own views so that you will be warned, if not spared.
RUMINATIONS ON EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
This section on the conceptual in educational administration has been
labeled "ruminations" because a lot of thinking these days goes beyond the
effort to develop explanatory theories. In fact, words like image and
metaphor are often used in place of the word theory.2 Indeed, "metaphor"
seems destined to replace "paradigm" at the top of the list of fashionable
words favored among the cognoscenti. While it would be easy to make too
much of word shifts, it can be argued that words like metaphor and
especially image fit the subjectivistic emphasis of some scholars in the
social sciences and educational administration.
In educational administration, the so-called phenomenological critique
with which we are all quite familiar by now is represented in the work of
Greenfield.3 I have, as you may know, many reservations about this
work.4 Greenfield fails to pursue questions of philosophy even though his
main effort is the criticism of what he sees as current epistemology and
values in educational administration. Apart from explicitly adopting a
subjectivistic viewpoint, he does not discuss his epistemological position.
His philosophic answer to the questions "What is knowledge?" and "How
do you know?" remains unknown.
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