What is the meaning of educational leadership in a time of policy engineering?

This philosophical essay explores the purpose of educational leadership with a particular focus on where and how leaders interact with education policy. Building on the idea that the purpose of educational leadership should differ from that of business management, this paper analyzes how mechanisms of policy engineering might construct educational leadership as instrumental to serving predetermined policy goals. Using Stephen Ball’s concept of policy technologies and Herbert Marcuse’s idea of one-dimensional thinking, I analyze the ways education policy controls school leaders. In response to these mechanisms of control exerted through policy engineering, I explore where and how school leaders can challenge such mechanisms and create new possibilities for educational leadership

Reimagining accountability through educational leadership: Applying the metaphors of “agora” and “bazaar”

This study aims to explore reimagined accountability through collective efforts initiated by school leaders and to challenge the fixed notion of accountability prescribed by policy scripts. Drawing on studies highlighting humanizing leadership and the metaphors of “agora” and “bazaar,” I investigate how school leaders (re)construct and (re)define meanings of accountability in their daily practices. Using portraiture as research method, I analyze qualitative data collected through observation, interviews, and artifacts in a rural school in the United States, over the course of the 2018–2019 school year. In contrast to prevalent discourses around technical, performance-driven approaches to accountability, the principal and teachers in this portraiture illuminate a culture of accountability deeply rooted in care, respect, and shared responsibility to support students’ growth. This accountability space exemplifies student-centeredness, teachers’ professional agency, and belonging as community in the daily interactions and symbolic celebrations. I conclude this article by highlighting the importance of leadership in constructing school accountability by offering examples of habits of mind and practice to humanize school education. This research also extends policy enactment studies by exploring accountability portrayed in daily leadership practices

Comente sobre “Reestruturação dos sistemas de responsabilidade escolar”: Abordando as desigualdades subjacentes

As Bae (2018) suggests, one way to fill gaps between a holistic view of student learning and accountability policy implementation is to use multiple measures that reflect diverse perspectives of learning. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a discussion of issues, which need to be considered in order to achieve the desired outcomes of greater equity and transparency through these broader accountability efforts. In this commentary, we address equity issues related to Bae’s argument and propose that taking action regarding existing inequities in terms of access to resources, and including traditionally excluded voices are crucial to ensuring that new accountability systems meet their intended goal of shared responsibility for deeper learning and continuous improvement. Como sugiere Bae (2018), una manera de acortar las distancias entre una visión holística del aprendizaje y la implementación de pólizas de rendición de cuentas es usar medidas múltiples que reflejen las diversas perspectivas del aprendizaje. Estos asuntos deben ser considerados para lograr los resultados deseados de una mayor equidad y transparencia a través de esfuerzos más amplios de rendición de cuentas. En este comentario, abordamos cuestiones de equidad relacionadas con el argumento de Bae y proponemos que tomar medidas con respecto a las inequidades existentes relacionadas al acceso de recursos e incluir voces que tradicionalmente son excluidas, es vital para garantizar que los nuevos sistemas de rendición de cuentas cumplan su objetivo de responsabilidad para un aprendizaje más profundo y para el proceso de mejora continua.Como sugere Bae (2018), uma maneira de reduzir o fosso entre uma visão holística da aprendizagem e a implementação de políticas de responsabilização é usar múltiplas medidas que refletem as diversas perspectivas de aprendizagem. Essas questões devem ser consideradas para alcançar os resultados desejados de maior equidade e transparência através de esforços de responsabilização mais amplos. Neste comentário, abordamos questões de equidade relacionadas ao argumento de Bae e propomos que tomar medidas em relação a desigualdades existentes relacionadas ao acesso a recursos e incluindo vozes tradicionalmente excluídas é vital para garantir que os novos sistemas de responsabilidade cumprir seu objetivo de responsabilidade para uma aprendizagem mais profunda e para o processo de melhoria contínua

Troubling Unintended Harm of Heroic Discourses in Social Justice Leadership

We aim to problematize the ways in which school leaders who seek social justice conflate heroic leadership discourses in their practices. Using qualitative data collected from an urban school principal, this study examines heroic metaphors utilized by the principal when describing social justice leadership and how heroic-centered approaches contradict with achieving social justice goals in school. The findings suggest that the principal’s idea of social justice leadership relies on discourse around “battles to win”, a savior complex, and seeing herself as the central model for driving change. Such heroic discourses reflect the principal’s sole reliance on herself as a savior for her staff and community, which ultimately contradicted the social justice ideals that she sought to accomplish. Our inquiry provides a window to problematize heroic discourse embedded in social justice leadership and address how school leaders must be cognizant to how their practices might conflate with social justice outcomes

Negotiating Incomplete Autonomy: Portraits from Three School Principals

Purpose: This study builds on research scrutinizing school autonomy in policy and school governance by shifting the focus from a formal structural view of autonomy to examining how principals negotiate autonomy in their daily work. Drawing on multiple dimensions of autonomy and street-level bureaucracy, this study examined how principals, as both professionals and bureaucrats, work to expand and strategize their autonomy in practice. Research Methods/Approach: We used portraiture to document and interpret the experience and perspectives of three principals at urban, suburban, and rural PK-12 traditional public schools in the Midwest of US during the 2018–2019 school year. Findings: Principals faced a “bounded” or “partial” autonomy in which they had to constantly negotiate their individual autonomy (e.g., how they spent their time on any given day) with institutional autonomy (e.g., the demands of the role via external expectations). The findings show the ways participants utilized institutional autonomy to support individual autonomy and dealt with the boundaries of their autonomy. While these strategies gave them a bit more “control” over decision-making, they also often resulted in overwork and/or conflict with district priorities. Implications for Research and Practice: Detailed portraits offer key insights for rethinking school autonomy with multiple dimensions intersected in leadership practice. Findings yield knowledge regarding how to best support districts and school leaders in creating greater alignment between institutional and individual demands, thus increasing the likelihood that autonomy, as an improvement strategy, can be effective

Response to “Redesigning Systems of School Accountability”: Addressing Underlying Inequities

As Bae (2018) suggests, one way to fill gaps between a holistic view of student learning and accountability policy implementation is to use multiple measures that reflect diverse perspectives of learning. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a discussion of issues, which need to be considered in order to achieve the desired outcomes of greater equity and transparency through these broader accountability efforts. In this commentary, we address equity issues related to Bae’s argument and propose that taking action regarding existing inequities in terms of access to resources, and including traditionally excluded voices are crucial to ensuring that new accountability systems meet their intended goal of shared responsibility for deeper learning and continuous improvement

Falling into the gap: The coloniality of achievement gap discourses and their responses

This paper critically analyzes gap discourses in student learning, starting from the achievement gap, education debt, and opportunity gaps, applying the lens of coloniality, racial capitalism, and modernity (CRCM). Gap discourses are the prevalent rationale behind educational policies and school reforms globally. Specifically in the United States, achievement gap discourses contribute substantially to the educational framework that minoritized students (students of color) are inherently – intellectually and academically – behind White students. This paper will show the pervasive power of achievement gap discourses and their influence on school policy, practices, and norms. Additionally, we highlight how some of the most formidable achievement gap critiques fail to grasp the power of gap discourses. In some cases, these critiques end up reifying White supremacy ideologies. We propose a decoloniality framework or a layered and multi-disciplinary response to help re-think the entire gap discourses informed by White supremacy

Ambivalence toward bureaucracy: Responses from Korean school principals

Purpose – Given the context of accountability-driven policy environments, research has shown that school leaders perceive bureaucratic rules and protocols in negative ways, but they also utilize organizational structures and routines to lead changes. To better understand both enabling and hindering mechanisms of bureaucracy in schools, this study explores how Korean school principals understand and perceive bureaucratic structures using a lens of ambivalence. The authors draw on Weber’s theory of bureaucracy, with a particular focus on the paradoxical aspect of bureaucracy that might be experienced by individuals within the system. Design/methodology/approach – This study analyzed qualitative data collected from 26 in-depth interviews with 10 Korean school principals between 2013 and 2015. The authors used the multiple cycles of coding to explore patterns and themes that emerged from the participants’ responses. Findings – The analysis of this study showed that the participants’ ambivalent responses toward bureaucracy were particularly salient in three areas where formal organizational structures were changing through policy initiatives: teacher evaluation, electronic approval system and school-based management promoting decentralized decision making. The study participants reflected on how such changes can enable and/or hinder schools to achieve organizational goals and collective values, from the viewpoints of multiple aspects, which led to their ambivalent responses to bureaucratic structures in school settings. Originality/value – This study contributes to the understanding of school organizations by revisiting Weber’s theory of bureaucracy in school settings. Using the lens of ambivalence enabled us to reconcile school principals’ contradictory perceptions toward bureaucracy, which complicates analyses of tensions and paradoxical responses found in leadership practices within school systems

Lógica de prestação de contas (accountability): Padrões transnacionais em controles no nível escolar

This paper explores multiple logics of accountability by examining patterns of control of various school functions under different accountability systems. Research has shown that accountability is a global phenomenon, but how accountability is understood and enacted is locally contextualized, which implies the existence of multiple logics of accountability in practice. By linking theoretical arguments rooted in literature to empirical evidence observed in TALIS 2013, we aim to theorize logics of accountability and then demonstrate the existence of those logics across countries. We first developed a framework of logics of accountability: control-based, professional-based, test-based, and process-based accountability. We then empirically analyzed three types of control—external, internal, and mixed control—at the school level across countries and within four content areas—assessment, human resource, curriculum, and budget—to infer how each country consistently follows a logic of accountability in their schooling practices. We found that a few countries followed a relatively pure form of control-based, professional-based, and process-based logic; however, most countries followed mixed-forms of logic. Our findings provide a systematic approach for the mapping of accountability logics across countries and suggest that more thought should be paid to how the underlying logic of accountability should manifest across these different functions.Este documento explora múltiples lógicas de rendición de cuentas mediante el examen de patrones de control de diversas funciones escolares bajo diferentes sistemas de rendición de cuentas. La investigación ha demostrado que la rendición de cuentas es un fenómeno global, pero la forma en que la rendición de cuentas se entiende y se implementa se contextualiza localmente, lo que implica la existencia de múltiples lógicas de rendición de cuentas en la práctica. Al vincular los argumentos teóricos enraizados en la literatura con la evidencia empírica observada en TALIS 2013, nuestro objetivo es teorizar las lógicas de responsabilidad y luego demostrar la existencia de esas lógicas en todos los países. Primero desarrollamos un marco de lógica de rendición de cuentas: rendición de cuentas basada en control, profesional, basada en pruebas y en procesos. Luego analizamos empíricamente tres tipos de control: control externo, interno y mixto, a nivel escolar en todos los países y dentro de cuatro áreas de contenido: evaluación, recursos humanos, plan de estudios y presupuesto, para inferir cómo cada país sigue consistentemente una lógica de rendición de cuentas en sus prácticas escolares. Descubrimos que algunos países seguían una forma relativamente pura de lógica; sin embargo, la mayoría de los países siguieron formas lógicas mixtas. Nuestros resultados proporcionan un enfoque sistemático para el mapeo de las lógicas de rendición de cuentas en todos los países y sugieren que se debe pensar más en cómo la lógica subyacente de la rendición de cuentas debe manifestarse a través de estas diferentes funciones.Este documento explora várias lógicas de prestação de contas examinando os padrões de controle de várias funções da escola em diferentes sistemas de prestação de contas. A pesquisa mostrou que a prestação de contas é um fenômeno global, mas a maneira pela qual a prestação de contas é entendida e implementada é contextualizada localmente, o que implica a existência de várias lógicas de prestação de contas na prática. Ao vincular os argumentos teóricos enraizados na literatura às evidências empíricas observadas no TALIS 2013, nosso objetivo é teorizar a lógica de prestação de contas e, em seguida, demonstrar a existência dessas lógicas em todos os países. Primeiro, desenvolvemos uma estrutura de lógica de prestação de contas: baseada em controle, profissional, baseada em evidências e baseada em processos. Em seguida, analisamos empiricamente três tipos de controle: controle externo, interno e misto, no nível escolar em todos os países e em quatro áreas de conteúdo: avaliação, recursos humanos, currículo e orçamento, para inferir como cada país segue consistentemente uma lógica prestação de contas em suas práticas escolares. Descobrimos que alguns países seguiam uma forma relativamente pura de lógica; no entanto, a maioria dos países seguiu formas lógicas mistas. Nossos resultados fornecem uma abordagem sistemática ao mapeamento das lógicas de prestação de contas em todos os países e sugerem que se deva pensar mais sobre como a lógica subjacente da prestação de contas deve se manifestar por meio dessas diferentes funções

Leadership Development for School Principals: An Adult Learning Perspective

Although research has increasingly recognized the importance of principal leadership development for school reform, both the content and delivery system continues to be open to debate. In this paper, we review school principal leadership development and provide a conceptual framework for developing school principal leadership based on adult learning theories. We conceptualize school principals as adult educators and adult learners based on key assumptions of adult learning theories. School principals are understood as both adult educators and adult learners in that they need to develop their leadership as well as support teachers’ learning in the context of professional development. Relying on these assumptions, we draw philosophical foundations and directions for principal leadership development programs. We attest that constructivism, humanism, and critical social theory can philosophically support principal leadership development, and that leadership programs need to promote knowledgeable, practice, and reflexive leadership