Building a field: the role of the Journal of Educational Administration

Citation

Young, M.D. (2012), "Building a field: the role of the Journal of Educational Administration", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 50 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea.2012.07450aaa.003

Building a field: the role of the Journal of Educational Administration

Article Type: Building a field: the role of the Journal of Educational Administration From: Journal of Educational Administration, Volume 50, Issue 1

Scholarly journals have existed in one form or another for over 340 years (Solomon, 2007), playing important roles in scholarly communities. Given the short history of scientific inquiry in the field of educational leadership and administration, the celebration of the Journal of Educational Administration’s (JEA) first 50 years is quite significant. Of more importance, though, is what, in those 50 years, the journal offered its developing scholarly community and the knowledge base in the field on educational leadership and administration.

Looking back

Looking back 50 years, brings our focus to an incredibly generative time in the field of educational leadership and administration. University faculty, governmental departments of education and charitable foundations began to show real interest in the development and practice of those led and managed schools and school systems (Culbertson, 1995). Professional associations for educational administrators expanded their memberships and new organizations like UCEA and CCEAM were formed. Furthermore, academicians had begun to focus more keenly on educational leadership and administration as an area of specialization.

During a fall, 1962, board meeting Jack Culbertson, Daniel Griffiths and Roald Campbell presented a recommendation to the UCEA Board of Trustees to develop a journal that would provide a forum for research reports and articles. The board was sceptical that there was enough fresh content to justify a new journal giving existing journals in the broader field of education. After a year and several months of debate and planning the UCEA board finally approved a plan for a new journal and a recommendation that Roald Campbell would be appointed as the first editor. It took even longer to decide upon a name. The board initially preferred the name “Journal of Educational Administration;” however, “a year earlier the enterprising William Walker had chosen that title for a new journal published at the University of New England in Australia” (Culbertson, 1995, p. 99). In the end the UCEA board chose the name, Educational Administration Quarterly, and since that time the Journal of Educational Administration (JEA) and the Educational Administration Quarterly (EAQ) have published and fostered some of the most significant research in our field.

The early days of any journal are often plagued with a short supply of articles, limited revenues from subscriptions, and escalating publishing costs yet the visionaries behind them understand the benefits, which extend beyond the distribution of specific research findings to the sharing of novel ideas, validating research, the development of a knowledgebase, the facilitation of further research in the field and building a scholarly community.

Building communities of scholarship

Journals, like JEA, play an important role in fostering communities of scholarship. According to Schafner (1994), the hallmark of a discipline’s coming of age is typically the establishment of a new journal. Thus, the development of the Journal of Educational Administration (JEA) was a sign and symptom of the fact that educational leadership and administration had staked out new intellectual territory of the field of education. It offered a venue through which scholars could communicate their research questions, findings, and theories with others who specialized in educational leadership and management. It offered a venue through which intellectual conversations and debate could be sparked and fed.

As an international journal, JEA’s influence was even more important in this regard. JEA published articles that shared ideas on the nature and conduct of inquiry in educational leadership and administration in a variety of contexts, it published works that examined the purpose, structure, content and methods of leadership preparation and development programs; and it published pieces that examined leadership in context as well as comparatively across cultural and national contexts. Doing so, helped spread ideas and collaborations, raise concerns and critiques, and build relationships that supported a stronger academic presence in the field.

The role of journals, like JEA, in fostering communication among scholars in educational administration and leadership was especially important during the field’s early years. Today, though there are far more efficient means of communication, they still play an important role in communicating research results among scholars. Research on informal communication among researchers suggests that a significant portion of scientific conversations among scholars continue to focus on the content of journal articles (Schafner, 1994). While blogs, listservs, and other forms of threaded discussions are likely to take an increasingly important role in fostering communication among scholars, journals clearly appear to be retaining a significant role in fostering scholarly communication (Solomon, 2007).

Building a knowledge base

Probably the most important role that academic journals play in any given field is the development of a base of knowledge. As Solomon (2007) notes journals provide “the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and authoritative archive of information in a given scholarly field.”

The field is dependent upon journals like JEA to ensure high quality peer review and the publication of reliable and valid research. Thomas (2012) notes how JEA adopted a triple-blind review process in the 1980s with an international panel of reviewers. Though there are significant critiques of the peer review process (Kumashiro, 2005), putting such structures in place has been an essential step in growing a robust and rigorous knowledge base in educational leadership and administration.

In addition to playing a role in upholding rigorous research standards leading journals, like JEA, also determine what is published and hence disseminated, playing a legitimizing role in the field. Thomas (2012) provides a very informative history of the research published in the journal as well as the major themes over time. Thomas named the following ten themes as most common (p. 17):

1. 1.

   principals;

2. 2.

   public schools;

3. 3.

   comparative/international practices;

4. 4.

   teachers;

5. 5.

   higher education;

6. 6.

   values/ethics;

7. 7.

   organizational theory;

8. 8.

   stress/anxiety;

9. 9.

   gender/woman in educational administration; and

10. 10.

    reform/restructure/change and students.

He also describes gradual shifts in the use of research methods, from single- to co-authored pieces, the growth of female authors and editorial board members. One thing he failed to emphasize was the role of JEA (not to mention his own role as an editor) in the publication of ideas and research which some in the field found to be challenging. Work with regard to the latter role has ushered significant diversity of thought into the scholarship of the field.

Looking forward

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it (Edith Wharton, 1902).

Journals like JEA have a multiplier effect for the field. The journal has consistently worked with some of the field’s most outstanding scholars and leaders, enhancing its contributions. Given the incredible challenges facing many leaders today, access to innovative ideas and intellect will be increasingly critical. As we look forward to the next 50 years, we can be assured that there will be no scarcity of issues to research or manuscripts to review. JEA and its peer journals must continue to play an important role in supporting, urging and leading the field of educational leadership and administration through the scholarship they choose to publish.

Michelle D. YoungUniversity Council for Educational Administration, University of Virginia