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This paper is a response to Riffel's “The Theory Problem in Educational Administration” published in the October 1978 issue of the Journal. The article seeks to establish that perhaps we really do not have to make “illumined choices” as Riffel insists, because neither the phenomenological style of inquiry nor theory generation nor hermeneutic and critical science exists well without the others. To pose their contradiction stylistically should not be construed as an imperative to choose among them, but rather to recognize and strengthen their dialectic.

The study of educational administration is narrowly conceived and becoming moribund. It has come to his condition because of an overreliance on, and an uncritical acceptance of, structural‐functionalism as its world view and value freedom, objectivity and nomothetic analysis as the guiding principles of its inquiries. The recent phenomenological critique has focussed attention on these matters and has stimulated some debate. This debate is much needed and to be welcomed, for it opens new avenues for pursuing the study of educational administration, avenues which may prove to be more productive than those travelled during the last twenty five years.

Based on journal articles that focused on epistemological issues in the field (e.g. the field's nature, purposes, borders, knowledge base, uniqueness, etc.), this paper seeks to outline the intellectual discussions in the field of educational administration (EA) since the foundation of its major journals and suggest some lessons for the state of the field at the present time.

The review is based on all papers, scholarly, historical or empirical, that observed philosophical, epistemological and methodological issues and concerns in this field. The papers were analyzed and coded by their purposes, arguments, epistemological questions, criticism, findings and insights.

The major concluding epistemological message of this historical account is of “recycling,” i.e. the field is typically embedded with debates over similar ideas, assumptions, and insights about EA as a field of study throughout the last five decades. Therefore, it is a time for radical changes in the understanding of the field's intellectual missions and boundaries.

The historical overview is likely both to acquaint one with the historical scholarly streams, trends and debates in knowledge development of EA as a field of study, and help international field members understand and mould their professional identity.

Using a recently developed instrument, the environmental characteristics and constraints of Canadian public schools and those of Swaziland were captured in respective profiles for detailed comparison. Problems unique to the school in each cultural setting were identified and the adaptation processes each system had undergone were explored.

The analysis of periodicals can provide important insights into the changing nature and dynamics of academic disciplines and fields of study. The Journal of Educational Administration (JEA) has for the past 25 years grown up alongside the field which it seeks both to represent and develop, and it is thus of considerable interest to look at the contents of the JEA in light of this role. A study was made of all the articles published in the JEA during the period 1963‐87 with a view to establishing authorship patterns; the types of papers which have been published; the common themes and the range of topics addressed; the nature of empirical research; and changes in both substantive and methodological orientations over the past 25 years. The analysis and discussion looked at the JEA as offering a window into the “world” of educational administration, but noted that a journal can only ever mirror that which is held up to it and ultimately to its readership.

Explores the relationship between schools and school systems on the one hand, and, on the other, the world or environment in which they are located. The typical presentation in the literature stresses the requirement for organizations to adapt to external pressures, and the key role of managers in that process. However, theoretical and empirical work casts doubt on both these assumptions. Raises questions as to what is meant by the environment of an organization, about how organizations come to pay attention to some external pressures rather than others, about the kinds of responses organizations make, and about the role administrators play in the process. Concludes with suggestions for further research in the area.

Conducting effective program evaluations such that all stakeholders benefit can be challenging. Appreciative inquiry provides a framework for seeking out the “goodness” of a program. By identifying what is being done “right,” programs can be strengthened by keeping what is currently valued, discarding what is not valued, and creating what does not currently exist but is envisioned and desired by all stakeholders. This chapter explores the benefits of using an appreciative approach to program evaluation. It describes the process used to appraise the Technology for Education and Training graduate programs.

In the constant crisis of educational administration, teacher leaders may no longer be ignored as qualified individuals to help lead schools. Who better to teach leaders to lead teachers than teachers? In this chapter, I use an Assumptive Worlds framework to analyze the micropolitics of 12 secondary mathematics teacher leaders. The qualitative data comes from a larger study that explored secondary mathematics teacher definitions, perceptions, and enactments of teacher leadership. As viewed through the Assumptive Worlds framework, teacher leaders can help bridge the divide between teachers and administrators so schools work better for kids.

This paper describes the evolution of educational administration training for secondary school principals and teachers in New Zealand's Central Region, following a national pattern of short withdrawal courses to train trainers who would themselves be expected to train others. Problems associated with this approach are examined, especially massive client resistance to theoretical approaches. The value of theory in such courses is seen in its encouragement of role conceptualization, and acceptable teaching material is designed to achieve this end without theoretical exposition, through the development of techniques seen as answers to specific school‐based problems, but implying the development of skills and concepts on a broader base. The management of time is seen as the critical entry point. In this way resource groups of teachers are trained to continue the autonomous development of administrative training in their own in‐service areas.

This essay considers educational administration in developmental terms and incorporates concern for culture and political ethics. It argues the need for theory of a different kind: partly empirical and partly moral; partly sympathetic and partly critical; and always concerned with the accomplishment, through deliberation, practice and the just use of power, of the best traditions of the culture in which it is located.