Concepts and Theories of Education Administration

EDU8311 Concepts and theories in educational management
Faculty of Education

Study book

Published by University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba Queensland 4350 Australia http://www.usq.edu.au © University of Southern Queensland, 2012.1.

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Table of contents
Page
Course overview
Concepts and theories in educational management

1
1

Module 1 – The development of thought in educational administration
Overview
Acknowledgement

3
3
4

Objectives Introduction Learning resources
Textbooks Selected readings

4 4 5
5 5

1.1 Making sense of educational administration through theory
1.1.1 The nature and functions of theory 1.1.2 Theories as ways of seeing 1.1.3 Conceptual pluralism 1.1.4 Complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty in the administrator’s world 1.1.5 The theory-practice relationship

6
6 8 13 14 15

1.2 Theory about theory
1.2.1 The development of scientific knowledge – Kuhn and Hanson 1.2.2 Paradigmatic assumptions in organisational science

17
18 19

1.3 Historical overview of developments in educational administration
1.3.1 An overview of developments to the mid ’eighties 1.3.2 The challenge to mainstream theory 1.3.3 Where you are now and where you are going

20
20 24 26

References Further references

26 27

Module 2 – The functionalist paradigm
Overview
Acknowledgement

29
29
30

Objectives Introduction Learning resources
Textbooks Selected readings

30 30 31
31 31

2.1 An introduction to the functionalist paradigm
2.1.1 A framework for

References: Baudrillard, J. (1983). In the shadow of the silent majorities. NY: Semiotext(e). Bell, D. (1976). The cultural contradictions of capitalism. NY: Basic Books. Clegg, S. (1990). Modern organisations. London: Sage. Cooper, R. & Burrell, G. (1988). Modernism, postmodernism and organizational analysis: An introduction. Organization Studies, 9(1), 91–112. Drucker, P. (1994). The knowledge society. Atlantic Monthly, 274, 53–80. Edgar, D. et al. (1993). Introduction to Australian society (2nd ed.). NY: Prentice Hall. Hassard, J. & Parker, M. (1994). Postmodernism and organizations. London: Sage. Lyotard, J.F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Mills, C.W. (1959). The sociological imagination. NY: Oxford University Press. Milner, A. (1991). Contemporary cultural theory: An introduction. North Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Parker, M. (1992). Post-modern organizations or postmodern organization theory? Organization Studies, 13(1) 1–17. Preston, N. & Symes, C. (1992). Schools and classrooms: A cultural studies analysis of education. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. Toffler, A. (1990). Power shift: knowledge, wealth, and violence at the edge of the 21st century. NY: Bantam Books. Touraine, A. (1971). The post-industrial society. NY: Random House. Touraine, A. (1984). The waning sociological image of social life. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 25, 33–44. © University of Southern Queensland