Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Landscape of scholarship on principal training in China from 1989 to 2008

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Frontiers of Education in China

Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed the great developments in principal training in China. Research on principal training in China is increasing in quantity and quality with its expanding practice. The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the changing landscape of scholarship on principal training in China by examining the quantity of publications, themes covered, methodological approaches and the status of articles published from 1989 to 2008, as listed in the Chinese Database of Journals. This is the first serious academic effort to review and reflect on the Chinese scholarship of principal training and school leadership development. In conclusion, suggestions are outlined for future development of this academic field in China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beck, L. G., & Murphy, J. (1992). Searching for a robust understanding of the principalship. Educational Administration Quarterly, 28(3), 387–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolam, R. (1999). Educational administration, leadership and management: Towards a research agenda. In T. Bush, L. Bell, R. Bolam, R. Glatter, & P. Ribbins (Eds.), Educational management: Redefining theory, policy and practice (pp. 193–205). London, England: Paul Chapman Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush, T. (1999). Crisis or crossroads? The discipline of educational management in the late 1990s. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 27(3), 239–252. doi:10.1177/0263211X990273002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, T. (2008). Developing educational leaders: Don’t leave it to chance. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 36(3), 307–309. doi:10.1177/1741143208090591

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S. Y. (2009). In pursuit of effective leader development for social justice in China. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 4(1), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culbertson, J. A. (1988). A century’s quest for a knowledge base. In N. J. Boyan (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational administration (pp. 3–26). New York, NY: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darling-Hammond, L., Meyerson, D., LaPointe, M., & Orr, M. T. (2010). Preparing principals for a changing world: Lessons from effective school leadership programs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donmoyer, R. (1999). The continuing quest for a knowledge base: 1976–1998. In J. Murphy & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational administration (2nd ed.). (pp. 25–43). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • English, F. W. (2001). What paradigm shift? An interrogation of Kuhn’s idea of normalcy in the research practice of educational administration. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory & Practice, 4(1), 29–38. doi:10.1080/13603120117485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evers, C. W., & Lakomski, G. (1991). Knowing educational administration: Contemporary methodological controversies in educational administration. Oxford, England: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feng, D. M. (2003). Principal training and development in the People’s Republic of China: Retrospect and prospect. In P. Hallinger (Ed.), Reshaping the landscape of school leadership development: A global perspective (pp. 206–316). Lisse, the Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foskett, N. H., Lumby, J., & Fidler, B. (2005). Evolution or extinction? Reflections on the future of research in educational leadership and management. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 33(2), 245–253. doi:10.1177/1741143205051056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glatter, R. (1999). From struggling to juggling: Towards a redefinition of the field of educational leadership and management. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 27(3), 253–266. doi:10.1177/0263211X990273003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunter, H., & Ribbins, P. (2003). The field of educational leadership: Studying maps and mapping studies. British Journal of Educational Studies, 51(3), 254–281. doi:10.1111/1467-8527.t01-1-00238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (1996). Reasessing the principal’s role in school effectiveness: A review of empirical research, 1980–1995. Educational Administration Quarterly, 32(1), 5–44. doi:10.1177/0013161X96032001002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heck, R. H., & Hallinger, P. (2005). The study of educational leadership and management: Where does the field stand today? Education Management Administration & Leadership, 33(2), 229–244. doi:10.1177/1741143205051055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kottkamp, R. B., & Rusch, E. A. (2009). The landscape of scholarship on the education of school leaders, 1985–2006. In M. D. Young, G. M. Crow, J. Murphy, & R. T. Ogawa (Eds.), Handbook of research on the education of school leaders (pp. 23–85). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leithwood, K. (1994). Transformational leadership and teachers’ commitment to change. In J. Murphy & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Reshaping the principalship: Insights from transformational reform efforts (pp. 77–98). Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, W. C., & Feng, D. M. (2001). Principal training in China: Models, problems, and prospects. International Studies in Educational Administration, 29(2), 13–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lo, L. N. K., Chen, S. Y., & Zheng, Y. L. (2010). 中国校长培训政策的延续与变革(1989–2009) [Continuities and changes in principal training policies in China from 1989 to 2009]. 清华大学教育研究 [Tsinghua Journal of Education], 31(5), 95–101, 117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumby, J., Crow, G., & Pashiardis, P. (Eds.). (2008). International handbook on the preparation and development of school leaders. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, M. M. (1999). The evolution of educational leadership preparation programs. In J. Murphy & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational administration (2nd ed.). (pp. 119–139). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. (2010). Number of schools of all level & type. Retrieved April 1, 2011, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/s4969/201012/113478.html

  • Murphy, J. (1992). The Landscape of leadership preparation: Reframing the education of school administrators. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., & Beck, L. G. (1994). Reconstructing the principalship: Challenges and possibilities. In J. Murphy & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Reshaping the principalship: Insights from transformational reform efforts (pp. 3–19). Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., & Vriesenga, M. (2004). Research on preparation programs in educational administration: An analysis. Columbia, MO: University Council for Educational Administration.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., & Vriesenga, M. (2006). Research on school leadership preparation in the United States: An analysis. Education Management Administration & Leadership, 26(2), 183–195. doi:10.1080/13634230600589758

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogawa, R. T., Goldring, E. B., & Conley, S. (2000). Organizing the field to improve research on educational administration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 36(3), 340–357. doi:10.1177/00131610021969029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oplatka, I. (2009). The field of educational administration: A historical overview of scholarly attempts to recognize epistemological identities, meanings and boundaries from the 1960s onwards. Journal of Educational Administration, 47(1), 8–35. doi:10.1108/09578230910928061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, H. Y. (2009). School principals in Mainland China: Core leadership practices (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi, Z. Y. (2004). 本质主义, 反本质主义与中国教育学研究 [Essentialism, anti-essentialism and pedagogic study in China]. 教育研究 [Educational Research], 25(1), 11–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, A., Chen, S. Y., & Qian, H. Y. (2008). Leader development across three Chinese societies. In J. Lumby, G. Crow, & P. Pashiardis (Eds.), International handbook on the preparation and development of school leaders (pp. 410–434). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, T. (2004). “Understanding Chinese educational leaders” conceptions of learning and leadership in an international education context (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willower, D. J., & Forsyth, P. B. (1999). A brief history of scholarship on education administration. In J. Murphy & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational administration (2nd ed.). (pp. 1–24). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, R. (2005). Internationalisation, indigenisation and educational research in China. Australian Journal of Education, 49(1), 66–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, R. (2005, April–May). Education policy research in the People’s Republic of China. Paper presented at the The Australian Association for Research in Education Cairns Focus Conference, Cairns, Australia.

  • Young, M. D., Crow, G. M., Murphy, J., & Ogawa, R. T. (Eds.). (2009). Handbook of research on the education of school leaders. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Administration and Policy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Shuangye Chen, Yulian Zheng & Leslie N. K. Lo

Authors
  1. Shuangye Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yulian Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Leslie N. K. Lo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shuangye Chen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, S., Zheng, Y. & Lo, L.N.K. Landscape of scholarship on principal training in China from 1989 to 2008. Front. Educ. China 6, 342–360 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11516-011-0136-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11516-011-0136-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation