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Productive Thinking

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Part of the book series: Educational Leadership Theory ((ELT))

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Abstract

The fifth relational extension is: “[building from the first four extensions] there is a productive—rather than merely critical—space to theorize organizing activity.” This does not imply that the relational research program advances without critiquing. Through the engagement with the underlying generative principles of scholarship, as outlined in the previous four chapters, the program is concerned with advancing knowledge claims in relation to alternate positions. In this chapter, I argue that parallel monologues—a failure to engage with alternate positions—are a major issue in educational administration scholarship. My argument concerns the ontological insecurity of educational administration (particularly “leadership”), and I offer the relational program as a basis for a social epistemology for educational administration, one that offers a productive space to theorize.

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    Scott Eacott

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Eacott, S. (2018). Productive Thinking. In: Beyond Leadership. Educational Leadership Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6568-2_8

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