Abstract
In Chap. 1, I put forward a case for reconceptualising educational leadership through a practice lens. I argued that a practice approach matters, ontologically, analytically and as a tool for transformation of theory and practice in relation to educational leadership scholarship as a field. I noted a key distinction between educational leading as a form of pedagogical practice/praxis and the misrecognition of educational leadership as synonymous with positional authority in formal educational sites. But what do I mean by the concepts of practice and praxis? Why do they matter for research in educational leadership and claims for transformation of educational practice? In this Chap. 1 examine why a re-turn to practice and the re-claiming of notions of praxis matters for the field. I contend that these concepts provide important theoretical and practical resources by which to re-imagine educational leading as part of a constellation of educative practices that has the potential to reinvigorate the lifeworld of educating. This is a particularly crucial and timely endeavour, given the current drive for standardisation, normalisation and ‘what works’ that has so flattened educating as a field and which grows ever more relentless.
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Notes
- 1.
A similar point can be made in terms of studies of organisational learning as phenomena. Theories of organisational learning as “social and cultural phenomenon” arose in the 1990s as part of a critical response to notions of organisational learning as either an individual cognitive process (e.g., Argyris & Schön, 1978); or an entity view, where “organisations are conceived as entities that do the learning themselves … (e.g., Weick, 1991)” (Buch, 2020, p. 71).
- 2.
See Chap. 4 for a detailed discussion of feminist critical scholarship.
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Wilkinson, J. (2021). Re-conceptualising Practice and Praxis in Educational Leadership. In: Educational Leadership through a Practice Lens . Educational Leadership Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7629-1_2
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