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Moving School Leadership Beyond its Narrow Boundaries: Developing a Cross-cultural Approach

  • Chapter
Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE,volume 8))

Abstract

Although scholars of educational administration and leadership persistently recognize the place and influence of organizational culture and its relationship with leadership and school life, the field lags behind other disciplines in understanding the influence of societal culture on leadership and organizational behavior. The field is also constrained by an over reliance on theories and practices predominantly developed by a relatively culturally homogeneous cadre of scholars from English-speaking backgrounds. Our salient argument in this chapter is that societal culture is a significant influence on school organization and leadership in different societies because it helps shape school leader’s thoughts about concepts such as leadership, followership, communication and learning and teaching. We suggest that the field of educational administration and leadership should look to societal culture for at least partial explanations of school leaders’ behaviors and actions. We further submit that cross-cultural understanding may be usefully pursued through a comparative approach — one that allows administrative and leadership practices in different societies and cultures to be seen in relation to each other.

The authors wish to acknowledge the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong for its support through an Earmarked Grant (CUHK 4327/98H).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Management Development Unit, Leicester University, UK

    Clive Dimmock

  2. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Allan Walker

Authors
  1. Allan Walker
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  2. Clive Dimmock
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada

    Kenneth Leithwood

  2. College of Management, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Philip Hallinger

  3. Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA

    Gail C. Furman

  4. Institute of Education, University of London, UK

    Kathryn Riley

  5. Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK

    John MacBeath

  6. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Peter Gronn

  7. University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia

    Bill Mulford

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Walker, A., Dimmock, C. (2002). Moving School Leadership Beyond its Narrow Boundaries: Developing a Cross-cultural Approach. In: Leithwood, K., et al. Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0375-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0375-9_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3920-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0375-9

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