Introduction
The generation and classification of data about society and social groups was pivotal in the establishment of public administration. Analysis of such data predates the establishment of any academic departments and was arguably central to early Western philosophy. It is the analysis of the social world that is the focus of sociology. As a branch of social thought and analysis, sociology at its broadest is concerned with the study of human behavior and its origins, development, organization, and institutions. Significantly, sociology is not confined to any one particular set of theoretical resources or approach to data generation (e.g., qualitative or quantitative). It is a broad multi-paradigmatic discipline concerned with social behavior.
While it is difficult to pinpoint the moment of origin for sociology as an academic discipline, three scholars considered to be the founding architects of contemporary sociology are Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. Durkheim held...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Baron, G., & Taylor, W. (Eds.). (1969). Educational administration and the social sciences. London: Athlone.
Bates, R. J. (1980). Educational administration, the sociology of science, and the management of knowledge. Educational Administration Quarterly, 16(2), 1–20.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1970[1990]). Reproduction in education, society and culture (trans: Nice, R.). London: SAGE. [Originally published as La reproduction. Paris: Les Editions de Minuit.]
Clark, B. R. (1965). The sociology of educational administration. In W. W. Charters, B. R. Clark, J. A. Culbertson, D. E. Griffiths, W. Z. Hirsch, D. Lee, & N. A. Masters (Eds.), Perspectives on educational administration and the behavioral sciences (pp. 51–69). Eugene: The Center for the Advanced Study of Educational Administration.
Eacott, S. (2015). Educational leadership relationally: A theory and methodology for educational administration. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Getzels, J. W. (1952). A psycho-sociological framework for the study of educational administration. Harvard Educational Review, 22(3), 235–246.
Gunter, H. (2010). A sociological approach to educational leadership. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31(4), 519–527.
Gunter, H. (2016). An intellectual history of school leadership practice and research. London: Bloomsbury.
Slater, R. O. (1995). The sociology of leadership and educational administration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 31(3), 449–472.
Tipton, B. (1977). The tense relationship of sociology and educational administration. Educational Administration, 5(2), 46–57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this entry
Cite this entry
Eacott, S. (2016). Sociological Approaches to Educational Administration. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_285-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_285-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-532-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education