(Re)imagining method in educational leadership and management research
Date
2007
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Education Association of South Africa
Abstract
Over the past thirty years we have witnessed a proliferation of educational
methods/methodologies aimed at helping us to make sense of the world — to provide clarity about the meaning of social reality. However, although these methods/methodologies are useful frameworks, they do not capture fully the untidy realities of the real world. The discipline of Educational Leadership and
Management is embedded in a broader social world and therefore resonates with in fields of complexity, fluidity, heterogeneity, multiplicity, unpredictability, messiness, and so on. I suggest that conventional methods do not adequately capture social/educational reality fully, and argue that research should be less concerned about seeking clarity, but should rather — in Law’s terms — be concerned with seeking a “[d ]isciplined lack of clarity ”. Put simply, methods cannot give coherence to a world that is itself incoherent. The argument presented has applicability to social science research generally, but also to the field of Educational Leadership and Management more specifically.
Description
CITATION: Le Grange, L. 2007. (Re)imagining method in educational leadership and management research. South African Journal of Education, 27(3):421-429.
The original publication is available at http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/
The original publication is available at http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/
Keywords
Educational leadership -- Research, School management and organization -- Research
Citation
Le Grange, L. 2007. (Re)imagining method in educational leadership and management research. South African Journal of Education, 27(3):421-429