Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical reflection on ideas that have been published in the "Journal of Educational Administration" over the last 50 years that present perspectives on the nature of educational administration and its various aspects, that are alternatives to the mainstream systems-scientific view of…

This paper addresses theories of the avant-garde, especially but not exclusively in art and as part of a modernist aesthetic. The paper examines the ways in which avant-garde theory of the creative process can inform educational administration in the change process, as both a critique and an ideal. The argument adopted here is that if…

A century ago Edmond Holmes, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Elementary Schools from 1905 to 1910, made a major contribution to educational debate through his widely quoted and much disputed "What Is and What Might Be" (Holmes, 1911). In a previous article (Richards, 2010) his criticisms of what was then contemporary policy and practice…

In 1898, students at the University of Toronto founded "Torontonensis", the university's first yearbook. Fashioned as a remembrance of university, from its inception the yearbook was fraught with conflict and contestation particularly around how male students were represented and how their college experiences were made, and not made,…

Experiential learning has explicitly, since the publication of the Kolb "treatise" been a cornerstone of youth work practice in the UK. It is the contention of this paper that there is a significant misinterpretation of Kolb's theory by those who have applied his theory to youth work. Not least that experience is framed as:…

William Hazlitt (1778-1830), one of the most important critics of the English Romantic Period, held and published highly developed views about the nature of the creative imagination, the function of criticism and what it means to be truly learned. Although he never advanced an explicit theory of education, least of all one about the purposes of…

Describes the "Enlightenment program" (often equated with modernity) and postmodernist criticisms of Enlightenment thought. Discusses the notions of Europe and Europeans as reflecting social inclusion/exclusion as much as geography. Examines the relevance of postmodernist theories to school and university knowledge systems, highlighting…