The recognition of the importance of quality programmes and services for very young children is evident in the political agendas of many countries around the world. This focus has been accompanied by increasing recognition that effective leadership in early childhood programmes makes a positive difference to the outcomes for children, families and…

This paper presents a case for the importance of an application of Jean-Francois Lyotard's ideas to the analysis of educational leadership. Through exploring Lyotard's concepts of "language games", the "differend" and "performativity", this paper argues that the approach taken through the development of leadership…

During the first decade of the twenty-first century, neopositivist claims made about the nature and validity of knowledge in the debates about scientifically based research were countered by educators who, decades earlier, had made various turns away from positivism and were surprised by its resurgence. In those debates, positivists often used…

This article follows the lead of several researchers who claim there is an urgent need to utilize insights from the arts, aesthetics and the humanities to expand our understanding of leadership. It endeavours to do this by exploring the metaphor of dance. It begins by critiquing current policy metaphors used in the leadership literature that…

I deconstruct the myth of development that presupposes a chronology from immaturity to maturity. More generally, I suggest this imagined march of progress serves as a foundational wish for any education that is at once defined as the movement from ignorance to knowledge and serves to defend against the problem of regression, hatred, and not…

Scrutinizes the use of biographical narrative as a device for constructing leadership models for schools. The historic figure of Che Guevara (as reconstructed in Peter McLaren's article) is not appropriate as a model for contemporary school leadership, due to outdated ideologies. More wide-ranging aesthetic criticism should undergird school…

Criticizes Maxcy's failure to understand Ernesto "Che" Guevara's reconstruction as an exemplary postmodern educational leader. The author presented a leadership model providing dialectical critique and an attentiveness to political economy. Postmodernism overlooks the significance of Guevara's efforts to resist global capitalist…

Questions using the "high theory" of postmodern thought to construct a complete, lucid theory of educational administration. Problems with postmodernism's concept of power and its rejection of the expert role make the theory a doubtful candidate for a protagonist administrator role. Pragmatism and local theory are more reliable…

Surveys critically the cultural and educational context of the period 1960-2020 and analyzes the implications for educational leadership. Sources range from early contributions of Donald Willower to the latest prognostications of experts in Cambridge and the USA. Draws both general and special conclusions and introduces a new test, the A3M3.…

Discuses five premises for a qualified theory of democratic leadership. Discusses the essential characteristics of American pragmatism, especially that of John Dewey. Describes concept of constructivism and results of constructivist research. Lists givens of postmodern theory of democratic leadership. Posits a reconstructed theory of democratic…

Discusses connections between the ambiguous status of Mexican immigrants, Mestizas, and others inhabiting border areas described in Marleen Pugach's "On the Border of Opportunity" (1998) and in Gloria Anzaldua's "Borderlands: La Frontera, the New Mestiza" (1987) and postmodernist identity-formation opportunities in Zohar and…

Examines significant influences that shape the identities of primary-school principals in Ireland to gain insight into the process of identity construction and its relationship to the educational change process. Includes theoretical perspectives, policy context, methodological considerations, and ethos and identity. Concludes that principal…

Since vision, imagination, and a passion for justice are in short supply, educators must transcend traditional technical/rational approaches and create space for artists' prophetic voices to emerge. Empowering the voices of imagination through the arts will help renew the metaphysical dimension of educators' work. (27 references) (MLH)

Explores possibilities for critical, resistance-based approaches to school leadership. Compares Marx's, Habermas's, Baudrillard's, and Foucault's views of human regulation, along with other individual/group theories. Assesses theories' utility for critical leadership in education. Individuals can resist oppressive school practices by pursuing…