Caring as Career: An Alternative Perspective for Educational Administration

Abstract

The primary purpose of this article is to describe how school administrators operating from an ethic of care conduct their daily practice and how that practice differs from administrators operating solely from traditional leadership models. Via a secondary analysis of data that were gathered in our previous work with career assistant principals, we show how the practices of these assistant principals do not fit traditional administrative theories. Instead, the ethic of care was evident. Because it is difficult to separate administrative practice from organizational structure and professional norms, a secondary purpose of this article is to identify how the demands of both the organization and the profession interfere with enactment of caring.

Necessary but Not Sufficient: The Continuing Inequality between Men and Women in Educational Leadership, Findings from the American Association of School Administrators Mid-Decade Survey

“…They are interested in moving the best idea forward, not necessarily their personal idea forward (Hill and Ragland, 1995;Regan and Brooks, 1995;Grogan, 1996;Gupton and Slick, 1996;Marshall et al, 1996;Brunner, 1997;Grogan and Smith, 1998). Because of their interest in building capacity through relationships and teamwork, women leaders often regularly solicit input from parents and community members.…”

An Empirical Study of the Career Paths of Senior Educational Administrators in Manitoba, Canada: Implications for career development

“…Others contend that context plays an important role in who is hired in administrative positions, as women have been documented to have gained strides in obtaining administrative positions in very small school divisions (Gupton & Slick, 1996;Wallin, 2005a;2005b), remote school divisions (Kachur-Reico, 2010), and inner-city urban divisions (Mertz, 2003;Murtadha-Watts, 2000). As well, while some researchers argue that there are significant differences in the ways in which men and women lead that may impact on the perceptions of their effectiveness (Bjork, 2000;Brunner, 2000a;Chase, 1995;Gilligan, 1982;Marshall, Patterson, Rogers & Steele, 1996;Pounder, 1990, Shakeshaft, 1989, 1999, others have argued that leadership style has little to do with gender and/or more to do with accommodations to socially constructed leadership norms (Astin & Leland, 1991;Eagly & Johnson, 1990;Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001, Eagly, Karau & Johnston, 1992 Added to this is the common understanding that the nature of the position of superintendent has changed dramatically in the past decade (Grogan, 2000), which has implications for both men and women in the position. Unfortunately, there are few Canadian studies that examine the roles of senior administrators (Wallin & Crippen, 2009;Kachur-Reico, 2010), and even fewer comparative studies to help determine whether findings are shaped by sex, context, or role requirements.…”

Teachers’ perceptions of tolerance in teacher–administrator relationships in Turkey

“…… Teachers were often unprepared to deal with differences of opinion'. Marshall et al (1996) argued that while accepting candor can be difficult and conflict leads to painful experiences, providing teachers with the skills to negotiate and reach an agreement is even more difficult. In practice, caring about ethics relates to taking responsibility and is not based on rules and rights.…”