Values in educational administration: Them's fighting words!

Abstract

This article critically surveys scholarly themes relating to the study of values in educational administration and their implications for administrative practice. It is suggested that values perspectives for school leaders emerged largely in response to the determinism of the Theory Movement, particularly the emphases on individuals as the primary analytic unit for values inquiry and the general biases toward one form or another of value relativism. Much of the discussion focuses on the highly influential work of Christopher Hodgkinson and possible conceptual and practical difficulties that may arise in adopting his well-known analytic model of the value concept. The article concludes by promoting a more modernized understanding of the role of values in administrative inquiry and practice, and offers suggestions which may direct future research efforts to better address substantive conceptual problems presently found in the related literature.

School autonomy in practice

“…Apparently, any overt distinction between these notions was considered either non-existent or irrelevant by the interviewed school leaders. This finding confirms earlier findings from, among others, , Richmon (2004), and Parkes and Ross Thomas (2006). For this reason, all utterances regarding these notions are presented under the term (personal) beliefs.…”

Ethical School Leadership

“…Gross and Shapiro (2004) A. Walker (2003) Langlois (2004 Coombs (2004) Sergiovanni (1992) Begley (1996) Roche (1999) Barth (1990) Richmon (2004 Richmon (2004) Meso-ethical Beck (1999) Leonard ( Griggs (2004) Nash (1996 Grogan andSmith (1999) Noddings (1984) Stefkovich and Shapiro Beckner (2004) …”

A general model of organizational values in educational administration

“…Participants in this discussion generally claim one of two stances: (a) that values are subjective and facts are objective, rendering them categorically different and incommensurable (Begley, 1999; Greenfield, 1993; Hodgkinson, 1978); or (b) that values are facts, and can be objectively assessed despite being subjectively experienced (Beck, 1993; Lakomski and Evers, 1999). Discussion has also focused on determining how to best adjudicate the rightness of particular values rather than on discovering what values , as an independent principle, actually is and/or means; some scholars have argued that the treatment of values in educational administration has consequently been trivial in nature (Richmon, 2004). Further, a pronounced disconnect between values scholarship and everyday administrative practice has been noted in educational administration, with stakeholders on both sides of the theory/practice divide expressing interest in achieving better clarity about the role of values in educational leadership and administration (Begley, 1999; Richmon, 2003).…”

“…In educational administration, and on a broader cross-sector scale, the importance of articulating organizational values is widely acknowledged (Beck, 1990;Davidson, 2005;Francis and Woodcock, 1990;Lafleur, 1999;Richmon, 2003Richmon, , 2004. However, there is no commonly held or accepted conception of the reality of organizational values present in any disciplinary domain, including the philosophical field of axiology (Gaus, 1990).…”

“…Academic dialogue about values has been ongoing in educational administration since the inception of the discipline (Begley, 1999). However, the nature, or reality, of ''values'' is characterized differently among the administrative researchers participating in scholarly values discourse (Beck, 1999; Begley, 1999;Greenfield and Ribbins, 1993;Hodgkinson, 1978Hodgkinson, , 1991Hodgkinson, , 1999Lakomski and Evers, 1999;Richmon, 2003Richmon, , 2004Willower, 1999). Much debate in educational administration has centered on a fact/value dichotomy as a particular aspect of values discourse.…”