This article is a lightly edited version of the tenth William Walker Oration. In it, the author argues for greater balance in education and its administration; greater balance between continuity and constant change, dependence and independence, individualism and community, and homogeneity and heterogeneity. More specifically the article puts the case for greater emphasis on continuity, independence, community and heterogeneity to balance what is seen as the current overemphasis on constant change, dependence, individualism, and homogeneity. It concludes by offering a key, the key of a research-based approach to development or learning, to open the way to achieving greater balance in the increasing global challenge that is the future of educational administration.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abbott, J.
(1999) Battery Hens or Free Range Chickens: What Type of Education for What Type of World? [http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educal/documents/000000961.htm]
2.
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
(1998) The State of Our Schools: Report of the Synod Schools Task Group on Victoria’s Public Education System. Melbourne: Diocese of Melbourne.
3.
Applebome, P.
(1995) ‘Employers Wary of School System’, The New York Times (20 February).
4.
Barth, R.
(1991) ‘Restructuring Schools: Some Questions for Teachers and Principals’, Phi Delta Kappan73(2): 123-128.
5.
Beare, H.
(1998) Wanted: Educators Who Lead from Soul. Melbourne: ACEA Eighth Annual William Walker Oration.
6.
Berends, M.
(2000) ‘Teacher-Reported Effects of New American School Designs: Exploring Relationships to Teacher Background and School Context’, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis22(1): 65-82.
7.
Bishop, P. (1995) ‘Empowerment as a Source of Motivation through Teacher-Principal Interactions’, MEd thesis, University of Tasmania.
8.
Bishop, P.
(1999) ‘Trust: A Much Espoused But Little Understood Aspect of Educational Leadership’, Leading and Managing5(2): 125-138.
9.
Bishop, P.
and Mulford, B. (1999) ‘When will they Ever Learn?: Another Failure of Centrally-Imposed Change’, School Leadership and Management19(2): 179-187.
10.
Brooker, P.
, Hughes, P. and Mulford, B. (2000) Teachers Make a Difference. Hobart: ACYS, University of Tasmania.
11.
Boutwell, C.
(1997) Shell Game: Corporate America’s Agenda for Schools. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappan.
12.
Coleridge, S.
(1979) ‘If Men could Learn’, Oxford Dictionary of Quotations157, no. 20.
13.
Crowther, F.
(1996) Unsung Heroes: The Leaders in our Classrooms. Melbourne: ACEA Sixth Annual William Walker Oration.
14.
Crowther, F.
, Hann, L., McMaster, J. and Ferguson, M. (2000) ‘Leadership for Successful School Revitalisation: Lessons from Recent Australian Research’, paper for AERA, New Orleans, April.
15.
Dalin, P.
and Rust, V. (1983) Can Schools Learn?Windsor: NFER-Nelson.
16.
Day, C.
, Harris, A., Hadfield, M., Tolley, H. and Beresford, J. (2000) Leading Schools in Times of Change. Buckingham: Open University Press.
17.
Dimmock, C.
and Walker, A. (1998) ‘Comparative Educational Administration: Developing a Cross-Cultural Conceptual Framework’, Educational Administration Quarterly34(4): 558-595.
18.
Drucker, P.
(1989) The New Realities. Oxford: Heinemann.
19.
Eisner, E.
(1991) ‘My Educational Passions’, in D. Burleson (ed.) Reflections. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappan.
20.
Ellyard, P.
(1998) Ideas for the New Millennium. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
21.
English, F.
(2000) ‘Whose New Leadership Centre for the New Millennium? The Parameters, Paradoxes, and Problems of Conceptual Centres in a Field of Inquiry’, paper for AERA, New Orleans.
22.
Fink, D.
(2000) Good Schools/Real Schools: Why School Reform doesn’t Last. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
23.
Fullan, M.
(1998) ‘Leadership for the Twenty First Century: Breaking the Bonds of Dependency’, Educational Leadership55(7): 6-10.
24.
Goodlad, J.
(1994) Educational Renewal: Better Teachers, Better Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
25.
Greenfield, T.
and Ribbins, P. (1993) Greenfield on Educational Administration. London: Routledge.
26.
Hallinger, P.
(1995) ‘Culture and Leadership: Developing an International Perspective on Educational Administration’, UCEA Review36(2): 1-13.
27.
Handy, C.
(1994) The Age of Paradox. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
28.
Handy, C.
(1998) The Hungry Spirit. London: Arrow.
29.
Hargreaves, A.
(1995) ‘Renewal in the Age of Paradox’, Educational Leadership52(7): 14-19.
30.
Hargreaves, A.
and Dawe, R. (1990) ‘Paths of Professional Development: Continued Collegiality, Collaborative Culture, and the Case of Peer Coaching’, Teaching and Teacher Education6(3): 227-241.
31.
Hillman, J.
(1999) The Force of Character and the Lasting Life. Milsons Point: Random.
32.
Habermas, J.
(1987) The Theory of Communicative Action, vol. 2: Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functional Reason, tr. T. McCarthy. Boston: Beacon.
33.
Jay, A.
(1970) Management and Machiavelli. Harmondsworth: Pelican.
34.
Kao, J.
(1996) The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity. London: Harper Collins.
35.
Kordis, P.
(1997) Closing Session of ICP Convention, Boston, July.
36.
Lebrecht, N.
(1997) The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power. London: Simon & Schuster Pocket Books.
37.
Leithwood, K.
, ed. (2000) Understanding Schools as Intelligent Systems. Stamford, CA: JAI Press.
38.
Leithwood, K.
and Seashore Louis, K., eds (1998) Organisational Learning in Schools. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
39.
McCalman, J.
(2000) ‘The Threat to the Truth’, The Age (March).
40.
Matathia, I.
and Salzman, M. (1998) NEXT: Trends for the Future. Sydney: Macmillan.
41.
Reported in J. Hannaway, ‘Administrative Structures: Why do they Grow?’, Teachers College Record79(3): 416-417.
42.
Mulford, B.
(1994) Shaping Tomorrow’s Schools. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Administration.
43.
Mulford, B.
(1998) ‘Organisational Learning and Educational Change’, in A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan and D. Hopkins (eds) International Handbook of Educational Change, pp. 616-641. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic.
44.
Mulford, B.
, Fisher, D. and Grady, N. (1991) ‘Educational Leadership for Quality Teaching and Learning’, in P. Ribbins, R. Glatter, T. Simpkins and L. Watson (eds) Developing Educational Leaders. London: Longmans.
45.
Mulford, B.
, Watson, H. and Vallee, J. (1981) Structured Experiences and Group Development. Canberra: Curriculum Development Centre.
46.
Murphy, J.
and Beck, L. (1995) School-Based Management as School Reform: Taking Stock. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
47.
Ogden, J.
(1993) The Last Book you’ll Ever Read. Toronto: Macfarlane, Walter & Ross.
48.
Ornstein, A.
(1994) ‘Curriculum Trends Revisited’, Peabody Journal of Education69(4): 4-20.
49.
Peck, S.
(1987) The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace. New York: Simon & Schuster.
50.
Peters, T.
(1987) Thriving on Chaos. London: Harper & Row.
51.
Pfeiffer, W.
, Goodstein, L. and Nolan, T. (1989) Shaping Strategic Planning. Glenview: Scott Foresman.
52.
Raab, C.
, Munn, P., McAvoy, L., Bailey, L., Arnott, M. and Adler, M. (1996) ‘Devolving the Management of Schools in Britain’, EAQ32(2): 140-157.
53.
Reddin, W.
(1977) ‘Confessions of a Change Agent’, Group and Organisation Studies2(1): 33-41.
54.
Redding, J.
and Catalanello, R. (1994) Strategic Readiness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
55.
Rifkin, J.
(2000) The Age of Access. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher and Putnam.
56.
Sarason, S.
(1990) The Predictable Failure of Educational Reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
57.
Senge, P.
, Roberts, C., Ross, R., Smith, B. and Kleiner, A. (1994) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organisation. New York: Doubleday.
58.
Senge, P.
, Roberts, C., Kleiner, A., Ross, R., Roth, G. and Smith, B. (1999) The Dance of Change. New York: Currency Doubleday.
59.
Sergiovanni, T.
(1990) Value-Added Leadership: How to get Extraordinary Performance in Schools. London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
60.
Sergiovanni, T.
(2000) The Lifeworld of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
61.
Silins, H.
and Mulford, B. (1999) ‘Leadership for Organisational Learning and Student Outcomes: The LOLSO Project’, paper presented at AERA, Montreal.
62.
Silins, H.
and Mulford, B. (in press) ‘Leadership and School Results’, in K. Leithwood and P. Hallinger (eds) Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
63.
Silins, H.
, Mulford, B., Zarins, C. and Bishop, P. (2000) ‘Leadership for Organisational Learning in Australian Secondary Schools’, in K. Leithwood (ed.) Understanding Schools as Intelligent Systems, pp. 267-291. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
64.
Sizer, T.
(1984) Horace’s Compromise. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
65.
Spencer, B.
and Webber, C. (2000) ‘Educational Reform in Alberta: Where do we Go from Here?’, paper presented at AERA, New Orleans.
66.
Thrupp, M.
(2000) ‘Sociological and Political Concerns about School Effectiveness Research: Time for a New Research Agenda’, paper for AERA, New Orleans.
67.
Tuchman, B.
(1984) The March of Folly. New York: Ballantine.
68.
Tuckman, B.
(1965) ‘Developmental Sequences in Small Groups’, Psychological Bulletin63: 384-399.
69.
Verdugo, R.
, Greenberg, N., Henderson, R., Uribe, O. and Schneider, J. (1997) ‘School Governance Regimes and Teachers’ Job Satisfaction: Bureaucracy, Legitimacy, and Community’, EAQ33(1): 38-66.
70.
Walker, A.
and Walker, J. (1998) ‘Challenging the Boundaries of Sameness: Leadership through Valuing Difference’, Journal of Educational Administration36(1): 8-28.
71.
Walker, W.
(1991) ‘Introduction’, in W. Walker, R. Farquhar and M. Hughes (eds) Advancing Education: School Leadership in Action. London: Falmer.
72.
Wheelan, S.
(1994) Group Processes: A Developmental Perspective. Boston: Allyn & Unwin.
73.
Wong, C.
(2000) ‘Ethical Leadership and Societal Culture’, paper for AERA, New Orleans.
