In this article, the author writes from the perspective of a community college research practitioner, an institutional researcher whose daily work is intended primarily to affect policies, procedures and understanding of student learning and institutional effectiveness. The audience for this work is composed of faculty, administrators, staff,…

Postmodernism has many inferences that can be applied to the theory and practice of higher educational administration. Today, in higher education administrators are continuously focused on strategies that will ensure the future of minority educational institutions. As a result postmodernism is an important factor in the future of higher…

Ethical perspectives are needed to gain insight into the history of leader behavior, especially as related to the current emphasis on contingency and Path-Goal Theories. An instrument to help select professionals who reflect ethical traits is the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire with 12 leadership subscales (LBDQ, Form XII). Selected…

This book attempts to link academic theory and research on educational practices and organizational administration to classroom practices. Written within the framework of the social and behavioral sciences, it describes and critiques concepts, analytical tools, case material, and organizational theory and behavior from the public, business, and…

Asserts that the sociology of education is fraught with noncommunicating paradigms. Outlines this paradigm split from a critical theory perspective. Discusses the use of history to support education reform efforts. (CFR)

John Dewey's conceptions of theory and practice provide a conceptual framework for understanding the moral and political possibilities of educational leadership. The first path illustrates how an educational leader continuously builds a just-school community under changing demographic and political conditions. The second path illustrates how…

Some organizational theorists use biological evolution as the theoretical base of their work. Many such theorists in business have applied a new view of evolution, that of punctuated equilibria, but those in higher education have not. The new theory has implications for leadership and change in college administration. (Author/MSE)

Presents six criteria for curriculum theorizing in an attempt to help develop normative curriculum theories. (MD)

The study of educational administration should continue its trend toward a qualitative interpretation of reality and abandon the positivistic, scientific approach of the last 25 years. Herbert Simon's work in 1945 set the field upon the path of accepting the assumptions of positivistic thought as the limits of scientific inquiry in administration,…

Tracing the history of algebra within the U.S. secondary curriculum requires at the same time a review of the various reform movements relevant to secondary education, an acknowledgement of the sociological, political, and psychological perspectives driving these reforms, and most importantly, the perceived role of mathematics in the education of…

This book is a valuable resource for those concerned with alternative approaches to education, and for such courses as educational theory or philosophy. Drawing on elements of progressive education, existentialism, feminist pedagogy, and values education, critical humanism combines the holistic-psychological concerns of humanistic education with…

Understanding motivation is central to effective use of human resources. Cognitive and noncognitive theories have been developed to explain motivation. Cognitive theorists, including Maslow, argue that a person's behavior can be predicted when that person's internal needs, values, and feelings are understood. Noncognitive theorists consider…

Organizational theorists have been constrained by the overuse of dichotomies. Complex social phenomena cannot adequately be represented through these simplifications of reality. This propensity of theorists to dichotomize is investigated and countered by the advocacy of disciplined naivete in the study of educational organizations. (MLF)

Outlines the historical background of curriculum theorizing, demonstrating that contemporary theory activities in the United States are rooted in progressive education literature. (MD)

The ideology of community college leadership dominant in the professional literature is examined using discourse analysis techniques. It is concluded that strong, often militaristic description perpetuates an image of leadership that is exclusionary, narrow, and inappropriate for community colleges, which serve diverse constituencies. Development…