Overview

Adopting a critical realist approach to educational leadership, this book shows how applied theory can contribute to the development of mechanisms allowing for the effective leadership of organisations. Through an examination of pertinent theories and debates in educational leadership and critical realist thought, it moves to offer demonstrations of practical uses of critical realism that include the transformation of reflective practice, the development and practice of leadership, and the formulation as well as the enactment of policy. Considering the role that realist thought can play in the resolution of educational crises in sub-Saharan Africa and bridging the gap between research and practice, the authors argue that change is possible and that it can be initiated from within the field of educational leadership. Centred on a vision of social justice for human flourishing instead of operating within narrow and mechanistic pre-occupations, Educational Leadership and Critical Realism will appeal to scholars across the social sciences, as well as to practitioners and policymakers in the field of education.

Full Product Details

9781032583808

Table of Contents

Reviews

“Thorpe and Elonga Mboyo’s contribution to educational professionals is to enable researchers and teachers to think and practise in ways that are for education but also educative regarding how we learn about what it actually means to do leading and leadership. Notably critical realism provides the opportunity to shift away from corporate technologies about what works, towards the values that underpin the contested issues of inclusive pedagogy, assessment and the curriculum. This book is a clear statement that change is actually about and for education rather than about turning schools into private businesses”. — Professor Helen Gunter, Professor Emerita, The Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK. “At a time when educational leadership is increasingly prone to fads, fetishes and populism, this book provides a very welcome addition to more critical studies in educational leadership by advancing the ideas of critical realism. This book provides an outstanding and much needed exploration of how critical realism can better develop key themes and ideas in the field of educational leadership by putting the theory ‘upfront’ in its analysis. This book is very highly recommended for scholars of educational leadership but also has important implications for practising educators worldwide.” —Professor Richard Niesche, School of Education, UNSW SYDNEY, Australia.

Author Information

Anthony Thorpe is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Education at the University of Roehampton, London, where he previously led the PhD and professional doctorate programmes and established the MA in Education Leadership and Management. Jean Pierre Elonga Mboyo is Senior Lecturer at Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK. Fellow of Higher Education, he teaches across the undergraduate and postgraduate levels after a professional career spanning more than a decade as a secondary school teacher.

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