School Leadership and Administration: Adopting a Cultural Perspective

Citation

Riley, D. (2004), "School Leadership and Administration: Adopting a Cultural Perspective", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 114-116. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230410517512

The book is essential reading for scholars and students who acknowledge the need to “find out what we don't know we don't know” about educational management and leadership in the international context. The book addresses an area of increasing importance, but one that is frequently ignored – the study of comparative educational management and leadership. Walker and Dimmock acknowledge that the study of societal culture upon educational leadership is in its infancy, but hope, through this volume, to contribute to dialogue and research. While the focus of the publication is upon the influence of societal culture, Walker and Dimmock recognize the presence of other influences upon leadership.

Walker and Dimmock, recognized leaders in the area, provide a framework to extend the understanding of cultural influences upon the behaviour of educational leaders. The 13 chapters provide a wealth of critical reflections from internationally recognized scholars whose contributions are presented in two parts:

1. 1.

   conceptualizing and researching the influence of societal culture; and

2. 2.

   the influence of societal culture on schools and school leadership.

The Introduction by Walker and Dimmock provides an insightful and succinct rationale for the book and a model for comparative research. They advance three arguments for their review:

1. 1.

   acknowledgement of the domination of research by Anglo‐American sources and the advisability of questioning its application to other cultures;

2. 2.

   the importance of culture as a foundational concept in the study of comparative educational administration; and

3. 3.

   the identification of best practice in educational management and leadership.

Walker and Dimmock propose a model, “cross‐cultural comparison in educational leadership and management”, which identifies the school as the unit of analysis for comparative study.

Dimmock, in his own chapter, reinforces the urgency, in this time of increasing globalization, of recognizing the similarities and differences of cross‐cultural contexts. Begley's chapter skilfully illustrates how the same values have considerably different meanings in different cultures. Watkins' review of literature through a cross‐cultural comparison makes fascinating reading, revealing an apparent dichotomy in approaches, and counselling against making inferences from research in different cultures. For example, Chinese educators advocate a more measured and repetitive approach compared with their Western colleagues. Heck's chapter highlights the lack of comparative studies of school leadership and the urgent need for greater research.

The second part of the book examines a number of case studies including Hong Kong, the UK, the USA, Thailand, Singapore, and the People's Republic of China. The studies reveal critical reflections on the influence of culture in all dimensions of schools.

MacBeath asserts that schools are increasingly constrained by political imperatives to deliver short‐term gains in response to a “manufactured crisis”, resulting in disempowerment of teachers and failure to prepare students for this century. MacBeath draws upon cases in Hong Kong, the UK, and the USA to illustrate his claim. Hallinger and Kantamara consider the nexus between school leadership and curriculum reform in Thailand from a multicultural perspective. They explore the inherent tension between an “empowering” reform and traditional cultural norms. Similar tensions are discussed by Morris and Lo in their Hong Kong case study. They reveal the inevitable clash between traditional values and new educational policies. Sharp and Gopinathan investigate school leadership in Singapore, where the school system has been used to develop a cohesive and productive society. Bush and Qiang succinctly explain four cultural stages that are deemed relevant to and influential upon contemporary education in the People's Republic of China. Southworth explores contemporary changes within English education. The chapter highlights the need for comprehensive comparative educational research. Walker's discussion of the challenges confronting principals in Hong Kong draws attention to consideration of educational leadership at the school level. Emphasis is placed on the enveloping influence of culture upon the recognition or non‐recognition of dilemmas by principals despite the apparent similarities of those encountered in Western countries. In the final chapter Dimmock and Walker review implications and issues presented in preceding chapters, and identify five as being of special interest and propose them as areas for future research.

Overall, the publication has considerable merit for all involved in educational management and leadership research in different cultures. The case studies are perceptive, relevant and comprehensively evaluated. It is highly recommended.