Towards a theory of school leadership practice: A Bourdieusian perspective

Journal article


Eacott, Scott. (2013). Towards a theory of school leadership practice: A Bourdieusian perspective. Journal of Educational Administration and History. 45(2), pp. 174 - 188. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2013.768966
AuthorsEacott, Scott
Abstract

Despite the ‘practice’ turn in the broader management literature, very little work in educational administration has engaged in a theoretical discussion about what constitutes leadership practice. Theoretically informed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper contributes to the long-established critical tradition in the educational administration literature, to argue that: (i) ‘leadership’ is a label of the managerialist project of the state; (ii) leadership should be thought of as a disruptive practice; and (iii) Bourdieusian theory can enable this thinking, but not as it is frequently mobilised in the educational administration literature. The alternative put forth in this paper is not merely replacing one external narrative (managerialism) with another (Bourdieusian), but rather advancing a theoretical position on what is leadership that paves a way forward for a research programme.

KeywordsPierre Bourdieu; school leadership; practice; Australia; field; habitus
Year2013
JournalJournal of Educational Administration and History
Journal citation45 (2), pp. 174 - 188
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN0022-0620
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2013.768966
Scopus EID2-s2.0-84875802783
Page range174 - 188
Research GroupSchool of Education
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Controlled
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
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https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/86191/towards-a-theory-of-school-leadership-practice-a-bourdieusian-perspective

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