Methodological individualism, educational administration, and leadership

Bibliographic Data

ID10106111
AuthorsColin W Evers (UNSW Sydney), Gabriele Lakomski (0000-0002-1641-4115, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume45
Issue2
Pages159-173
Publication date2013-03-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Educational Administration & History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0620 • E-ISSN: 1478-7431
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00220620.2013.768969
OpenAlexW2016881560
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited27

There are two major categories of explanation for organisational performance: structural and individual. With the shift away from systems-theoretic accounts that occurred in the 1980s, structural explanations have been replaced increasingly by the individualism of leadership and leader-centric explanations, especially when it comes to schools. In this paper, we argue that leader-centric accounts involve a commitment to methodological individualism and that there are four serious problems with this view. First, it is logically difficult to describe individual actions without recourse to structures. Second, methodological individualism fosters a centralised mindset inviting the attribution of leadership where none may exist. Third, evidence for distributed cognition compromises leader-centrism. And fourth, administrative tasks themselves are often highly structured. In response to these problems, we urge a more balanced approach to organisational functioning, one that involves both structures and individuals

Attribution · Educational leadership · Epistemology · Individualism · Instructional leadership · Mindset · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Cognitive Science and Mapping · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology

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