Volume 1, Issue 2 (12-2024)
SELMJ 2024, 1(2): 3-16 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Shirzad kebria B, Hoseini Firozz S Y. (2024). Thomas Greenfield and the Field of Educational Management Studies: From Theory Movement to Human Science. SELMJ. 1(2), 3-16.
URL: http://selmj.ir/article-1-45-en.html
URL: http://selmj.ir/article-1-45-en.html
Department of Educational Management and Higher Education, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (452 Views)
The present article aims to introduce the core ideas of Professor Thomas Bargrinefield, one of the most influential theorists in educational management and leadership. As a prominent theorist and critic, Greenfield made a significant impact on educational management by publishing ten important articles between 1991 and 1996 after retiring from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Canada, at the age of sixty.
To compose this article, we used Fazal Rizvi's 1994 paper (a retired professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia), John Allen Kirkham's 1994 doctoral dissertation from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, several early works by Greenfield (1954 and 1993), and a number of other related articles published in close succession. Together, they provide a cohesive depiction of Greenfield's ideas, especially the evolution of his intellectual journey from the theoretical movement to the emergence of humanistic science in educational management studies.
One of the key aspects of Greenfield’s thought is his emphasis on the importance of values in educational management. Greenfield believed that managerial decisions should be grounded in human and ethical values. He argued that the individual and social values of managers and teachers play a fundamental role in the success or failure of the education system. Greenfield asserted that in educational management and leadership, valuing takes precedence over rationality. People can exercise wisdom only within the boundaries set by values.
Greenfield considered educational management to be a social process that should be shaped by human relationships and social interactions. He believed that leaders strive to lead, build the social order around them, create new realities, and transform their will into reality. Therefore, educational leaders are, in essence, creators of social reality. From Greenfield’s perspective, educational management and leadership are ethical activities. In a world where organizations are concerned with values and value judgments, Greenfield emphasized that the practical consequence of this understanding of organizations and leaders is their attempt to commit others to the values they themselves believe in. Ultimately, leaders become value entrepreneurs whose role is to create unity and cohesion among individuals.
Finally, although the concluding section of this article introduces critical perspectives on Greenfield’s subjectivism, particularly from an epistemological standpoint, it highlights that understanding the methodological debates in educational management studies would be incomplete without reference to Greenfield's ideas.
To compose this article, we used Fazal Rizvi's 1994 paper (a retired professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia), John Allen Kirkham's 1994 doctoral dissertation from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, several early works by Greenfield (1954 and 1993), and a number of other related articles published in close succession. Together, they provide a cohesive depiction of Greenfield's ideas, especially the evolution of his intellectual journey from the theoretical movement to the emergence of humanistic science in educational management studies.
One of the key aspects of Greenfield’s thought is his emphasis on the importance of values in educational management. Greenfield believed that managerial decisions should be grounded in human and ethical values. He argued that the individual and social values of managers and teachers play a fundamental role in the success or failure of the education system. Greenfield asserted that in educational management and leadership, valuing takes precedence over rationality. People can exercise wisdom only within the boundaries set by values.
Greenfield considered educational management to be a social process that should be shaped by human relationships and social interactions. He believed that leaders strive to lead, build the social order around them, create new realities, and transform their will into reality. Therefore, educational leaders are, in essence, creators of social reality. From Greenfield’s perspective, educational management and leadership are ethical activities. In a world where organizations are concerned with values and value judgments, Greenfield emphasized that the practical consequence of this understanding of organizations and leaders is their attempt to commit others to the values they themselves believe in. Ultimately, leaders become value entrepreneurs whose role is to create unity and cohesion among individuals.
Finally, although the concluding section of this article introduces critical perspectives on Greenfield’s subjectivism, particularly from an epistemological standpoint, it highlights that understanding the methodological debates in educational management studies would be incomplete without reference to Greenfield's ideas.
Type of Study: Applicable |
Subject:
Special
References
1. Blackmore, J. (1991). Man the Administration?, In Images of Educational Administrator. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
2. Evers C.W., Lakomski G. (1991). Knowing Educational Administration: Contemporary methodological controversies in educational research. London: Pergamon Press.
3. Greenfield T.B. (1975). Theory about organization: A new perspective and its implication for schools. In Hughes M. (Ed.), Administering education: International challenges (pp. 71-99). London: Athlone.
4. Greenfield, T., & Ribbins, P. (Eds.). (1993). Greenfield on Educational Administration: Towards a Humane Craft (1st ed.). Routledge.
5. Griffiths D.E. (1957). Towards a theory of administrative behavior. In Campbell R.F., Gregg R. (Eds.), Administrative behavior in education (pp. 354-390). New York: Harper.
6. Hallinger, P., & Murphy, J. F. (1986). The social context of effective schools. American journal of education, 94(3), 328-355. [DOI:10.1086/443853]
7. Hallinger, P., & Murphy, J. F. (2013). Running on Empty? Finding the Time and Capacity to Lead Learning. NASSP Bulletin, 97(1), 5-21. [DOI:10.1177/0192636512469288]
8. Hallinger, P., Heck, R. H., & Murphy, J. (2014). Teacher evaluation and school improvement: An analysis of the evidence. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 26, 5-28. [DOI:10.1007/s11092-013-9179-5]
9. Hodgkinson, C., Greenfield, T., & Ribbins, P. (2005). Greenfield on Educational Administration: Towards a Humane Craft. [DOI:10.4324/9780203973561]
10. Kirkham, John Alan (1994) A Critical Analysis of Thomas B. Greenfield's Subjective Approach to the Field of Educational Administration in the Context of an Interdisciplinary Initiative to the Field, Drawing on Sociology of Education, Anthropology, Philosophy and Organisation Theory in General. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.
11. Rizvi, F. (1994) Tom Greenfield and Educational Administration, Curriculum Studies, 2:1, 119-127. [DOI:10.1080/0965975940020106]
12. Weedon, C. (1987). Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
13. Wittgenstein, L. (1973). Philosophical InvestigationHallinger, P., & Murphy, J. (1985). Assessing the instructional management behavior of principals. The elementary school journal, 86(2), 217-247. [DOI:10.1086/461445]
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
