Call for Papers: Standards and Competency Frameworks for School Administrators: Global, Comparative and Critical Perspectives

Call for Papers:

Standards and Competency Frameworks for School Administrators: Global, Comparative and Critical Perspectives / Estándares y Competencias en Gestión Educativa: Perspectivas Globales, Comparativas y Críticas

Guest Editors: Augusto Riveros (Western University) and Wei Wei (Western University)

            Education Policy Analysis Archives calls for papers for a bilingual (English/Spanish) special issue whose aim is to examine standards and competency frameworks for school administrators from global, comparative, and critical perspectives.

            The adoption of standards of leadership practice for school administrators has become a widespread practice in many jurisdictions around the globe (Pont, 2013; Riveros, Verret & Wei, 2016). Evidence of this global trend has been documented and analyzed by an emerging body of empirical research that has mainly focused on the role of the standards in the preparation, selection, evaluation, and practice of school administrators (Ingvarson, Anderson, Gronn, & Jackson, 2006). Despite the differences between national contexts, and the lack of consensus in the literature about the nature and purposes of leadership in education (Gunter, 2005; Heck & Hallinger, 2005; Niesche, 2018), notable similarities could be seen amongst these frameworks. For instance, the review conducted by Pont (2013), noted that standards tend to frame the work of administrators in terms of establishing a guiding mission; generating the organizational conditions to carry out the mission; fostering harmony between stakeholders; developing the self and others; and conducting pedagogical management. These coincidences are certainly not a random occurrence. In the era of neoliberal globalization, education policy discourses travel from one place to another; they are transferred, borrowed and appropriated (Wei, 2017). For instance, one key discourse that is echoed in these policy documents rests on the idea that leadership has the power to improve education and bring about high rates of student achievement (Murphy, 2017). The global pervasiveness of these policies and the similarities between the discourses that they promote, invite a critical interrogation of the nature and possible consequences of this trend. Aiming to provide a critical and comparative exploration of this “leadership turn” in education reform, this special issue of EPAA/AAPE invites empirical or conceptual contributions that explore the nature and the adoption of leadership standards as a global phenomenon and/or as a situated practice in specific jurisdictions around the globe.        

. . . . .

            La adopción de estándares de gestión educativa se ha convertido en una práctica generalizada en muchos países alrededor del mundo (Pont, 2013; Riveros, Verret & Wei, 2016). Esta tendencia global ha sido evidenciada y documentada en estudios empíricos que se han concentrado fundamentalmente en la aplicación de los estándares en la preparación, selección, evaluación y el practica profesional en gestión educativa (Ingvarson, Anderson, Gronn, & Jackson, 2006). A pesar de las diferencias entre contextos nacionales y la falta de consenso en la literatura acerca de la naturaleza y propósitos de la gestión educativa (Gunter, 2005; Heck & Hallinger, 2005; Niesche, 2018), notables similitudes pueden observarse en estos modelos. Por ejemplo, Pont (2013), en su revisión de la literatura, encontró que los estándares representan la labor de los gestores educativos en términos de establecer la misión, la generación de condiciones organizacionales, el llevar a cabo la misión, promover la armonía entre los miembros de la comunidad educativa, el desarrollo intra e inter personal y la supervisión pedagógica. Estas coincidencias no son casualidad. En la era de la globalización neoliberal, los discursos de política educativa viajan de un lugar a otro, son transferidos, prestados y apropiados (Wei, 2017). Un claro ejemplo de los discursos que son promovidos en estos modelos es la idea de que la gestión educativa tiene la capacidad de mejorar la educación y promover el logro educativo (Murphy, 2017). La generalización a escala global de estas iniciativas y las similitudes entre los discursos que estas políticas promueven, invitan una interrogación crítica acerca de la naturaleza y las posibles consecuencias de estos modelos. Con el propósito de ofrecer una exploración de este “giro hacia la gestión” en la reforma de la educación, este numero especial del EPAA/AAPE invita contribuciones empíricas o conceptuales que exploren la naturaleza y la adopción de estándares de gestión educativa como fenómeno global o como una practica situada en países o jurisdicciones especificas.

References:

Gunter, H. M. (2005). Conceptualizing research in educational leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 33(2), 165-180.

Heck, R. H., & Hallinger, P. (2005). The study of educational leadership and management: Where does the field stand today? Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 33(2), 229-    244.

Ingvarson, L., Anderson, M., Gronn, P., & Jackson, A. (2006). Standards for school leadership: A critical review of literature. Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (ACER).

Murphy, J. F. (2017).  Professional Standards for Educational Leaders: The Empirical, Moral, and Experiential Foundations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Niesche, R. (2018). Critical perspectives in educational leadership: A new 'theory turn'? Journal of Educational Administration and History, 50(3), 145-158.

Pont, B. (2013). Learning Standards, Teaching Standards and Standards for School Principals: A Comparative Study (No. 99). OECD Working Papers. Centre of Study for Policies and Practices in Education. Chile: OECD Publishing.

Riveros, A., Verret, C., & Wei, W. (2016). The translation of leadership standards into leadership practices: A qualitative analysis of the adoption of the Ontario Leadership Framework in urban schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 54(5), 593-608.

Wei, W. (2017). Education policy borrowing: Professional standards for school leaders in China. Chinese Education & Society, 50(3), 181-202.

About the Journal: Celebrating its 25^th year, EPAA/AAPE is a peer-reviewed, open-access, international, multilingual, and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and development analysts concerned with education policies. EPAA/AAPE accepts unpublished original manuscripts in English, Spanish and Portuguese without restriction as to conceptual and methodological perspectives, time or place.

Submission Information: Interested contributors are invited to submit 500-word abstracts aligned with the special issue themes for review by September 15, 2018. All manuscripts should be submitted electronically through the EPAA website and follow the Journal’s submission guidelines: http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/.

Timeline 

Submission of abstracts: September 15, 2018

Invitation to submit a full paper: November 15, 2018

Submission of full papers: March 1, 2019

Paper feedback plus editorial comments/suggestions: May 30, 2019

Submission of final papers: July 30, 2019

Expected publication date: October 2019

Contact Information: Augusto Riveros, Western University, gus.riveros@uwo.ca or Wei Wei, Western University, wwei32@uwo.ca