Leadership and Policy
Network Leader: Martin Thrupp
The Leadership and Policy research network’s interests are centred on examining leadership and policy experiences and practices across and within diverse, situated contexts. This can include experiences and practices related to youth, community, and educational contexts both within New Zealand and beyond, including the Pacific. An aim is to increase our understanding of, and adding knowledge to areas such as equity, social justice, management, administration, leadership and policy, while exploring and critiquing the political, economic and social forces acting on them. Research informed leadership practice is also a central focus of the network. Key principles guiding this network centre on social justice, inclusion, diversity and partnership.
Research Strands
Critical discourse analysis of language in educational policy and education-related literature:
Often the language of both educational policy and education-related literature remains undisturbed. The temptation, then, is to focus on practice and pedagogy, without a view to the discursive nature of written works. With diverse views on language in existence to begin with, the idea of a neutral policy, or indeed an objective academic piece of writing, is thrown into question. Our strand of the Leadership and Policy Research Network Group will consider some of the policies in existence, as well some more general education-related literature, and describe some of the language-derived assumptions underpinning them. Our particular emphasis will be on the New Right voice and its impact on the implementation of these forms of writing, as well as the implications that language has for knowledge.
Socially just educational leadership:
As researchers in this strand we believe that the research about and practice of educational leadership must have social justice at its core. Therefore, we use a social justice lens to examine, interrogate and critique educational leadership theory, policy and practice. This strand of socially just educational leadership focuses on people, place and process. Firstly, it is our belief that certain groups have been marginalised from educational leadership; these include but are not limited to Maori, women, Pacifica and youth (people). Secondly, educational leadership is a situated and contextually dependent concept (place) and thirdly, leadership formation and organisational formation require hermeneutic, dialogic engagement (process). It is the complex relationship within and between each of these three aspects that makes social justice an essential consideration for researching within, teaching about and learning through socially just educational leadership.
Participating staff: David Giles, Michele Morrison, Rachel McNae and Jane Strachan.