Abstract
Inspired by Theodore Schatzki s societist approach - in which he advocates a notion of `site
ontologies - in this article, we outline our theory of practice architectures (a theory about
what practices are composed of) and ecologies of practices (how practices relate to one
another). Drawing on case studies of four Australian primary schools, we examine how practices
of leading relate to other educational practices: professional learning, teaching, student
learning, and researching and reflecting. We find `leading not only in the work of principals
and other formal leadership positions, but also in the activities of teachers and students. We
show that changing leading practices requires changing more than the professional practice
knowledge of individuals; it also requires changing the practice architectures (cultural-discursive,
material-economic and social-political arrangements) in sites where leading and its
interconnected practices are conducted. In order to study practices of leading, we adopt a
philosophical-empirical enquiry approach, i.e. we conduct our research as a conversation
between practice philosophy and theory and the empirical cases of leading we study. We study
practices in the mode of research within practice traditions, sometimes described as
`practical philosophy , as a contribution to the self-reflective transformation of the practices
we are studying.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 342-358 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Educational Philosophy and Theory |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- practice theory
- leading
- practice architectures
- ecologies of practice
- site ontologies
- changing practices