Connecting research and knowledge on educational leadership in the West and Asia: adopting a cross-cultural comparative perspective

Dimmock, C. (2020) Connecting research and knowledge on educational leadership in the West and Asia: adopting a cross-cultural comparative perspective. Comparative Education, 56(2), pp. 257-277. (doi: 10.1080/03050068.2019.1703393)

Abstract

The field of educational leadership has yet to develop a coherent knowledge base that reflects the global diversity of policies and practices. This disconnect – for example between Asian and Western research, presents a major challenge, curtailing authentic knowledge production and transfer. Accordingly, a major objective for the field is the creation of a cross-culturally valid knowledge base with global relevance. This conceptual paper addresses the phenomenon of global knowledge construction in educational leadership and the challenges of achieving coherence and connectivity between bodies of research from diverse politico-socio-cultural settings. In achieving greater connectivity between Asian and Western educational leadership research, a cross-cultural comparative approach is advocated. A comparatively informed universal knowledge base would highlight current ethnocentricity characterizing the field, and the socio-cultural embeddedness of educational leadership. While acknowledging the benefits and challenges of such an approach, the paper advocates four types of cultural and cross-cultural comparative studies, namely, meta studies of large data sets, socio-educational studies placing leadership in a social milieu context; system reform studies based on initiatives to improve education systems; and indigenous studies of educational leadership reflecting the uniqueness of societal cultures. Finally, the paper suggests more robust research methods for achieving authentic cross-cultural connectivity across knowledge bases to secure authentic knowledge production and transfer.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Dimmock, Professor Clive
• Authors: Dimmock, C.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Educational Leadership & Policy
• Journal Name: Comparative Education
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0305-0068
• ISSN (Online): 1360-0486
• Published Online: 15 December 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Informa UK, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
• First Published: First published in 56(2):257-277
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher