Educational Administration and the Relational Approach: Can We Suffice Contextual-Based Knowledge Production?

In this chapter, I revisit the relational approach articulated by Scott Eacott and propose a counter-argument that draws on the literature about the school as an organization and on the literature about disciplinarity (the field that explores the structure and processes of academic disciplines). Briefly speaking, whereas the context matters, as Eacott correctly maintained, particular features of the school organization (e.g., teaching, culture) are universal to such an extent that they allow the foundation of a field of study (educational administration). In this sense, the universal nature of the field’s models, perspectives, and concepts endows academic legitimacy to its members (i.e., scholars and researchers) in universities worldwide. Therefore, educational administration scholars have always strived to produce theoretical and empirical knowledge that is cross-national and valid in multiple educational arenas as is evident in the “practical implications” section in many journal-papers published in the field’s journals. I conclude this essay by lending several consecutive ponderings about the kind of knowledge we need to develop in the field of educational administration given the diverse educational contexts in our era of life.