Levinas, bureaucracy, and the ethics of school leadership

Abstract

Given present criticisms of contemporary education and leadership practices, this article investigates the ways in which the basic concepts of state freedom and bureaucracy stifle ethics and social justice in educational leadership practices through the philosophical framework of Emmanuel Levinas. By investigating Levinas’ ‘an-archy’, the definition of ethics and justice in school leadership can be reframed towards responsibility to otherness rather than individual freedom. The anarchical ethic of pure responsibility to the Other suggests that educational leaders should prioritize specific acts of responsibility over general actions based on the assumptions of traditional state education. Aspects of transactional, transformational, and social justice leadership are critiqued from this perspective.

Keywords:

• Educational leadership
• ethics
• bureaucracy
• Emmanuel Levinas

Note

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 See eg Critchley (2014), Tahmasebi (2010) for alternative arguments. See Bernasconi (1999) for a further explication of the Third.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew Pendola

Andrew Pendola is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Auburn University. His research interests include school leadership and educator labor markets.