Currently, there are darkening clouds gathering over the democratic modernist project that is the European Union. Trends include the election of populist parties whose rhetoric about strengthening borders thinly veils an increasingly hard line against refugees and immigration and whips up Islamphobic sentiment and a more generalised fear of the ‘other’. Disturbingly this rhetoric is amplified in the populist language of the USA and Australian governments – where protecting borders has become the measure of a government’s ‘strength’. The inflammatory rhetoric, careless claims and abuse of evidence that we witness in much of the contemporary political sphere reminds us of the crucial task of careful scholarship. It also serves to remind us that scholarship is political and that researching educational administration (leadership, management and policy) is always an inherently political act. The topics we choose to focus on, the forms of evidence we collect and the methodologies we select are invariably political acts with consequences for the participants and for the field of scholarship in which we participate. Part of our mission in this journal is to lay bare the politics of our field of research and to use the tools of historical enquiry with which to do so. The current issue of Journal of Educational Administration and History powerfully attests to the strength and richness of this approach.
Three articles in the issue reveal the importance of thoughtful historical research in a ‘post-truth’ world. ‘State formation and the rise of elementary education at the periphery of Europe: The cases of Finland and Turkey 1860–1930’ by Johannes Westberg, Ayhan İncirci, Merja Paksuniemi and Tuija Turunen examines the rise of elementary education in two nations which rarely are brought together – that of Turkey and Finland. ‘Graduate programme outcomes in history, 1990–2015: A humanities case study in Canada’ by Martha Smith-Norris and Jennifer Hansen paints a disturbing picture of the gendered nature of occupational outcomes amongst history graduates in Canada in recent times.
‘The tangled roots of real estate markets, the state, and public education’ by Matthew Gardner Kelly is an examination of the links between the growth of real estate markets and the formation of public education in the USA – a connection that is rarely explored but overdue for analysis as the author reveals.
In ‘Critical perspectives in educational leadership: A new “theory turn”?’ Richard Niesche exemplifies a key mission of the journal, that is, to invite dialogue and debate on the kinds of thought-provoking questions and arguments put forward in the article. In a similar vein, ‘Professionalism and competing responsibilities: Moderating competitive performativity in school autonomy reform’ by Brad Gobby, Amanda Keddie and Jill Blackmore maps the competing tensions faced by Australian state education systems and poses key questions for administrators, policy-makers and scholars to consider in this era of audit culture. ‘Novice principals’ perceptions of their mentoring process in early career stage: The key role of mentor-protégé relations’ by Izhar Oplatka and Alona Lapidot examines the key role that mentoring can play in negotiating the tensions that Gobby, Keddie and Blackmore’s article reveals. The issue begins and ends with Turkey. The ‘Politics of refugee education: Educational administration of the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkey’ by Aslihan Tezel McCarthy provides a crucial glimpse into one of the most compelling human rights issues which our world currently faces. The article powerfully underscores the journal’s mission – a continuing strong critical and social justice leadership focus while treading new paths in under-represented geographical areas and topics.
Taken together, the articles suggest the breadth of issues that bear upon the field of educational administration and leadership. They illustrate the power of history to not only contextualise and inform these issues but take them in unexpected and new directions. We commend this issue to you and look forward to your thoughts and contributions as readers and/or potential authors: Tweet: @JEAH_Editors; Facebook: @JournalEdAdminHist