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Introducing Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship as a New Research Methodology

Editorial Introduction:

It is our pleasure to introduce this blog, ‘Introducing Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship as a New Research Methodology’, by Steven Courtney.

In this piece, the author presents Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship (CELPS)—a methodology designed to challenge the dominant functionalist approaches in educational leadership research. By placing leadership within its broader policy and social contexts, CELPS offers researchers a critical lens to interrogate power, identity, and the co-construction of social reality. This blog provides a concise and accessible introduction to the methodology, highlighting its key principles and potential impact on the field.

The blog invites readers to reflect on how leadership is studied and understood, encouraging engagement with CELPS as a tool for deeper critical inquiry. Whether you are a researcher, practitioner, or policymaker, this piece provides a fresh perspective on leadership scholarship and its evolving landscape.

If you have any comments or thoughts about this blog and the points it raises, then do share on social media using the hashtag #BELMASblog or contact the BELMAS Blog editorial team by emailing: info@belmas.org.uk.

 

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Introducing Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship as a New Research Methodology

Steven J. Courtney, University of Manchester

Educational leadership research often relies on functionalist, positivist methodologies. These assume that social reality is external to researchers and so is objectively measurable. Their purpose is largely to develop and evaluate interventions to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of organisational functioning. In this framing, educational leadership is a key variable, and is primarily understood through skills, traits and behaviours deemed to be objectively observable and more-or-less universally applicable.

However, functionalism fails to address the complexities of power, context, and the co-construction of social reality (Courtney et al., 2017), which leads to a more relational view of leadership (Eacott, 2015). Functionalism also enables privatised forms of leadership that are performance-based rather than educational (Gunter and Courtney, 2021). For critical researchers, this presents a significant challenge: how can we study leadership in a way that opens space for post-positivist inquiry that reflects how the social world actually works and re-foregrounds the educational? To fill this gap, I developed Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship (CELPS), a methodology that reimagines education leadership as a dynamic intersection of power, context, and identity. CELPS equips researchers with the tools to interrogate leadership critically, moving beyond functionalist analyses and placing it firmly within its policy and social environments.

This blog post summarises the core principles of CELPS published in Courtney (2024), showing how it builds on and expands existing critical methodologies. CELPS offers an inclusive, flexible framework for exploring leadership’s multifaceted and socially embedded nature, enabling researchers to confront long-standing assumptions and chart new directions for the field.

Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship:

1. Focuses on Power and Context: CELPS examines power relations and structures embodied in leadership roles. It also treats context as a co-creator of social reality and participant identities. These features make CELPS critical.
2. Situates Policy in Context: CELPS locates education policy within its ideological, historical, political, socio-economic, and cultural settings. It builds on policy scholarship (Grace, 1995) but places leadership at the centre of analysis.
3. Views Leadership and Policy as Interlinked: CELPS rejects the idea of a separate “policy landscape.” Instead, it understands that policies shape leadership roles and practices, and leaders, in turn, influence policy creation and interpretation.
4. Challenges Leadership Assumptions: CELPS avoids treating terms like “leadership” and “leader” as fixed or inherently positive. It explicitly questions and problematises these concepts, allowing for alternative interpretations and critiques.
5. Prioritises Theorisation: Unlike functionalist approaches that sideline theory, CELPS requires explicit theorisation of leadership. It acknowledges that all research is grounded in assumptions about the social world, which must be surfaced and critically examined (Wilkins et al., 2014).
6. Accommodates Diverse Approaches: CELPS is inclusive, supporting various epistemologies and aims. Whether a project is explicitly emancipatory or seeks to describe social realities that might lead to future emancipation, CELPS provides a flexible framework.

CELPS offers a transformative approach to educational leadership research by addressing methodological gaps and placing leadership at the centre of critical inquiry. It challenges researchers to interrogate the power dynamics, social constructions, and policy entanglements that define leadership, paving the way for more nuanced and impactful studies.

The broader significance of CELPS lies in its potential to reshape how we think about and study leadership, offering a flexible yet rigorous framework for diverse critical approaches. By embracing CELPS, researchers can disrupt functionalist paradigms, develop new understandings of leadership, and contribute to a more equitable and reflective field of study.

I invite readers to engage with CELPS by exploring its principles, applying its methodology, and contributing to its ongoing development. Whether you are a researcher, practitioner, or policymaker, CELPS provides a lens through which to rethink leadership and its role in shaping educational landscapes. Let us work together to advance critical scholarship and create a more inclusive and transformative future for education leadership research.

References

Courtney, S.J., (2024). Adumbrating critical education leadership and policy scholarship: A new methodology. In Courtney, S.J., Armstrong, P.W., and McKay, A., (Eds.). Critical Education Leadership and Policy Scholarship: Introducing a New Research Methodology. Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 5–22.

Courtney, S.J., McGinity, R., and Gunter, H.M. (Eds.), (2017). Educational leadership: Theorising professional practice in neoliberal times. London: Routledge.

Eacott, S. (2015). Educational leadership relationally: A theory and methodology for educa tional leadership, management and administration. Sense Publishers.

Grace, G. (1995). School Leadership: Beyond Education Management. London: The Falmer Press.

Gunter, H. M., & Courtney, S. J. (2021). A new public educative leadership? Management in Education, 35(4), 194–198.

Wilkins, A., Courtney, S.J. and Piattoeva, N. (2024). Keywords in education policy research: A conceptual toolbox. Bristol: Policy Press.