THEORY IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION: INSTRUCTIONAL AND CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

A review is made of several efforts to describe the instructional emphasis and curricular content of courses relating to theory in educational administration. A summary is then provided of the evolution and eventual discontinuance of one approach to the teaching of theory which has previously been cited in the literature. Finally, a course format initiated as a replacement for the aforementioned instructional approach is described, and the content of the new course is discussed in some detail. A thesis of the article is that by making explicit what is taught concerning theory in educational administration it is thereby possible to provide a greater impetus for an increased theoretical orientation within the discipline.