Implications of Preparing School Administrators for Knowledge Work Organizations: A Case Study

Based on a university department of educational administration′s initiative to reconceptualize its doctoral degree programme, the reconstructed model is based on four innovations: (1) an intellectual reconceptualization of the purpose of preparation away from the traditional manager in training perspective, towards a model that views school leadership as a shared, reflective, moral, intellectual activity;(2) a clinical, field‐based research experience that applies theory to practice; (3) an instructional programme, modelling active problem‐solving models of enquiry; (4) some new structural elements,such as a cohort of highly stationed, mid‐career administrators, each scheduled to complete the degree in three years. Focuses on the programme′s philosophy, curriculum, instructional design and research agenda.