Session Information
32 SES 12, Values in Educational Organisations and Leadership
Symposium
Contribution
If it was really just “the economy, stupid!” (B. Clinton), then matters of value could be solved easily: you would just measure what pays off. But, on the contrary, dealing with values in education means considering a variety of values stemming from quite different ethical (and economical) sources, and, moreover, balancing for the good of an organisational aim. While we observe a strong tendency to try and project any value on an economic scale (e.g. by substituting “effect” by “measureable effect or “responsibility” by “accountability”, c.f. Pätzold 2010), we have to keep in mind that the plurality of values within education form rather a multidimensional space than a one-dimensional scale. Economic is a crucial value within that space, however only one among a variety of others. Accordingly, conflicts with respect for values are a constant and unavoidable phenomenon in educational organisations. Following an approach stimulated by actor-network theory (ANT), values are seen as unfolding over time (c.f. Gehmann 2013). According to the general perspective of ANT, controversies thus can be used to observe an actual pheonomenon like values (c.f. Latour 2005). This presentation aims to deliver a general perspective on values and value conflicts in educational leadership and organisations to serve as a basis for the other contributions. Further it shall explore the revenues obtainable by applying the perspective on values through the lens of ANT. To achieve this it refers to the evaluation of mission statements of educational organisations (c.f. Pätzold 2015) with respect to conflicts among values and how they are enacted within and around this type of document.
References
Gehman, J., Trevino, L. K., & Garud, R. (2013). Values Work: A Process Study of the Emergence and Performance of Organizational Values Practices. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), 84–112. Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the Social: An Introduction To Actor-Network Theory. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. Pätzold, H. (2010). Responsibility and accountability in adult education – the unequal siblings. In R. Egetenmeyer & E. Nuissl (eds.), Teachers and Trainers in Adult and Lifelong Learning. Asian and European Perspectives. Frankfurt a.M. u. a.: Peter Lang, pp 135–143. Pätzold, H. (2015). Organisationale Übergänge am Rande des Weiterbildungssystems. In S. Schmidt-Lauff, H. von Felden, & H. Pätzold (eds.), Transitionen in der Erwachsenenbildung: Gesellschaftliche, institutionelle und individuelle Übergänge. Opladen u.a.: Barbara Budrich, pp 265–276.
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