Women in educational leadership embody a paradoxical
reality: they must balance the formal power
of school administration with the inclusivity,
responsiveness, and compassion necessary to nurture
a community of care. This negotiation
between agency and communion, first articulated by
Bakan (1966), contains many challenges for women
in positions of educational leadership. How do women
in educational administration retain the mantle of
leadership and legitimacy without compromising their
commitment to care and community? This research
examines how four women in positions of educational
leadership navigate the terrain of agency and
communion. Description, analysis, and
interpretation of the lived experience of these
educational leaders provide a window into their
lives as educational administrators. This analysis
lends shape and texture to the realities of female
educational leadership and offers a new lens for
understanding the relational practices of school
leaders. School administrators, teachers,
researchers, and others who care deeply about
schools may find this book valuable in refining
their thinking about educational leadership.
reality: they must balance the formal power
of school administration with the inclusivity,
responsiveness, and compassion necessary to nurture
a community of care. This negotiation
between agency and communion, first articulated by
Bakan (1966), contains many challenges for women
in positions of educational leadership. How do women
in educational administration retain the mantle of
leadership and legitimacy without compromising their
commitment to care and community? This research
examines how four women in positions of educational
leadership navigate the terrain of agency and
communion. Description, analysis, and
interpretation of the lived experience of these
educational leaders provide a window into their
lives as educational administrators. This analysis
lends shape and texture to the realities of female
educational leadership and offers a new lens for
understanding the relational practices of school
leaders. School administrators, teachers,
researchers, and others who care deeply about
schools may find this book valuable in refining
their thinking about educational leadership.