ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the possibility of alternative forms of educational leadership; that is, alternatives to the hierarchical, bureaucratic approaches which characterize most of the experiences. It expresses that these alternative forms of praxis are exclusively feminist. One of the abiding contributions of feminist discourse is that it has opened up to both men and women the possibility of challenging the 'taken-for-granted' world and has exposed hitherto unrecognized interests in domination. The chapter explores the importance of the theory of cognitive interests for educational practice in some depth in Curriculum: Product or Praxis? The task of the empirical-analytic sciences incorporates a technical cognitive interest; that of the historical-hermeneutic sciences incorporates a practical interest; and the approach of critically oriented sciences incorporates the emancipatory cognitive interest. The first thing that distinguishes emancipatory praxis from other forms of reflective practice is its critical nature.
