ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how teacher-researchers can contribute to the knowledge-base of educational leadership and administration. Jackie Delong is a superintendent of schools who is engaged in an action research enquiry into her own teaching and learning (1995-2001). She is explicating the standards of practice and judgement which can be used to test the validity of her knowledge-claims about her educative influence. Jack Whitehead is a university academic who is researching his own supervision of Delong’s research program in relation to the creation of a thesis which demonstrates her originality of mind and critical judgement in contributing to the knowledge-base of educational leadership and administration. We are thinking of a contribution to the knowledge-base that avoids the kind of criticisms made by David Clark:
The honest fact is that the total contribution of Division A of AERA (American Educational Research Association) to the development of the empirical and theoretical knowledge base of administration and policy development is so miniscule that if all of us had devoted our professional careers to teaching and service, we would hardly have been missed.
