An Alternative Perspective of Educational Leadership for Change: Reflections on Native/Indigenous Ways of Knowing

Abstract

An overview of dominant trends in leadership research over the past 75 years2, both in the social sciences and education, presents a diverse typology of leadership theories that to some degree are incomplete and controversial. Because the study of leadership focuses on complex human interactions, it is an imprecise science that leads to multiple interpretations of the phenomena. Stogdill (1974) wrote that, ``there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept'' (p. 7). Furthermore, one might argue that much of current research on leadership has been and will be directed to test and refine what is already known.