Advancing educational leadership practice in Asia

Abstract

This paper explores some of the issues and challenges faced by a small team of Western academic staff who were involved in a project to develop leadership practice amongst higher and further education teachers and administrators in China. These issues and challenges arose as soon as the project commenced and meant that the Australian teachers involved had to come up with solutions acceptable to a different cultural context. The paper discusses how these issues and challenges were perceived by both the Western and Chinese teaching steff and how they were jointly solved to develop more resourceful teaching practitioners. This case study illustrates how the underlying assumptions about teachers' development need to take account of the pervading culture in which the educational change is to occur. With care and sensitivity, Western style educational leadership theory, research and practice can be applicable to higher and further education teachers' in a different cultural context.