Comparative educational administration: Developing a cross-cultural conceptual framework

Although educational administration has experienced impressive development over the past three decades, the fact that a robust comparative branch of the field has failed to emerge is equally conspicuous. This article acknowledges and highlights the need for comparative educational administration and argues that the development of conceptual frameworks is imperative in building a comparative dimension. A conceptual framework is described and justified based on a cultural and cross-cultural approach focusing on the school level as the baseline unit for analysis. Specifically, the proposed framework is architectured around the interrelationship between the core concepts of culture, organizational structures, leadership and management processes, curriculum, and teaching and learning. Finally, implications of the model are discussed, including the need for the framework to be operationalized by the development of appropriate research instruments. Copyright © 1998 The University Council for Educational Administration.