Enacting a Relational Approach as a University Administrator: A Self-Study

Abstract

University professors often assume leadership roles in their institutions, yet little is done to prepare them to transition into these roles.  This is in contrast to the business world (degrees in administration) and education (school principals complete leadership courses). One substantive challenge in transitioning into a leadership position is a lack of understanding of educators’ psychological processes. What kind of leader should one be? How is leadership similar to one’s approach to teaching and learning? This paper explores one professor’s response to the challenges of transitioning to leadership roles through an examination of experiences as an administrator in a faculty of education:  chair of the teacher education program committee and director of Indigenous research and education. The author critically reflects on his journals to consider the ways in which he lived his conception of teacher education as relational. More broadly, this paper identifies challenges and opportunities for extending the scholarship of teaching and learning, particularly the self-study of teaching and teacher education practices, to include practice-based research university leadership.