Summary of Article
This essay is an analysis of an article “The panorama of the last decade’s theoretical groundings of educational leadership research: A concept co-occurrence network analysis” by Wang that researched the connection between various educational theories and leadership. The study sought to expose the interconnections between the different theories and examine the gradual evolution of these theories from 2005 to 2014. 1,328 articles published in four leading educational research journals were analyzed using a concept co-occurrence network deliberately constructed for this study.
The author of the article identified influential concepts by referencing frequency and centrality measures while using the k-core analysis to identify the interconnections between the theories. Changes in the cohesion of concepts were also vital and eventually identified the notable gradual variation in consistency. The research found that 295 framing theories influence educational leadership research and few concepts exert more influence than others. The study additionally identified substantial reliance between concepts, with the strongest being between leadership approach concepts and organizational perspectives.
Evaluation of Methods, Rigor, and Approach
The research identified a crucial period between 2005 and 2014 when the field had undergone a massive transformation, ensuring the methods and results bore massive relevance. The use of many studies in the research amounting to 1,328 ensured that the research had soundness, reliability, and validity. The use of multiple analysis approaches to identify the variations in the data extracted from the sources ensured that the results were credible. The approach of finding interconnections between data was essential in boosting generalizability and the establishment of a replicable methodology.
Applications to Findings
The findings are instrumental in informing scholars about the evolution of educational theories over the years, putting things into perspective. Such knowledge is likely to serve the crucial role of guiding future research to a better understanding of education and leadership studies. The findings will additionally guide the practice of education and business, given the interplay between learning theories and leadership research. The opportunity for the development of new theories was eased by the understanding of current theories and the identification of shortcomings within these constructs.
Reference
Wang, Y. (2018). The panorama of the last decade’s theoretical groundings of educational leadership research: A concept co-occurrence network analysis. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(3), 327–365. Web.