Dr Scott Eacott

Work Phone	(02) 492 17805
Fax	(02) 492 17887
Email	Scott.Eacott@newcastle.edu.au
Position	Senior Lecturer School of Education The University of Newcastle, Australia
Office	HA83, Hunter Building

Biography

Scott Eacott (PhD) is Senior Lecturer, Convenor of Educational Leadership programs, and leader of the Educational Leadership, Management and Administration (ELMA) research group at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is widely published in the field of educational leadership. His most recent book, School Leadership and Strategy in Managerialist Times is published by Sense Publishers. Scott is also editing forthcoming special issues of Journal of Educational Administration and History and International Journal of Leadership in Education (with Jane Wilkinson, Charles Sturt University) that bring together a wide range of leading scholars in the field to re-conceptualise leadership and bring a critical lens to the analysis of leadership in the contemporary policy context. He is currently working on a theoretical interrogation of 'leadership' in the context of the recasting of administrative labour under managerialism. In addition, Scott is collaborating with Colin Evers (UNSW) on an edited collection on new frontiers in educational administrative theory.

Scott is a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (NSW), convenor of the Educational Leadership Special Interest Group of the Australian Association for Research in Education, a member of the national advisory board for the Australian Applied Management Colloquium, and an expert commentator for the Australian Council for Educational Leaders. He is also on the editorial board of International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies and Perspectives on Educational Leadership. He is regularly sought for commentary on current issues for school leaders by a range of Australian professional journals and systemic authorities.

Qualifications

PhD, University of Newcastle, 2008
Graduate Certificate of Tertiary Teaching, University of Newcastle, 2007
Master of Leadership and Management in Education, University of Newcastle, 2005
Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Social Science, University of Newcastle, 1999

Research

Research keywords

Bourdieu
Educational administration
Educational leadership
Educational management
Management sociology
Management theory
Pierre Bourdieu
Principal preparation
School leadership
Strategy

Research expertise

Scott's body of work draws upon a diverse range of theoretical perspectives and empirical tools to explicitly interrogate the theoretical and methodological challenges of educational leadership, management and administration scholarship and practice in the context of shifting social, cultural, political and temporal conditions. His most substantive contribution to the field of educational administration falls into three main areas:

Theorising leadership practice: Through a series of theoretical and empirical explorations, informed by the work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this stream of research challenges orthodoxy in conceptualising 'leadership' in the context of educational administration and the ways of studying it. Current work in this area is explicitly engaging with the possibility of 'scientifically' studying educational administration as an embedded, and embodied, social agent.
Teaching educational administration: Building from a series of empirical investigations, both collaborations and individual, this stream of research activity provides a wide-ranging critical exploration of current, and historical, policies and practice. Of particular interest is the role of school leadership preparation and development in the context of the advancing managerialist project of the state.
Reconceptualising strategy in the educational administrative context: With the uncritical adoption of corporate management in education, and increasing calls for schools to be more 'strategic', this stream of research challenges orthodox approach to the practice and scholarship of strategy by mobilising social theory. In moving beyond linear rational ways of understanding decision making and organisational performance, this body of work enables innovative and creative scholarship that can direct future practice in more fruitful directions.

Current Research Activities

In addition to a range of writing for publication commitments, Scott is currently engaged in a number of research activities including:

a book project entitled Recasting administrative labour: a methodology for educational administration which provides a comprehensive theory and methodology for the study of educational administration;
work on an edited collection with Prof Colin Evers (UNSW) that brings together a group of rising stars in educational leadership studies to outline new frontiers in educational administrative theory;
guest editing special issues of: International Journal of Leadership in Education (with Dr Jane Wilkinson, Charles Sturt University) that focuses on disrupting orthodoxy in leadership scholarship through a critical lens; and Journal of Educational Administration and History on 're-thinking 'leadership' in education; and
sabbatical (through the University's special studies program) from 1 July till 31 Dec 2012, during which time he will work with colleagues at the University of New South Wales and the University of Queensland on numerous writing projects

Published Books

Collaboration

Scott welcomes collaboration from scholars and researchers working within the critical tradition of educational administration and policy studies. He has successfully collaborated with a number of leading scholars in this area, including Professor Richard Bates (Deakin), Dr Jane Wilkinson (Charles Sturt), Dr Richard Niesche (Queensland), and he is currently working on a project with Professor Colin Evers (UNSW). Scott welcomes contact from potential collaborators, particularly in the areas of theorising leadership practice, especially if employing a Bourdieusian methodology; school leadership preparation and development, particularly university-based programmes; and reconceptualising strategy in the educational administrative context.

Honours and Higher Degree Researcher Supervision

Scott welcomes and encourages Honours and Higher Degree Researchers whose projects sit within the broad field of educational leadership, management and administration, especially projects which employ a Bourdieusian methodology. He suggests that potential students examine his publication list to gain a sense of the scope of his interests and expertise. You can connect with Scott on Academia.Edu - a social networking site for academics - or his own personal website.

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
130304	Educational Administration, Management And Leadership	70
160506	Education Policy	20
150310	Organisation And Management Theory	10

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

Member - Australian Applied Management Colloquium
Member - Australian Council for Educational Leadership
Member - Lake Macquarie Primary Executive Network

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

Member - Australian Association for Educational Research (Educational Leadership SIG)
Member - British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society
Member - American Association for Educational Research
Member - Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management

Editorial Board.

Member - Journal of Educational Administration and Policy
Member - Perspectives in Educational Leadership
Member - Leadership and Policy Quarterly

Appointments

Fellow Australian Council for Educational Leaders (NSW) (Australia)	01/04/2012
Expert Commentator (Online) Australian Council for Educational Leaders (Australia)	01/01/2011 - 01/12/2011
National Advisory Board Member Australian Applied Management Colloquium (Australia)	01/01/2009
Convenor - Educational Leadership Special Interest Group Australian Association for Research in Education (Australia)	01/11/2009

Awards

Research Award.

2012	Emerald/ALCS African Management Research Award Emerald Publishing (United Kingdom) Annual research award from Emerald, ALCS (The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society), INSAP and the International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD), see: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/research/awards/african_management.htm
2012	Highly Commended, Emerald Outstanding Paper of the Year Emerald Publishing (UK) (Australia) Annual best paper awards across Emerald journals (International Journal of Educational Management).
2011	University of Newcastle, Emerging Research Leaders Programme Deputy Vice Chancellor - Research (Australia) Inaugural Emerging Research Leaders Programme at the University of Newcastle. An invited programme in recognition of past performance and potential for research leadership
2009	Highly Commended, Emerald EMFD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award Emerald Publishing (Australia) In the area of 'Strategy and Educational Leadership' sponsored by the Journal of Educational Administration
2009	Emerging Scholar in Educational Leadership Award International Journal of Leadership in Education (United States) 7th Annual Emerging Scholar award.
2007	University of Newcastle, Teaching and Learning Fellowship Centre for Teaching and Learning (Australia) Inaugural Teaching and Learning Fellowship at the University of Newcastle. Project investigating the use of blended teaching in post graduate educational leadership courses.

Invitations

Recasting administrative labour: leadership, policy and managerialism The University of Queensland, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2012
Autonomy, liberation, freedom and local decisions: good for business but is it good for public schooling UNSW, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2012
The firm, policy and education: mobilising Bourdieu UNSW Symposium on 'The role of social theory in contemporary education policy analysis', Australia (Invited Presenter)	2011
Leading for the future Wallsend Public School, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2011
School leadership in managerialist times Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Schools Office - Building Leadership Programme, Australia (Keynote Address)	2010
From rules to strategies: leading a public school Liverpool Region Primary Principals Assoication, Australia (Keynote Address)	2010
The preparation of educational leaders in managerialist times UNSW School of Education Public Lecture Series, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2010
Strategically leading education: building on a culture of contestation Queensland Studies Authority, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2010
The educational strategist: shaping the future of education National Educational Leadership Summit, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2009
Jargon, common sense and BS: challenging popular ideas about educational leadership NSW Secondary Principals Council - Leadership Reference Group, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2009
Strategy and you: aligning your leadership with practice NSW Department of Education and Training, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2007
Strategically leading change: big questions and key challenges Lake Macquarie Primary Executive Network, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2007

Administrative

Administrative expertise

During his tenure at the University of Newcastle, Scott has filled a number of administrative roles at the School, Faculty and Unviersity level. He has been the academic co-ordinator of a large AusAID funded Australian Leadership Award - Fellowship (2010, approx $212,000); the academic co-ordinator of the University's annual Teachers' Visit Day (2010); program convenor of the Early Childhood under-graduate degree (2009) and as of 2011 the Master of Leadership and Management in Education; served as a School representative on Faculty Board; and co-ordinated a number of courses at the under-graduate and post-graduate level.

Teaching

Teaching keywords

Education policy
Educational administration
Educational leadership
Educational management
School leadership
School leadership research

Teaching expertise

Drawing on his background as a school executive, president of a community run childcare centre and member of numerous advisory boards, Scott teaches into educational leadership and management courses at the under-graduate and post-graduate level.

In the under-graduate programs of the School of Education, Scott co-ordinates and teaches a core educational leadership course within the Early Childhood / Primary degree and offers a school leadership elective to students both within and beyond the School of Education.

At the post-graduate level, Scott teaches a core course within the Master of Leadership and Management in Education, and a compulsory within the School Leadership specialisation.

Having held a Teaching and Learning Fellowship 2007-08, Scott's teaching combines a breadth of content knowledge within innovative uses of technology to best meet the needs of the contemporary university student.

Program Convening

Scott is currently the Program Convenor of the Master of Leadership and Management in Education (MLMEd), one of the largest and most successful post-graduate programs at the University of Newcastle, with some 140 students currently enrolled. During his tenure as Program Convenor, Scott led the most substantive revision of the program - which included the addition of specialisations in School, Higher Education, and TVET leadership - since the inception of the MLMEd in the late 1990s. The success of this program is evidenced in the number of alumni who have been promoted following completion, the continued attraction of the program to both domestic and international students, and the positive feedback from students.

The University of Newcastle, Australia