Models in Educational Administration: Revisiting Willower’s ‘Theoretically Oriented’ Critique

Abstract

Three decades ago, Willower (1975) argued that much of what we take to be theory in educational administration is in fact only theoretically oriented. If we accept Willower’s assessment of the field as true, what implications does this statement hold for the academic study and practical application of the theoretically oriented aspects of our field being espoused as theory? In this article, the authors examine this question, and suggest that the theoretically oriented of Willower’s assessment has been called models in other fields of study. Further, models are examined and characterized as conceptually distinct from theory and the application of models as a ‘way of doing’ educational administration is discussed.