Deconstructing educational leadership: Derrida and Lyotard by Richard Niesche (review)

With my general interest and background in the Western philosophy, I was surprised to see a new title published in educational leadership that followed the conceptual framework laid out by Jacques Derrida and Jean-Francois Lyotard, two prominent French post-structural philosophers. As a young scholar in educational administration, the first question that came to mind was “what do Derrida and Lyotard have to do with educational leadership?” Post-structuralist authors argue that there is no such structure in human culture, and no such self-sufficiency of the structures. In the post-structuralist approach, the reader offers a critical review of normative concepts, replaces the author (center), and examines other sources for meaning such as cultural norms or other literary works (periphery). Readers offer multiple meanings and interpretations of the same text or objects instead of one single meaning.

As I unpacked the entire seven chapters in Richard Niesche’s Deconstructing Educational Leadership: Derrida and Lyotard, I remember my graduate school classes in Western philosophy that forced me think about politics within education; as well as educational reform through the lenses of post-structuralism and deconstruction. Post-structuralism is a reaction against scientific objectivity and universality; it challenges Western logocentrism (idea that there is no center or a foundation for all thoughts, language, experience) and constructs a discourse outside the center, whereas deconstruction focuses on the structures of binary opposition (day/night, black/white, divine/human) to differentiate the hierarchies and social systems. Harcourt (2007) states,

Post-structuralism is a style of critical reasoning that focuses on the moment of slippage in our systems of meaning as a way to identify—right there, in that ambiguous space—the ethical choices that we make, whether in our writings or in everyday life.

(p. 1)

Personally, I was fascinated and driven by the question—how am I going to use Derrida and Lyotard in leadership? How do we assess “truth,” “reality,” “knowledge,” and “certainty” in our management and leadership?

The intended audience for this book is educational leaders, policy makers, and administrators in the field of Educational Leadership, Management, and Administration. This book urges the readers to think of leadership as development “prompted by international gurus with modernizing know-how” (p. viii). In other words, it offers a different perspective to the leadership industry located in schools, universities, and companies and their policies and solutions. In general, this book is a critical thinking resource for professionals, whether in academia or business, who are interested in leadership and administration to evaluate the art of leading and leadership, policy directions and reforms, educational issues and outcomes in the local and/or national contexts. Moreover, it offers the reader a framework, from social and political theories, by Derrida and Lyotard. These theories help educators and leaders examine the existing administrative systems critically, identify the ambiguity and ethical choices, and explore the shared social agreement over the structure of meaning.

Tightly organized around three contemporary themes of educational leadership discourse, the author has examined: a) the school accountability system and its impact on educational leaders, b) the quest for the best educational model and the subsequent rise of educational reform and standards, and c) the issues of social justice and equity in leadership professions. Written within 114 pages, excluding notes and references, the author is able to bring a new perspective to reflect our own leadership patterns, compare the works established by experts in the field, and re-design new leadership models.

Of the seven chapters, the first two chapters provide context and background regarding various theoretical perspectives. In chapter 1, the author briefly introduces the intellectual movement led by the 20 ^thcentury French philosophers (Derrida and Lyotard), and the basic meaning of major terms and concepts used by these philosophers such as “postmodern condition,” “the differend,” “sublime,” “deconstruction,” “ differance” [a coinage suggesting in French “to be different” or to “defer”] and “supplement.” Chapter 2 mentions the current leadership standards (e.g., Educational Leadership Constituent...