0.1 1. performance is the new standard in the preparation of school  (Page 6/9)

The context for experiential learning in the educational leadership curriculum is to develop a deeper level of understanding by being involved in well crafted activities and problems that elicit behaviors and reflections commensurate with roles and responsibilities that are closely aligned with the job of school administrator within a community of practice. Lave and Wenger (1991) describe the importance of acquiring knowledge as an apprentice (guided by an involvement with a structured pattern of learning experiences) within this community of practice.

A learning curriculum is situated. It is not something that can be considered in isolation, manipulated in arbitrary didactic terms, or analyzed apart from the social relations that shape legitimate peripheral participation. (p. 97)

Figure 1: Experiential Learning Cycle

The curriculum of the educational leadership program, after fifty years of academic emphasis is being more closely aligned with applied learning that expects graduates of an educational leadership program to have a command of meaningful skills that can be transferred to leadership roles and responsibilities in education. Significantly, there is the recognized importance of imparting knowledge through well-crafted and meaningful activities that are as challenging and significant as academic work within the classroom. Vygotsky (see Daniels, 2001) further explained how these well-crafted activities could build on previous learning and scaffold into new learning. However, the construction of new learning was not an independent cognitive activity. As Vygotsky and others have written, the social and cultural context in which the student interacts helps to reinforce the more complete understanding of the performance activity within the educational context.

The field of educational leadership preparation is embracing the more thorough education of the aspiring school administrator by challenging him/her to learn . . . using the both the left (more cognitive) and right side (more conceptual) of the brain.

A change in curriculum delivery

Berry and Beach (2006) wrote that the field of educational leadership had practical, professional, and academic domains that served as a foundation for curriculum planning within educational administration programs (Table 1). Educational leadership is a complex, diverse, and amorphous field that, ultimately, draws from many professions. The applied nature of educational leadership is substantively represented by a complex intersection of practical, professional, and academic knowledge—from dealing with an angry parent to making a presentation to the school board about student achievement—that demands a high level of performance in one’s day-to-day role within an educational organization.

(Berry&Beach, 2005)

• Each domain represents a body of knowledge within the educational administration curriculum.Your first item here
• Educational administration preparation programs have struggled to determine the appropriate balance between each knowledge domain.