Leadership and Intercultural Dynamics (Hc)

The work will explore issues related to educational leadership in various settings in the 21st century. It willargue that the context for leadership within many nation states and international scenarios involvesinteraction between multiple and diverse social cultures. A further proposition is that the dominantleadership theory and discourse in the past reflects forms of western hegemony and mono-culturalassumptions drawn largely from the Anglo-American worldview. It will argue that such frameworks havelimited validity in multicultural societies such as Australia, Britain, Canada, Europe and the USA and withindigenous communities within such nations. These societies contain significant populations which do notshare the core values which inform established leadership practice and institutional paradigms in suchnations. The consequence can often be insensitivity towards non-mainstream cultures, inappropriatestructures, failed interventions and alienation of individuals from major institutions and traditions.Another proposition is that as more developing nations increase in affluence and view education as a keyeconomic strategy, they become increasingly exposed to western discourses about leadership andmanagement. Whilst acknowledging that western traditions have much to offer, there is a danger that thiscan involve forms of cultural imperialism whereby local traditions are ignored or subjugated. There is a need for developing nations to recognise andvalue the traditions and practices from their own cultures and assess the extent to which they are compatible with borrowings from other nations. Suchprocesses require a sophisticated degree of reflective analysis to determine potential compatibilities and conflicts. This is an alternative to unmediatedcultural borrowing, cloning, and hybridization. Western leadership scholars who work in such contexts have some responsibility to address thisinteraction instead of blithely offering practices and recipes from their metropolitan world views.The final proposition is that there is a need to develop models and practices for intercultural dynamics which are responsive to interculturalcomplexity. When these are thoroughly developed there will be clear implications for education.The unique features of this book include;• It introduces a new theoretical perspective on leadership and intercultural issues which builds upon the previous work ofcross-cultural theorists from previous decades in educational leadership discourse• It will explore the three primary contexts for leadership and intercultural interaction; with indigenous communities innation states, with multicultural communities in nation states and with international education and development programs• The book will draw upon a variety of authors from across the globe; fromAustralia, Britain, Canada, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Mexico Sweden and theUnited States• The book will provide opportunities for the development of comparative andwide ranging perspectives within specific fields. For instance students will beable to compare issues related to indigenous education in New Zealand,Canada and Fiji. Multicultural perspectives can be informed by experiencesfrom Britain, Canada and the US. One of the strong chapters in the book is onA First Nation leadership program in the US. International programs can becompared from contexts as diverse as Bellarus, China and Pacific Islands.• As such the book will supplement and challenge the mono-cultural textswhich tend to dominate leadership preparation programs in both developedand developing nations.The intended audience for this book includes academics and students in the fields ofeducation, health, public administration and community development in both the developedand developing world. It will also appeal to practitioners in national state and local siteswho operate in intercultural contexts.