Knowledge generation in educational administration from the inside out: The promise and perils of site-based, administrator research

This article is part of an American Educational Resource Association Division A task force focus on how to improve the research base and knowledge production in educational administration. It represents an exploratory study of the potential for educational administrators to generate knowledge out of their own practice settings. The database consists of published articles, dissertation abstracts, and interviews with administrator researchers. The study describes the various topics they studied, the methods they used, and the practical, epistemological, and political dilemmas they encountered. Unlike the traditional notion of a knowledge base that is created by formal researchers and then disseminated to practice settings, the authors argue that insider research is both created and used in the same setting and therefore represents a powerful lever for personal, professional, and organizational transformation. A discussion is provided on the use of both outsider and insider research and how together they can contribute to a rethinking of the notion of a knowledge base in educational administration.