Exploring the ontological and epistemological foundations of educational administration through produced and consumed concepts

This study aims to explore the ontological and epistemological foundations of the field of educational administration (EA) through the produced and consumed concepts in the field. For this purpose, the interaction of the produced and consumed concepts with the ontological and epistemological aspects of EA was examined thoroughly and the reasons and results of concept usage were interpreted. In this sense, this qualitative study consists of two working groups and the data was gathered through documentary analysis and interviews. Initially, doctoral thesis completed between 1987-2020 and eight journals publishing articles in the field of EA between 1968-2020 in Turkey were scanned. Content analysis was used for data analysis. Afterwards, 29 faculty members working in the field of EA in Ankara were interviewed. Both working groups were chosen through criterion sampling. The data from the faculty was collected with the use of a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher and the data was analyzed through content analysis. The findings of the first step proved that a number of concepts are used in the field of EA and most of them come from different disciplines. It was also found that there is not a concept map peculiar to EA. The second phase of the study revealed that there is not any concept production in the field of EA in Turkey although there is huge amount of consumption which results from personal, academic and external factors. The findings also indicate the influence of dominant paradigms, ideology and epistemic groups prevalent around the world. Keywords: educational administration, epistemology, ontology, produced concepts, consumed concepts.