REFLECTIONS ON THE KNOWLEDGE-BASE IN LAW AND ETHICS FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

Often law and ethics are seen simply as boundaries within which school administrators are free to exercise their professional prerogatives. Such a view equally misrepresents the nature of these fields and the r esponsibilities of school leaders. The authors, participants in Univer sity Council for Educational Adminstration's (UCEA) Knowledge Base Pro ject, argue that the concepts and logic of law and ethics permeate sch ool decisions. School leaders, moreover lake an active role in the exe rcise, interpretation and thoughtful development of these traditions-r ather than being passive recipients of them. Therefore, they should re gard these traditions as a resource for; nota contstraint upon, effect ive administrative action. In this light programs for the preparation of school leaders should integrate these traditions, as well as other major intellectual domains, across the full range of administratvie de cisionmaking.