Discourses of change ownership in higher education

Abstract

PurposeThis paper demonstrates how the positioning of self and others affects change in higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe discourse of various educators was collected during various interviews and discussion groups. A positioning theory framework was used to analyse the data and derive conclusions.FindingsIt is shown that if individuals are understood in terms of their agendas in relation to the organisational context that they can be better led.Research limitations/implicationsThe quantity and quality of data available has limited the integrity of conclusions drawn from this paper. Further research is proposed that will provide a more robust understanding.Practical implicationsAn approach to understand how to deal with various stakeholders is presented for leaders. There is a need to deal with each person as an individual depending on how their personal agendas influence their priorities.Originality/valueThis paper introduces a social constructionist perspective to leading academics.