Weber on Education and its Administration

Abstract

Weber’s contribution of the bureaucratic ideal type to administrative theory, and his delineation of the three authority types are well known. However, these constructs are often not presented accurately as ideal-typical forms devised to study social institutions in theirhistorical development as Weber intended. More importantly, for education, his subjective and valuational approach to social action, necessary to his interpretive social analysis, is neglected. This article traces Weber’s discussion of education through a number of his texts notusually referenced in educational administration, along with the better known Economy and Society. Education, viewed from this broader perspective in Weber’s writings, is seen to beinextricably interconnected with the development of religious, economic and political institutions, most importantly as it contributes to the problem of the ‘iron cage’ of rationalization, or the bureaucratization, of modern society. The possibilities for leadership in education in a rationalized world, that is, for the exercise of individual freedom and charisma, and even democracy, or in value terms, the reassertion of end valuesover rationalized means, appear to be increasingly grim. The consequence for higher education is the loss of autonomy and academic freedom that can currently be seen in the debate over the corporatization and commercialization of education.