Bridging theory and practice: introducing a theoretically informed pedagogical tool for empowering educational leaders in navigating practice architectures

Educational leaders need to understand, lead, and develop education in a complex context. However, theoretically informed resources that support the professional learning needs of educational leaders are scarce. This study aimed to develop a theoretically informed pedagogical tool to lay ground for faculty development and future empirical studies on the professional development of educational leaders. The methods applied were a review of the research literature and practice-based discussions among the authors. The study resulted in The TPA Reflection Tool, which is primarily informed by the theory of practice architectures (TPA) and based on the premise that a pedagogical tool should enable structured reflection and uncover practice architectures. The Tool involves a stepwise process identifying the dispositions of the educational leader, exploring the cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements of the educational site, and finally defining the pedagogical space of agency, i.e. the educational leader’s mediating actions in the form of translation work, coordination work and relationship work. The TPA Reflection Tool offers a resource for educational leaders to analyse and theorise their practice and develop the degree of awareness and agency needed to successfully respond to and orchestrate the environments in which they work.