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บทความที่ 1.1 “The Meaning and Use of Theory.”

แหลง่ ทมี่ า: Kimbrough, Ralph B. and Nunnery, Michael Y. Educational Administration: An
Introduction. 3rd ed., New York: McMillon Publishing Company, 1988.

The Meaning and Use of Theory
To many practitioners theory is the antithesis of practice; consequently, they are skeptical of it.
While recognizing that theory in educational administration is lacking in maturity and refine-
ment and that scholars have done little to help practitioners understand and use it, our position
is that one does not function without some type of theory. To illustrate: Mr. Leek, Dean of Boys
at South High, takes every opportunity to remind the pupils that infractions of the numerous
school rules governing pupil conduct will result in swift punishment. Even though he may not
articulate the position, Mr. Leek is of the conviction that pupils respond to structure and nega-
tive reinforcement. Such a conviction, even though it may be naive and simplistic, constitutes
a part of Mr. Leek’s “theory of pupil control.”

Some Definitions
Undoubtedly contributing to the skepticism of many practitioners is the lack of a commonly
accepted definition of the term theory. The existence of such variation is not surprising when
one considers the differences in philosophic orientation among scholars, the relative newness
of the emphasis on theory in educational administration, and the fact that much of what has
been written has its origin in pertinent basic disciplines. Following are several definitions that
illustrate the variations.

One often quoted definition from Einstein follows:

In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying
to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving
hands, even hears it ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenious
he may form a picture of a mechanism which could be responsible for all the things
he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could
explain his observations. He will never be able to compare his picture with the real
mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility or the meaning of such a
comparison. But he certainly believes that, as his knowledge increases, his picture of