A phenomenological approach to understanding the process of deaning

A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding the Process of Deaning M. Cot

STAINTON,

DNS, RN,* AND MARGRETTAM. STYLES,EDD, RN" The Philosophical Basis of the Interpretive Approach

An interpretive, phenomenological approach to gaining a context-based understanding of the process of deaning is explored, with reference to the mentorship relationship existing between the two authors. The development of such a relationship and its attendant benefits and risks are described, along with a framework for analysis of the decanal process. Some requirements for successful use of the study method in the dean-novice relationship are listed. J Prof Nuts 1:269o 74, 1985

The major task of the dean is similar to that of other executive leaders: shaping and accomplishing the mission of the organization. The mission of a university is threefold: the advancement of knowledge, the provision of educational programs, and the linking of knowledge to society to further society's progress. Unlike business organizations, which are composed of individuals working toward a common organizational goal, the university comprises multiple, diverse units and competing goals under the umbrella of a common mission. The deanship exists within an organization in which the myriad interests of the individuals in it are the source of both its greatest achievements and its greatest problems. Cohen and March describe academic organizations as "organized anarchies.TM Baldridge argues for a political model as the best means of analyzing the dynamics among the "hundreds of miniature subcultures" in a university.~3The university, in its ultimate dependence on society for financial support, is highly influenced by social changes, often created by the knowledge the university generates and disseminates. The many variables characteristic of academic settings generate idiosyncratic approaches to interpreting diverse goals and processes. Governance structures (and administrative styles) therefore vary both within and among institutions. They are the result of the blend between the personal knowledge of the individual dean and the characteristics of the situational context in which the role is executed. The successful interface and interplay between the organizational and interpersonal aspects of the dean's position require continuous interpretation of the individual and contextual variables, neither of which are static. Deans are situated in a specific academic organization and a social-economic-politicalmilieu that provide a background of shared, implicit meaning in the context of which deaning takes place. Deaning, therefore, cannot be understood by objectively studying decanal behaviors alone. An expert dean will approach a situation with a host of

HAT INSIGHTS into the deaning process can be gained by studying the practice of an experienced dean through a phenomenological approach? Deaning, by its nature, involvesnot only situational variables and management skills, but personal knowledge acquired through the lived practical experience of being a dean. In spite of more than 100 years of deanship on this continent, there is little empirical evidence on the process of deaning to guide incumbents or students toward success in the role. Studies of the deanship traditionally focus on the characteristics of deans t-3 and characteristics of the role.4-8 Recently, there has been some emphasis on preparing deans of nursing through mentorship.9.t0 The personalized, multifaceted nature of the deanship is the topic of an executive development series published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.n There may be three main reasons why the deanship has resisted rigorous scrutiny: (1) the overall dearth of an integrated approach to understanding leadership in any setting, (2) the contextual uniqueness of the deanship created by the academic setting, and (3) the personal style of each dean. This article describes an interpretive, phenomenological approach to gaining a context-based understanding of the process of cleaning.

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Supported by National Health Ph.D., Fellowship (NHRDP) 6609-1193-47. * Associate Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary. 1 Dean and Professor, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Colleen Stainton: Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada. 269

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unexamined or taken-for-granted meanings and practices that define what it means to be a dean in that situation. Judgments are not based on rules or steps but on a gestalt of the whole. According to Polanyi, salient elements are discriminated without conscious effort because, in the process of becoming a skilled practitioner, "a person commits himself to certain beliefs and appreciations, and accepts certain meanings by deliberately merging his awareness of certain particulars into a focal awareness of a whole.''.4 Polanyi speaks of"practical wisdom" which is "more truly embodied in action than expressed in rules of action" and must therefore be passed on by example from master to apprentice within the situational context..4 It can only be communicated by example, not by precept. Thus an interpretive approach is required to discover the practical knowledge of an experienced dean.

Interpretive Strategy

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some avoidance behavior in order for the dean to be able to concentrate on important substantive issues, but does not describe how a dean distinguishes such issues from those regarded as less important or trivial.~ The interpretative approach has been successfully applied to the study of various cultural groups. Dreyfus and Dreyfus studied the practices of air force pilots and chess players.19a° These studies led to greater understanding of decision making among expert practitioners. Benner extended this application of the interpretive method to two cultural groups. The meanings in nursing as a culture were interpreted as domains of practice with related competences, generating a meaningful theory of the movement from novice to expert. 21An understanding of stress and coping was elaborated through examination of work practices of middle-aged men.22 Most recently, Bellah and associates have interpreted Americans' attitudes and commitments to public life.23

The goal of an interpretive strategy is to understand human behavior, in contrast to explaining

DEANING AS A TRANSACTIONAL VARIABLE

it.*~a6This understanding can only be derived from interpretations of meanings that guide practice in typical situations. Kuhn describes the discovery of representative or paradigm cases of the use of personal knowledge developed by members of a successful group through trial and error.17This knowledge becomes the shared possession of that group, "the disciplinary matrix" with which an experienced group member interprets a situation and acts. Heidegger would argue that practical wisdom is the accurate interpretation of implicit cultural meanings, which guides expert practices.Is The expert dean cannot, therefore, be expected to explain the behavior used or a decision made in a given situation. As human beings are self-interpreting, expert deans can interpret their practices-that is, the knowledge, skills, emotions, expectations, commitments, and beliefs that become embedded in their consciousness over time and unconsciously guide their day-to-day behaviors.18Novices can learn to interpret in the same way, given the same situation, only by "being shown examples of situations that their predecessors in the group have already learned to see as like each other and as different from other sorts of situations.''~7This differs from what is generally known about administration, with an at best skeletal theory for explaining behavior--knowing how.''a4 What is m!ssing in the theory is "knowing what." For example, Gamier refers to the need for

Using the interpretive approach, deaning is viewed from a transactional perspective whereby "one searches neither for determinant traits in the person, nor for inescapable forces in the environment, but for ways individuals and their particular historical environments mutually influence each other "'~4 Deaning, conceptualized as a transactional variable, is the "summation o f . . . the many and specific encounters with the social environment "'~4 An experienced dean responds to repetitive stimuli to which she or he is well adapted. As new situations arise, personal knowledge is used unconsciously to assess similarities to and differences from previous situations. Observance of the dean's practice generates questions in the novice who Seeks to understand. Questioning the dean's response to situations unearths the tested and shared tacit knowledge ofdeaning. Taylor claims that language is contextually situated and representative of feelings, goals, social relations, and practices, a~As the expert dean explains or discusses a situation with a novice, that which is implicit and salient is brought into the public domain through the language used in interpreting the practices. The novice then interprets the meanings in these situations by seeking congruence between the action and the meaning the situation had for the dean. This interpretation generates further questions. Interpretation is a synthetic process requiring a moving from whole to parts to whole during which

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PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING DEANING

the novice acquires an interpretation of the dean's interpretations within the contextual whole. An understanding of the process of deaning is gradually gained as familiarization with the language develops and a set of examplars and paradigm cases is assimilated and understood. These paradigm cases are those known by the expert to be characteristic of the deaning process. Later, when in the dean's role, the former novice will experience a sense of familiarity in encountering actual events,aTMore simply stated, one a~tually takesupthe culture of deaning by assimilating the skills, bodily experiences, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that guide behavior in decanal or decanat-like situations. GAINING ACCESS TO THE DEAN'S PRACTICE

The decanal aspirant must first of all negotiate access to the culture or practice of an expert dean. A mutual interest in the project is necessary that includes not only the study itself, but a mutual interest in each other's professional development. It may be difficult to persuade someone who is expert to agree to a study of something that she or he cannot articulate, thereby compromising an acquired sense of competence. At the outset the investigator/student is also unable to be explicit about what will be studied. Thus this form of preparation requires an interpersonal compatibility between the dean and the student that will tolerate sustained, personal contact. Also necessary is a philosophical compatibility that fosters an accurate understanding of the dean's interpretation of her or his practices. An Example of the Interpretive Method

The authors used the interpretive strategy over a two-year period to gain an understanding of deaning through an examination of one dean's practices. This strategy was based on the assumption that studying the practices of one dean in context over time would provide access to the "knowing what" form of personal knowledge. Throughout the study period, the first author was a doctoral student enrolled in a research-orientated program in parent-newborn nursing with a research sponsor expert in that field; the second author was a dean with an administrative practice and a professor with teaching and research responsibilities. Involvement in this study was voluntary and supplemental to the roles of both ahthors. Participant and nonparticipant observation and regular dialogue were the methods used to collect data for interpretation.

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This study began prior to the novice's entrance into the doctoral program with mutually expressed interest and negotiation for access to studying leadership with the dean. Following the novice's entrance into the program, regular, scheduled appointments began during which the dean described some of the current situations in which she was involved, Discussion of the situation followed. Common questions posed by the dean were: What would you consider in making a decision in this situation? What options are available? What would be the priority? Why? The student asked: Why is this situation important? How will this decision be made? Why are these people involved and not others? The dean gained insight into the novice's level of understanding of deaning and began to be able to recognize aspects of her practices that were unfamiliar to the novice. The novice began to sense the dean's perspective and question why particular real situations were chosen for examination or were given high priority. Early in the study period the student familiarized herself with the dean's library, some policy documents of the university and its academic units, and the literature on the deanship. This provided access to some of the language, some of the context, and some of this dean's references. Gradually, the number and type of observational experiences expanded; some were suggested by the dean, and others were requested by the learner. Not all of these experiences took place with the dean present. The practices of others in the dean's office who carry out delegated parts of the dean's role were also involved. Associate deans, department chairs, administrative assistants, secretaries, and other staff members added to a holistic understanding of the dean's practices, as each of these persons could interpret certain dimensions of the deanship. Through participant observation, other elements of the deanship also became accessible, such as organization of the office; interaction with personnel; use of people, space, and materials; delegation and nondelegation of dimensions of the role (to whom and when); decision-making, either alone or in tandem with others; communication patterns and processes; personal time management; and the dean's presentation of herself. Notes were kept by both the dean and the student to help establish continuity in interpretation. Parts of the study time were spent in independent studies with the associate deans and in a seminar on academic administration conducted by the dean. Whereas a dean may facilitate an ethnography of

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his or her own practice, comparing and contrasting helps to validate exemplars of the culture of deaning. Opportunities for the student to observe and hear the dialogue of other deans were available when consultants and guests came to the school. One particularly helpful experience consisted of sitting in on parts of a two-day site visit with three other deans who were consulting on one of the school's programs. The student's previous experience in an academic setting throughout the tenure of four deans was also used for comparison. The interpretive method depends on shared meanings. Listening to the dean in action, observing the execution of the role in various situational contexts, and reading the literature, speeches, and reports used and produced by the dean and her associates served to augment the most critical strategy: dialogue. The dialogue-dean-to-student-dean, dean-to-dean, and dean-to-others-served to present the language of deaning and provided indicators of what is salient and meaningful. Immersion in the milieu in which the dean and the associate and assistant deans work provided further access to the language and customs of the setting in which the critical judgments characteristic of the dean are made. Observation of or participation in the committee work of the university and of the academic unit provided content for continued periodic dialogue with the dean. These,discussions were used to elicit the dean's interpretations or advice, to formulate principles, and to clarify elements of the dean's practice. Some of the dean's practice, by necessity, was not accessible to the student. The dean's interpretation of the public and private parameters of her role provided some insight into the beliefs and values that guided her practices. It soon became apparent that it was better to schedule longer periods for discussions between the dean and student than more frequent, shorter periods, as the two often wrestled with exhuming the personal knowledge buried in the dean's practice. For example, one on-going area of discussion was the meaning of the concepts "administration" "management" and "leadership." The authors reviewed the theories pertinent to each concept and sometimes argued with each other's perceptions or interpretations until a common level of understanding was achieved. In the process, the dean gave accounts of her practice and the student questioned incongruences between observations made and the dean's actions or interpretations of actions. Both authors often left these sessions puzzled and still

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searching for an understanding of the dean's practice. This raised the internal-external conflict whereby the inside perspective of the experiencer and the outside perception of the observer must be reconciled.26 As such a study progresses, investigators are able to develop questions that provide a framework for analysis. The line of inquiry that emerged during this study was as follows. 1. What belief system or framework guides the dean's practice? a. Beliefs about the discipline. b. Beliefs about self and others. c. Beliefs about the administrator/scholar dimension of the role. 2. What specific behaviors/skills are portrayed in the dean's day-to-day practices? Are they congruent with the beliefs/framework? 3. How does the dean interpret situations as tasks, problems, issues, or crises? How is attention to them expressed? What options are considered in the process? 4. To what extent does the dean balance the roles of scholar and administrator? How is time managed around these two role components? What are the dimensions of the scholastic and administrative domains of governance? + 5. To what extent do the organizational structure, support staff, and resources assist or hinder the conduct of the dean's role? What requires change or no change and why? How is change brought about? 6. How does the dean deal with being accessible and visible while facilitating the growth and authority of others? When does the dean represent the school, the faculty, the university, the discipline, the profession? When does she represent herself?. Implications of the Study Method for the Participants

The course of this type of study is not linear but rather one of progress and regression, a zig-zag course through the maze that makes up a dean's m i l i e u the cohorts and colleagues, the schedules, the office organization, the tasks, committees, projects, meetings, agendas, and special functions that make up a dean's day, week, month, and year. The learner and dean provide triggers and cues to each other's

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understanding as the buried meanings that guide expert practice are uncovered. Sensitivity to each other is critical to the success of this method as the personal knowledge of one is transmitted to the other, often in serendipitous and fortuitous ways. Both the dean and the learner have access to part of the personal self of the other. The dean's work and the student's work form part of the identity of each. Interpretive strategy occurs as a transactional process, highly dependent on the variable mood, energy, openness, and sensitivity levels that influence the interactive process in each encounter. Accurate delineation of private areas in the personal space and personal knowledge of the dean may require some trial and error.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEAN

Being studied subjectively can be both unnerving and enervating to the participating dean. Explaining that which one does expertly can result in embarrassing difficulties in analyzing and articulating situations and behaviors and their rationale. On the other hand, the discovery of embedded knowledge and skills can be exciting and can lead to greater self-appreciation and more honest self-appraisal. The continuous long-term exposure of one's practice to scrutiny inevitably exposes weaknesses along with strengths. Although this may be threatening, it can also be a stimulus to improve practice through increased self-understanding. The process is time-consuming and even tedious at times for an experienced dean. However, this form of study affords the rare opportunity to discuss situations as they are occurring and to problem-solvewith someone who is not petitioning for resources and does not have vested interests. As the student dean increasingly acquires an understanding of the dean's practice and becomes a disciple, a special communion can occur in which the student requires less interpretation and the dean can feel understood. The dean's giving up of her or his stock in trade then becomes more a contribution to the future than a giving away to an emerging competitor. Administering an academic unit and maintaining scholarly activities are demanding and timeconsuming. Essential for the dean's full and unfettered participation in an interpretive study are: 1. The confidence of the dean that the exposure of the practice will not constitute a threat. 2. A student who will actively seek the buried

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meanings by questioning and challenging the dean's interpretation of practices. 3. A student who is serious, persistent, and industrious. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDENT

This method of studying deaning also poses special challenges to the investigator-student. Care must be taken to prevent competition between the research focus of the program of study and the study ofdeaning when the two are occurring simultaneously. However, learning to incorporate both into the decanal student role is excellent practice for balancing the administrative and scholarly components of the dean's role. Being well-known by the dean could hold potential risks in a setting characterized by evaluation of learning and competing interests. The student's long-term contact with the dean could be threatening to some faculty members and students. The student may be perceived as possessing and as being able to transmit information others may want. Having access to such information requires the ability to be "not knowing" even when that means forfeiting advantages this information might give individual'students, the department, or oneself. When the dean does transmit such information to others, the response to it can be observed as a process. Conversely, there is information that cannot be transmitted to the dean, especially if it involves specific faculty members or students, even when that might add to the decanal student's understanding of the dean's practices. All these stressors are offset by the value of gaining a reality-based understanding of deaning. Preparing for academic leadership while engaged in a research program at the doctoral level adds significantly to the program of study. Essential for the student's full and unfettered participation are: 1. A sense of responsibility in preparing for future academic leadership. 2. A dean who is perceived to be successful by himself or herself, by the faculty, by the student, and by others outside the unit. 3. A dean who is curious and willing to interpret his or her practices in such a study. Conclusion

The process of deaning is intricate and buried in the practice of experts. A phenomenological ap-

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proach to the preparation for deaning is appropriate to viewing the deanship holistically. The practicing dean is challenged to explain and interpret that which has become common, everyday behavior. The decanal student is challenged with uncovering and assimilating the elusive personal knowledge and skill inherent in the dean's behavior. The result is not a description of a prototype d e a n - - a n impossible task, given the kaleidoscopic patterns indigenous to the deanship. Nor does one find a cause-and-effect explanation of decanal behavior. W h a t emerges is an understanding o f meanings that guide the practices of a dean within the situational c o n t e x t - - t h e academic milieu, with its inherent organizational and h u m a n features. This understanding of the practices o f the expert dean is validated when the student begins to be able to accurately anticipate the expert dean's behavior as situations are occurring and to be able to interpret deaning practices to others. A phenomenological approach by means of the interpretive m e t h o d used by expert and novicedeans who can work in sympathetic tandem has potential for the preparation and orientation o f some deans. This approach may differ from the mentor or modelling approach, as it leads not to rules, imitation, or theoretical formulations, but to enculturation through understanding. Expert deans willing to have their practices studied in this manner by selected doctoral students or newly appointed deans could increase recruitment to and effectiveness in the decanal role. References 1. Hall BA, McKay RP, Matsunaga BK: Deans of nursing: changing s.ocialization patterns. Nuts Outlook 29:92-95, 1981 2. Lorensen MS: Characteristics of the dean of the school of nursing in institutions of higher education. Doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, 1976 3. Konrad ACT:Deans in Canadian higher education. Can J Higher Educ 2:53-72, 1980 4. EhrleEB: Observations on the natureofdeaning: the emerging role of the dean in academic planning. Physical Education and Recreation 50:44, 1979 5. Gamier B: Deans in Canadian universities: a managerial perspective. Can J Higher Educ 12:1-6, 1982 6. Hannah KJN: A descriptive study of administrative behavior of nursing deans in Canadian universities. Doctoral dissertation, University of Alberta, 1981

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7. Hagopian GA: The nursing deanship: administrative problems and educational needs. Doctoral dissertation, The University of Rochester, 1979 8. Van Cleve M: Deaning: Middle Management in Academe. Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 1981 9. Hawken PL: Growing our own: a way to prepare deans. Nuts Outlook 28:170-72, 1980 10. Chamings PA, Brown BJ: The dean as mentor. NuTs Health Care 5:88-91, 1984 I1. American Association of CollegesofNursing: ExecutiveDevelopment, Series I: Have You Ever Thought of Being a Dean?, volume 2. Washington, DC, Continuing Education for Nurse Academic Administrators Project, 1981 12. Cohen MD, MarchJG: Leadership and Ambiguity. San Francisco, McGraw-Hill, 1974 13. Baldridg6JV: Academic Governance. Berkeley,CA: McCutchinPublishing, 1971 14. Polanyi M: Personal Knowledge. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958 15. Rabinow PE, Sullivan WM: The interpretive turn: emergence of an approach, in Rabinow PE, Sullivan WM (eds): Interpretive Social Science: A Reader. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1979 16. TaylorC: Interpretation and the sciencesof man, in Rabinow PE, Sullivan WM (eds): Interpretive Social Science: A Reader. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1979 17. Kuhn TS: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2d ed, volume 2. Chicago, University of Chicago, 1962 18. Heidegger M: Being and Time: Division I. New York, Harper & Row, 1962 (original in German, 1927) 19. Dreyfus HI., Dreyfus SE: The PsychicBoom: Flying Beyond the Thought Barrier. Berkeley,Operations Research Center, University of California, 1977 20. Dreyfus HI., Dreyfus SE: Usesand Abuses of Multi-attribute and Muhi-aspect Models of Decision Making. Berkeley, University of California, 1977 21. Benner PE: From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice. Palo Alto, CA, Addison-Wesley, 1984 22. Benner PE: Stress and Satisfaction on the Job: Work Meanings and Coping of Mid-Career Men. New York; Praeger Scientific Press, 1984 23. Bellah RN, Madsen R, Sullivan M, et aI: Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1985 24. WrubelJ, Benner PE, Lazarus RS: Social competence from the perspective of stress and coping, in WineJD, Smye MD (eds): Social Competence. New York, Guilford Press, 1981 25. Taylor C: Theories of meaning: Dawes Hicks lecture, in Proceedings of the British Academy. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1980 26. Pervin LA, Lewis M: Overview of the internal-external issue, in Pervin LA, LewisM (eds): Perspectives in Interactional Psychology. New York, Plenum, 1978