AMME IDARESI DERGISI, cilt.44, ss.29-42, 2011 (SSCI)
The aim of this study is to explore the relationship of the science of educational administration with the science of public administration and business management. For this purpose, the paths followed by that educational administration during the process of its transformation into a science was examined with a historical perspective. The study found that this process gained pace in 1950s; during these years, the positivistic paradigm prevailed the educational administration and the field started to be defined as a sub-discipline of public administration. However, the 1980s witnessed the criticisms towards positivistic paradigm; interpretative approach began to spread and in the same era, business management became dominant in the field of educational administration. It was concluded on the basis of these analyses that the field of educational administration has failed to Ally develop to a have an autonomous identity both in historical and categorical terms.