The field of educational administration has a major credibility problem in academe because it is seen to lack a convincing theoretical base. In the practical world of politics, management, and teaching, it appears that educational values are easily rendered marginal in policy making and that team and institutional leaders lack a sophisticated understanding of educative leadership. This paper presumes that the field has to rebuild its theory around the trustworthy wisdom of exemplary practitioners and the ideas of educationally critical theorists. The focus is on how postgraduate learning might contribute to this reconstruction. The advantages and disadvantages of creating research-driven and research-based postgraduate curricula are discussed. References are included. (Author/TE)