Fundamental Concepts of Educational Leadership and Management - Softcover

Razik, Taher; Swanson, Austin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 013233271X ISBN 13: 9780132332712

Publisher: Pearson, 2009

Synopsis

In a time of high educational expectations and professional accountability, today’s educational leaders must possess a broad variety of skills that enable them to function comfortably and effectively in changing environments and under highly politicized conditions. The mission of Fundamental Concepts of Educational Leadership is to foster understanding of this reality among those preparing for administrative and managerial careers in pre-colligate educational institutions and to help them develop the skills necessary for working effectively within those environments.

 

This text emphasizes an action-research approach that is more eclectic and practical than ideological — compelling readers to think critically about the theoretical underpinnings of current educational practice and motivating them to solve problems using sensible, realistic alterative approaches.

 

The revised third edition of this text includes a number of new tools -- such as activities, case studies, and instructional aids — which encourage active learning as well chapter review and reinforcement. The new edition also includes a table at the front of the text that links ISLLC standards with the corresponding discussion in within the book.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Leading students to a clear and comprehensive understanding of the field’s basic issues, Fundamental Concepts of Educational Leadership and Management, Third Edition takes a realistic and practical approach to leadership training. Eclectic in approach, this text emphasizes an action-research perspective, compelling readers to think critically about the theoretical underpinnings of current educational practice and motivating them to solve problems using sensible, realistic alternative approaches.

 

In a time of high educational expectations and professional accountability, today’s educational leaders must be able to function comfortably and effectively in changing environments and politicized conditions. Linking theory with practice, Fundamental Concepts of Educational Leadership and Management, Third Edition gives those preparing for administrative and managerial careers in the K-12 community the skills to decide upon relevant action under novel conditions; the ability to understand the issues and processes found in educational institutions; and the knowledge to include originality and collaboration in designing strategic policies.

 

New to the third edition:

• New!  A key to ISLLC Standards assists students in preparing for state licensing by linking the concepts presented in the book with licensing requirements.
• New! A summary of Fundamental Concepts discussed chapter by chapter provides students with a helpful list of key themes and ideas. Table P.1 in the front of the text allows instructors to build units around a particular ISLLC Standard or Knowledge Indicator by identifying relevant supporting sections.
• New! Embedded activities and case studies appear in boxes throughout the text allowing students to think critically about the subjects at hand and reinforce comprehension of new information.
• New! Internet resources are brought to the attention of readers, giving students the chance to gain additional and updated information on the topics under discussion.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Preface

Perspective

If there was ever a time when educational institutions required effective leadership, it is now. This is the first time in the history of the United States that the quality of the education provided for our citizens has been recognized politically as being strategically important to national success and survival. Educational issues are among the major concerns of voters; therefore, not surprisingly, they are debated vigorously by candidates for public office at all levels of government and they are covered regularly on the front pages of major newspapers.

Today's educational leaders need to possess a broad variety of skills that enable them to function comfortably and effectively in changing environments and under highly politicized conditions. In these new circumstances, change is the only constant. The mission of this book is to foster understanding of this reality among those preparing for careers in leading educational institutions and to help develop skills necessary for working competently within them. For better or for worse, this is a dynamic and exciting period in human history. Because of the fluidity of the situation, it is a period of unparalleled opportunity and of potential danger. To capitalize on the opportunities and to minimize the dangers demands extraordinarily wise leadership in all sectors and in all enterprises, including education.

While pervasive social change affects persons in all walks of life, there is bound to be greater impact upon those in positions of great social visibility and concern—such as persons holding administrative and supervisory responsibility for educational systems. Society has a right to expect adept performance from people in those positions. Under these conditions, proficient leadership cannot be a matter of copying conventional behavior. To advance education, there is a clear need for educational leaders to have and exercise: the ability to comprehend the dynamics of human affairs as a basis for relevant action under novel conditions; a better understanding of issues and processes in educational institutions; and greater originality and collaboration in designing strategic policies. Their approach to the opportunities and problems confronting them must remain hypothetical and open-ended so that more may be learned by what is done.

Graham (1999) saw the accomplishments of the new public schools during the first quarter of the twentieth century concentrating on assimilating the flood of immigrants pouring into the country. The middle years focused on broadening the curriculum, especially at the secondary level, to include vocational subjects and courses in social and personal adjustment that enabled secondary schools to address the educational needs of most of the student population. The 1960s and 1970s addressed issues of equity and access among genders and ethnic groups. During the first three-quarters of the century, Graham concluded, the schools were much more successful in enrolling students than in teaching them (emphasis added). This practice is no longer acceptable. Schools must now set out to correct the situation by focusing on raising the achievement levels of all students.

Past assumptions used by educators in designing schools and school curricula no longer hold across the board. Children are less likely to come from majority backgrounds, they are more likely to be members of nontraditional families, and they are more likely to be poor. Education through high school and beyond is essential if graduates are to be employed in other than menial jobs and to enjoy comfortable standards of living. Well-paying employment opportunities increasingly require sophisticated intellectual skills. Educational leadership is being challenged to design new curricula that recognize the multicultural nature of students, provide institutional support for those at risk, and link schooling to employment and citizenship. Solving our "educational" crisis will require coordination of schools' efforts with those of other social agencies in the community.

Not only will school leaders of the future be working with a student body markedly different from that of the past, the organizational structures and professional and political relationships will also be quite different. These changes will produce a new climate for school organizations that demands a transformational rather than hierarchical leadership. Parents and community members are likely to have greater influence on the organization and operation of schools through membership on school councils or through parental choice of schooling. The relationships between teachers and administrators are likely to be collegial, not authoritarian. Principals and teachers are likely to have greater professional discretion as many decisions formerly made at the district, state, and federal levels are left to schools. Nevertheless, local, state, and federal authorities will continue to set certain parameters. We can expect states, in particular, to set achievement standards, to design curricula to meet those standards, and to administer examinations to identify schools failing to meet those standards.

For several years, the authors co-taught an introductory course for students of educational administration. We sought in vain to find an appropriate text that would be comprehensive in coverage, yet have sufficient depth to lead students to a fundamental understanding of relevant issues. We wanted a text that was eclectic, not ideological, in approach, and that would emphasize an "action-research" perspective, compelling readers to consider critically the theoretical underpinnings of current educational practice and motivating them to seek practical alternative approaches. Not finding such a text, we set out to create our own: Fundamental Concepts of Educational Leadership is the result.

The careful reader will quickly detect that we do not subscribe entirely to any particular philosophy of education. We attempt to report the best of what has been produced by researchers regardless of their paradigm and orientation. We view the study of leadership as a multiple-perspective activity. Theories of leadership should not be viewed as competing with one another in the quest for the "one best view" (Sergiovanni, 1984). Each approach, each theory, has inherent strengths and weaknesses. Each theory is better able to illuminate and explain certain aspects of each concept. Taken together, a more complete understanding of the concept is possible through the power of triangulation and perspective.

New to This Edition

The second edition continues to set forth principles undergirding the knowledge base of educational leadership, updated to address new and evolving thinking, learning, and organizational paradigms that are in a significant period of transformation. The book is still highly applicable to introductory courses in programs that prepare educational administrators, but is also recommended as a basic guide for all educational practitioners. As with the first edition, leadership principles are presented within a systems framework. The second edition maintains the thorough coverage of relevant theory of the first, but is more consistent in relating that theory to practice.

In the previous edition, we defined leadership as influencing the actions of others in achieving desirable ends. While that definition is historically based on a significant and important body of knowledge, new definitions reflect a major rethinking of the concept. Today, leadership is also thought of as an overall action/change orientation—a transformation occurring in and across numerous educational environments. Leadership in this new arena of transformation becomes less role-specific in the traditional sense, while it amasses broad new elements that expand its overall character.

Today a leader (in whatever situation that might involve) can be thought of as a teacher, steward, facilitator, pathfinder, aligner, empowerer, appraiser, forecaster, enabler, and/or advisor. As this incomplete list expands to engulf a multitude of possibilities, you begin to sense the critical themes that further define leadership for the educational practitioner today. Under evolving conditions, leadership takes on an action-rich perspective. Leadership becomes the capacity to generate, operationalize, and evaluate a continuously changing environment—to build feedback into environments in the process of continuous improvement.

With these new considerations becoming more apparent, we have reorganized the divisions of the book as our examination of the various aspects of leadership unfolds. Part One, whose title remains "Leadership in a Period of Dynamic Change," presents the current and projected contexts of educational leadership and discusses systems theory and leadership theory, which continue to serve as the undergirding concepts of the book. Parts Two, Three, Five, and Six carry new titles reflecting added content and different organization and emphases: "Schools as Learning Organizations: Communication and Human Interaction," "The Generation and Use of Information in a Learning Organization," "Strategy Formulation and Implementation," and "Leadership for a New Millennium."

In Chapter 7, addressing processes of inquiry and analysis, more attention is given to naturalistic and action research orientations, supplementing the already strong discussion of quantitative approaches that appeared in the first edition. Theory development is de-emphasized relative to the first edition, while greater application is developed to provide a stronger connection to ongoing organizational functioning.

Chapter 8, focusing on evaluation, is an updated version of the original chapter with a significant new section giving the essence of the quality movement and its relation to program evaluation, student achievement, and staff evaluation. Another addition is a section of commentary about national and state...

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 013233271X
• ISBN 13: 9780132332712
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 432