Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education: Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Complex Dilemmas, Third Edition

The third edition of the best-selling text, Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education, continues to address the increasing interest in ethics and assists educational leaders with the complex dilemmas in today’s challenging and diverse society. Through discussion and analysis of real-life moral dilemmas that educational leaders face in their schools and communities, authors Shapiro and Stefkovich demonstrate the application of their four ethical paradigms―the ethics of justice, care, critique, and profession. After an illustration of how the Multiple Ethical Paradigm approach may be applied to real dilemmas, the authors present a series of cases written by students and academics in the field representing the dilemmas faced by practicing educational leaders in urban, suburban, and rural settings in an era full of complexities and contradictions. Following each case are questions that call for thoughtful, complex thinking and help readers come to grips with their own ethical codes and apply them to practical situations.

New in the Third Edition:

• An entire new chapter on privacy versus safety, including ethical issues such as strip searches, gang membership, cyber-bullying, and sexting.
• New cases infused into chapters on early childhood education, diverse student populations, and technology.
• Updates throughout to reflect contemporary issues and recent scholarship in the field of ethical leadership.

Including teaching notes for the instructor stressing the importance of self-reflection, this text is easily adaptable for a variety of uses with a wide range of audiences. Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education is a valuable book for both aspiring and practicing administrators, teacher leaders, and educational policy makers.

Joan Poliner Shapiro is Professor of Educational Administration at Temple University and Co-Founder of the New DEEL (Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership) movement.

Jacqueline A. Stefkovich is Professor of Education Law and Ethics at The Pennsylvania State University and Co-Director of the UCEA’s D.J. Willower Center for the Study of Ethics and Leadership.