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

This text--developed in response to an increasing interest in ethics and a growing number of courses on this topic that are now being offered in educational leadership programs--is designed to fill a gap in instructional materials for teaching the ethics component of the knowledge base that has been established for the profession. Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education: Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Complex Dilemmas, Second Edition:
*demonstrates the application of different ethical paradigms (the ethics of justice, care, critique, and the profession) through discussion and analysis of real-life moral dilemmas that educational leaders face in their schools and communities;
*addresses some of the practical, pedagogical, and curricular issues related to the teaching of ethics for educational leaders;
*emphasizes the importance of ethics instruction from a variety of theoretical approaches; and
*provides a process that instructors might follow to develop their own ethics unit or course.

Part I provides an overview of why ethics is so important, especially for today's educational leaders, and presents a multiparadigm approach essential to practitioners as they grapple with ethical dilemmas. Part II deals with the dilemmas themselves. It includes a brief introduction to how the cases were constructed, an illustration of how the multiparadigm approach may be applied to a real dilemma, and ethical dilemmas written by graduate students that represent the kinds of dilemmas faced by practicing administrators in urban, suburban, and rural settings in an era full of complexities and contradictions. Part III focuses on pedagogy and provides teaching notes for the instructor. The authors discuss the importance of self-reflection on the part of both instructors and students, and model how they thought through their own personal and professional ethical codes as well as reflected upon the critical incidents in their lives that shape their teaching and frequently determine what they privileged in class.

New in the Second Edition:
*A completely new chapter emphasizing religious differences and presenting the contradictions between religion and culture;
*A completely new chapter on testing, juxtaposing the paradox of accountability with responsibility;
*Several new dilemmas focusing on higher education, recognizing that many educational leadership training programs include students with this focus; and
*Changes throughout to update the text, including a discussion of recent scholarship in the field of ethical leadership.

Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education: Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Complex Dilemmas, Second Edition is easily adaptable for a variety of uses with a wide range of audiences. It is equally valuable as a text for university courses related to the preparation of educational leaders and as a professional reference for aspiring and practicing administrators, teacher leaders, office personnel, 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.