Title: Conversations with Principals: Issues, Values, and Politics (2006) Sage Publications
Abstract: Abstract: Conversations With Principals: Issues, Values, and Politics, is a unique compilation of interviews with principals at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels. This book allows the readers the unusual opportunity to experience the inner voice of principals as they discuss the many decisions they make and the multitude of people they must engage. The professional background of each principal is given so educators can better understand their journey to leadership positions. How do educational administration programs provide the critical academic environment to adequately prepare educational leaders for our K-12 school? What type of content and pedagogy is most effective in communicating the reality of the school environment, that is, assuming a leadership position which coordinates and directs the activities of our educational institutions? To what extent do their personal and ethical judgments impact these decisions and how do we instill these critical leadership traits in preparation programs? These questions have been paramount in administrative programs and have initiated the research in which I have been involved over the past several years. The following excerpts from my book, Conversations with Principals: Issues, Values and Politics, convey the inner thinking of elementary, middle, and secondary school leaders in their conversations with me, in order to bring that school reality to the graduate institution for leadership preparation. Introduction The Role of the Principal The most common community center, institutional organization, bastion of cultural understanding that we all hold as part of our collective traditional heritage, is the public school. It is perceived to be the most understood institution. We have lived, breathed, and grown together through this national institution. It has been, continues, and will always be, the focal point for personal and professional development for our citizenry, responsible for effectively maintaining and perpetuating our collective democratic vision while evolving and incorporating a changing and growing population. It involves all human dynamics, social and organizational structures and environmental features. It embraces all disciplines of the soft and hard sciences and increasingly engages the international world around us. And, it is the principal, and no one else, who ultimately assumes the responsibility for the school's effectiveness. Yet, when one considers the all transcending and perceived understandings we all share, there is no document, no blueprint, no formula from which we can draw that provides a roadmap for an effective educational process in all situations. It is no wonder that we are always in a quandary as to the reasons for our educational system to be so problematic, and also infinitely successful. It speaks clearly to the complexity of the schooling enterprise and the enormous influence of the principal. Within this context, it is the principal who is the critical person orchestrating the movements of all the players in the school. The principal makes the decisions that affect people's lives, directs considerable sums of money, creates a climate that affects the community and projects the appropriate philosophy and practical vision that propels a school forward. The principal, in essence, is a critical player in balancing and promoting the progress of our society. These leaders coordinate and direct a system whose purpose offers the paradox of creating innovation and movement toward the development of human behavior, intellectual and physical prowess, as well as instilling socially acceptable moral and ethical values. These school leaders are responsible for initiating a progressive, fluid and responsive organizational system while maintaining its steady state, reflecting stability and equilibrium necessary to maintain the current moment in time. Educational leaders are without question, as important a professional group of contributing members of our society as any. …
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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