Leadership

Learning, Teaching, and Practice

Edited by:
Autumn Cyprès, St. John’s University, New York City

A volume in the series: Leadership, Schools, and Change. Editor(s): Terri N. Watson, The City College of New York. Amanda Heffernan, Monash University. Jeffrey S. Brooks, Curtin University.

Published 2016

The purpose of this book is to examine the tensions, gaps, and intersections between the practices of leadership in educational systems, school leadership preparation programs, and the often different worlds of academia and k12 schools. Voices from both academia and k12 schools are used to illustrate the tensions that cluster around capacity, politics, and the everyday practice of inspiring, engaging, and preparing school leaders.

Advance Praise for Leadership: Learning, Teaching, and Practice

This is a book about experience. This is a book that draws from the knowledge—both personal and professional-- that professors and practitioners shared on their journeys through academia and the day-to-day of K-12 administration. The book is framed around the trinity of teaching, learning, and practice. It is a book that “examines the tensions, gaps, and intersections between the practices of leadership within educational systems and school leadership preparation programs.” The reader will be challenged to consider one’s own approach to leadership in education by examining each author’s perspective on leading for learning in America’s schools. ~ Professor James E. Berry, Executive Director, National Council of Professors of Educational Administration

This book provides a great balance of scholarly work focused on leadership and shaped by the actual experiences of practicing administrators. It is absolutely outstanding literature for leaders. The book provides concepts and experiences that will help veteran administrators and will serve as a great resource for instructors in leadership development programs. It strikes at the heart of teaching and learning and will ultimately have a positive influence on children. ~ Lyle E. Evans, Ed.D
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Administrative Services, Chesterfield County Public Schools, Commonwealth of Virginia

The challenges faced by school leaders today are daunting. In Leadership: Learning, Teaching and Practice, experts from across the nation bridge the gap between theory and practice. This book explores those tensions, calling us to examine our ideal view of school leadership and compare it to the reality of the current school systems in which we work. It furthers this discourse by examining the role leadership preparation programs play in preparing school administrators with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective while retaining their humanity. An easy read that will transform how leaders think about leadership! Jessica Kemler, Principal, Babylon Elementary School Long Island, New York

CONTENTS
SECTION I: LEARNING. The Long Shadow of Mike Mikusa, Autumn Tooms Cyprès. K–12 Administrator to New Faculty: Negotiating All Over Again, Thomas H. Beatty. Newbie Again: Transitioning to the Professoriate From a Life in K–12, Elizabeth Chase. Hecate’s Question: Seeing Multiple Dimensions to Navigate Responsibility, Set Goals, and Build Success in a Career, Noelle Witherspoon Arnold and Autumn Tooms Cyprès. SECTION II: TEACHING. Preparing Educational Leaders as Consumers of Policies and Practices or Thinkers Influencing Educational Reform and Freedom? Elizabeth Murakami and Frank Hernandez. The Potential Role of Research Methods Courses in Bridging Research to Practice, Lisa M. Abrams and Tameshia V. Grimes. Group Decision Making in Higher Education: Identifying the Tensions Between Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty, Brenda Cowlbeck. SECTION III: PRACTICE. The Heart Beats Strong, But the Fist Was Slow to Form: Lessons Learned From My Principal Preparation Program, Charles Smialek. A Precarious Intersection of Democracy in the United States: The Public School Administrator’s Dilemma in Working with the School Boards That Employ Them but Who Lack Critical Thinking Skills, John Tharp. Idealism, Realism, and Blue Jays in the Gas Chamber of Educational Leadership, Barbara Driver. About the Authors.