Conversations With Principals: Issues, Values, and Politics

by Andrew E. Dubin

Overview

Conversations With Principals: Issues, Values, and Politics is a unique compilation of interviews with principals at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels. Unlike any other text in Educational Administration, this book allows students 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412916356
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/13/2006
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Andrew Dubin is Professor of Educational Administration in the Department of Administration and Interdisciplinary Studies (DAIS) in the College of Education at San Francisco State University. He received his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate School and has worked as teacher, Dean of Discipline and Grade Advisor in New York City, abroad as a teacher and drama specialist at Colegio Nueva Granada in Bogota, Colombia, South America, and as a Principal and Superintendent for the International School in Lahore, Pakistan. In 1994, he was Headmaster for the International American School in Rome, Italy. He is published nationally and internationally, has worked as an Educational Consultant, Lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Program Coordinator in Educational Administration at University of California at Irvine. He also directed a teacher training program for returning Peace Corps Volunteers at SFSU. Dr. Dubin has developed the Educational Administration Leadership Institutes in San Francisco, San Mateo County and is currently directing the Marin County Leadership Institute.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Role of the Principal
Connecting the Principal to the Reader
How the Principal Interviews were formulated
Organization of the Book
Connecting Across Interviews
Matrix of Principal Interviews
PART 1: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Chapter 1: Changing the School Culture
Chapter 2: Personal and Professional Belief Systems
Chapter 3: Maintaining Stability and History
Chapter 4: Social Exchange and Power
Chapter 5: The Lens of Decision-Making
PART 2: MIDDLE SCHOOL
Chapter 6: Leadership Focus and Planning
Chapter 7: Evaluation and the Political Arena
Chapter 8: Students in Transition
PART 3: HIGH SCHOOL
Chapter 9: Perceptions and Assumptions
Chapter 10: Addressing Organizational and Personal Needs
Chapter 11: Group Dynamics and Multi-Nationalism
PART 4: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
Chapter 12: A Principal’s Approach to NCLB
Chapter 13: A Superintendent’s Perspective on NCLB
Readings and Resources
References
Appendix

Editorial Reviews

"The preparation of educational leaders is a daunting yet crucial undertaking. This synthesis of a few of the principal interviews conducted and analyzed in Conversations with Principals: Issues, Values and Politics provides an enlightening window into their professional experiences, lives and decision-making approaches. These conversations connect and, almost through osmosis, mentor the aspiring educational leaders to understand the demands, complexity and impact of school leadership. Through these principals’ ‘inner voices,’ candidates can become more sensitized and prepared to assume decision-making roles in our K-12 schools."

Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development

"Books on educational leadership are often detached from the practicalities of managing a school. This cannot be said of Dubin's new volume. The many years Dubin spent as an administrator and professor are evident in the insightful and probing questions he poses. This volume will make an outstanding addition to the libraries of scholars interested in the vital role principals play in educational reform, and it will prove to be an invaluable teaching resource in the training of principals."

A. Cooley

“This book meets a need faced by school leader preparation programs—that of bringing reality to abstract concepts. . . . This book will work well as a springboard for discussion with students.”

Brenda LeTendre

This book meets a need faced by school leader preparation programs—that of bringing reality to abstract concepts. . . . This book will work well as a springboard for discussion with students.

Brenda Le Tendre