Educational Administration: Leading with Mind and Heart / Edition 2

by Robert Palestini Ed.D Professor of Educational Leadership Emeritus; Former Dean of Graduate and C

Overview

Educational Administration: Leading with Mind and Heart, 2nd edition takes an organization-development approach to producing effective leadership. Picture yourself standing in the middle of a dense forest. Suppose you were asked to describe the characteristics of the forest; what types of trees are growing in the forest; how many acres of trees are there; where are the trees thriving; where are they not? Faced with this proposition, most people would not know where to start and "would not be able to see the forest for the trees."

Newly appointed school administrators often have these same feelings of confusion when faced with the prospect of having to assume a leadership role in a complex organization like a school or school system. Where does one start? An effective way to start would be to systematically examine the components that make up an organization. Such a system of organizational diagnosis and prescription will lead to a comprehensive and integrated analysis of the organization's strengths and weaknesses and point the way toward possible improvement. This book suggests such a sequential and systematic approach. Utilizing it effectively can produce dramatic and useful results.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578862344
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	08/17/2005
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Robert H. Palestini is currently Dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He has been a high school science teacher, assistant principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent of schools.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Organizational Structure in Schools
Chapter 2 School Culture
Chapter 3 Organizational Leadership
Chapter 4 Motivating and Rewarding Individuals
Chapter 5 Effective Communication
Chapter 6 Conflict Management
Chapter 7 The Strategic Planning Process
Chapter 8 Effective Decision Making
Chapter 9 Power and the Negotiations Process
Chapter 10 The Change Process
Chapter 11 Leading With Heart
Chapter 12 Organizational Diagnosis

Editorial Reviews

Palestini, of St. Joseph's University, and an expert on educational administration, describes theories of educational administration and their application, basing his approach on organizational development. Writing for graduate students, he describes the structure of schools, school culture, organizational leadership, and aspects of working with faculty and staff.

Reference and Research Book News

The key to knowing your territory is to conduct a diagnosis of your organization. Palestini provides readers with a diagnostic checklist that addresses organizational structure and organizational culture, communication, conflict management, change process, strategic planning and decision making.

School Administrator

Dr. Palestini's new edition of Educational Administration: Leading with Mind and Heart explores the need for leaders to develop a leadership framework on both practical and theoretical levels. By examining the important components of an organization like a school or school system, leaders and aspiring leaders are able to identify its strengths and weaknesses on the way to implementing the changes needed for improvement. This book will be fascinating as well as reflective reading for today's leaders and provide a great springboard for discussion in leadership groups. I look forward to using Dr. Palestini's book with my administrative team as a tool for examining our own organizational development and leadership qualities.

Louis De Vlieger

Robert Palestini's new edition of Educational Administration: Leading with Mind and Heart speaks to the age. As Americans worry about the character and behavior of leaders in business, education, entertainment, sports, and public affairs, they fervently seek models of effective leadership that might inform and inspire them and their successors. Palestini draws on his own experience and on organizational development and leadership theory to discover critical qualities all organizations and their leaders must have to be effective. Palestini's book takes a common-sense approach to issues of leadership and organizational development, resulting in a book that will inform, inspire, and encourage leaders to examine their leadership behavior in the light of the need to lead with both mind and heart.

Rosalie M. Mirenda

There is no better way to learn about leadership than to examine case studies looking for the habits of mind and heart that enable leaders to make a difference. That's just what Robert Palestini does in Educational Administration, taking readers on a journey through the vital components of an organization like a school and the leadership skills needed to effectively administer such an organization. Anyone interested in educational leadership and organizational development should find much to like in Palestini's new book.

Nicholas Rashford

Literature on leadership often fails to include a clear connection between theory and practice. Educational Leadership details the characteristics and behaviors manifested by educational leaders in the form of case studies and discusses how their behavior was informed by leadership and organizational development theory. I have known Robert Palestini and observed his leadership practices for a number of years, and his book demonstrates how one can become a very effective leader in his or her personal and professional life. I believe that his newest edition will prove to be an invaluable resource for leaders at various levels not only within the educational arena, but in business, politics, and family life.

The Honorable William Adolph

The case study approach is an excellent method to put theory into practice...the activities work logically with the text and the chapter case studies as well as with the general concepts of the chapter.--School Administrator

From the Publisher