by Joan Poliner Shapiro and Steven Jay Gross, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New York, N.Y., 2008, 216 pp. with index, $40 softcover
School leaders constantly face ethical dilemmas as they balance the needs of students with the demands of teachers, parents, legislators, school board members and many others in the education system. Joan Poliner Shapiro and Steven Jay Gross, members of the school administration and leadership faculty at Temple University, merge two powerful theories for examining ethical leadership in times of turbulence in their new book.
The result is a framework that, when applied, will add value to the ability of effective school leaders to think and act ethically.
In Ethical Leadership in Turbulent Times, Shapiro and Gross summarize the ethical paradigms of justice, critique, care and the profession. In presenting this framework, the authors provoke important questions that accurately summarize the dilemmas of practicing school leaders. This framework is enriched by combining it with a range of increasingly difficult disruptions to the environment of schools that are described by turbulence theory.
The middle section of the book takes theory into action through the presentation of 28 cases. Some cases explore challenges presented to school leaders when contrasting community standards with individual rights or when grappling with issues of accountability and responsibility.
Finally, Shapiro and Gross introduce a new school leadership movement called the New DEEL (Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership). This movement challenges administrators to think fully about their role in creating a comprehensive learning system. Their work reminds us that citizenship and thinking skills must follow from teaching the basic skills.
Reviewed by Brian L. Benzel, vice president, Whitworth University, Spokane, Wash.