Conversations With Principals
Issues, Values, and Politics
Key Features:
- Places students at the front line of leadership: This book provides a simple, straightforward, and honest view of the realities of the principalship as experienced by those who assume these roles. Each chapter offers a rare view into the minds of educational leaders as they honestly discuss their feelings and strategies behind their leadership practices.
- Provides personal profiles and school demographic data: The professional background of each principal is given so students can better understand their journey from an educator to a leadership position. In addition, each interview conveys a different school situation to demonstrate the complexity of the profession and allow readers to understand how different school contexts impact and affect decisions that are made.
- Connects students to the material: At the conclusion of each chapter, comprehensive and probing questions, role playing activities, and leadership projects engage readers and connect them to the role of principal. An analysis section provided after each interview reflects on the leader's approaches and decision-making in a theoretical context that helps students link theory to application in a very practical and relevant way.
“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.”
"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."
"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."
