Journal of Research on Leadership Education
Volume 3, Issue I
May, 2008

 

FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR

In the premier issue of JRLE, contributing author, Joe Murphy challenged our readership to give serious consideration to changing some fundamental and longstanding traditions that ground leadership education. Murphy’s “change list” included items like admissions policies, curriculum designs, instructional venues, and outcome measures (Murphy, 2006) and he bluntly noted that if the profession did not address these areas, the education of school leaders would not improve.

This issue of JRLE, which follows the life cycle of leadership preparation from program admission to learning experiences, to practice, offers some evidence that Murphy’s challenge is gaining attention. For example, Durden’s article speaks to Murphy’s call for a focus on “urbanicity” in program design. Two contributors, Katz-Buonincontro and Noonan & Anderson Sathe, provide insights into learning experiences that move far beyond “privileged existing curriculum” (Murphy, 2006, p. 2). Next, Barnett & Muth’s critique of cohort-based action research is a clear example of “practice-anchored learning experiences” (Murphy, 2006, p.2). Research on resiliency from McClellan, Christman, and Fairbanks bring forward some provocative insights to gender issues that certainly might inform any one of the above elements.

Finally, we invite our readers to give attention to the Looking in Classrooms feature by Lyman and Gardner. These two authors share a detailed curriculum for a leadership seminar, unpack their attempts to evaluate the learning outcomes of the seminar, and open the door for colleagues across the profession to engage with them in moving individual scholarship of teaching evaluations to more comprehensive research on the effects of classroom practices. The authors have included their evaluation questions, along with open-ended invitation for interested colleagues to join them in collaborative evaluation efforts across multiple programs. Lyman and Gardner are modeling Murphy’s clarion call for professors of educational administration professors to “spend as much time working to create . . . professional communities of practice as they do supporting individual skill development of individual faculty members” (Murphy, 2006, p. 3). The JRLE editorial team looks forward to publishing the collaborative efforts of the professors who respond to Lyman and Gardner’s request.

Edith A. Rusch, Editor
Journal of Research on Leadership Education

Murphy, J. (2006, April). Some thoughts on rethinking the education of pre-service leaders, Journal of Research on Leadership Education 1(1).

 

Predictive Validity of the GRE and GPAs for a Doctoral Program Focusing on Educational Leadership

I. Phillip Young, University of California-Davis, ipyoung@ucdavis.edu

Abstract:
Empirical studies addressing admission to and graduation from a doctoral program focusing on educational leadership are noticeably absent within the professional literature, and this study seeks to fill partially this void through testing specific hypotheses.  Archival data were used to conduct a three group discriminant analyses where the classification variable consisted of applicants rejected, accepted, or graduated from a doctoral program focusing on educational leadership, and a random sampling process was used to construct a development and a validation sample.  The discriminating variables were undergraduate grade point average, graduate grade point average, and percentile scores from the GRE (verbal and quantitative). Results from this study suggest that concerns of applicants and of faculty are not largely misplaced related to the importance of these academic predictors.

 

Wanted: Good Leaders for Urban Schools

Phyllis C. Durden, City College of New York, pdurden@ccny.cuny.edu

Abstract:
Differences in values and socio-economics, issues of diversity and equity, and changing educational expectations and structures challenge leadership preparation programs, particularly those in urban environments. This article focuses on discerning major urban education issues, defining constructs of leadership for urban schools, and identifying a conceptual foundation for an urban educational leadership program. The article then briefly describes the pilot Academy for Promising Leaders for Urban Schools (APLUS) Program, a partnership effort among an institution of higher education, public school district, and non-profit business organization, which manifests those constructs: leadership for democracy, sustainability as school improvement, social justice, and social mobility.

 

Using the Arts to Promote Creativity in Leaders: A Multiple Case Study of Three Executive Institutes

Jen Katz-Buonincontro, University of Oregon, jenela@uoregon.edu

Abstract:
While many educators and researchers value creative thinking in leaders, we know little about training leaders to be creative. This article presents research on why and how leadership-trainers used the arts (e.g. theatre, visual arts, music, and creative writing) to promote creativity in leaders. A multiple case study of 3 arts-based executive institutes in North America was designed to examine why and how institute-trainers used the arts in leadership pedagogy. Data collection included participant observation in each 5-day institute, interviews with institute-trainers and document analysis of curriculum, books, promotional videos, and artwork. Cross-case patterning (Yin, 1994) revealed trainers’ perceived barriers to creativity in organizations, teaching techniques for promoting creativity, and characteristics of a creative leader.

 

“And the Band Played On”: Developing Ethical Leadership through a Case Study of the AIDS Crisis
Sarah J. Noonan, University of St. Thomas, sjnoonan@stthomas.edu
Laurie Anderson Sathe, University of St. Thomas, lysathe@stthomas.edu

Abstract:
Randy Shilts (1987), author of And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic, uses the analogy of the sinking ship and the “band playing on” to draw attention to America’s false sense of security in the midst of the growing AIDS crisis. We describe a doctoral curriculum in which students examine the conflicts inherent in their ethical practice through a case study analysis of the AIDS epidemic.  Moral development theory and critical pedagogy provide a rationale for the selection of subject matter and method designed to awaken the critical consciousness of students to social justice.  The curriculum encourages students to explore how acts of discrimination and oppression related to race/ethnicity, class, gender, and sexual orientation influenced the responses of leaders to the AIDS epidemic.

 

Using Action-Research Strategies and Cohort Structures to Ensure Research Competence for Practitioner-Scholar Leaders

Bruce G. Barnett, University of Texas, San Antonio, bruce.barnett@utsa.edu
Rodney Muth, University of Colorado at Denver, rodney.muth@cudenver.edu

Abstract:
Far too often, educational leadership doctoral programs fail to develop competent researchers and ensure that they graduate with a doctoral degree. Using the conceptualization of the ideal practitioner-scholar, this article describes how action research and cohort structures can help to develop school leaders who are competent, confident, and capable researchers. Specific examples of existing action research and collaborative cohort strategies are provided as well as recommendations for how doctoral programs can be organized better to measure their success in developing practitioner-scholars.

 

Ulysses’ Return: Resilient Male Leaders Still at the Helm

Rhonda McClellan, Texas Woman’s University, rmcclellan@mail.twu.edu
Dana Christman, New Mexico State University, danachri@nmsu.edu
Anthony Fairbanks, New Mexico State University, tonyf@nmsu.edu

Abstract:
This study examined resilient men in higher education administration, educational leadership programs to determine how they identified components of their resiliency, how they described events that demonstrated their resiliency, and how they prescribed ways in which preparation programs can foster resiliency in students. Using masculinity theoretical lenses, our findings showed male leaders defining their resiliency in varied gendered terms but describing a range of acting as leader bounded. Through their privilege, men have ironically been the ones to design social constraints, undoubtedly their own oppression.

 

Special Feature: Looking in Classrooms

Enhancing Leadership Education: Insights from a Seminar Evaluation

Follow-Up Survey

Linda L. Lyman, Illinois State University, llyman@ilstu.edu
Dianne C. Gardner, Illinois State University, dgardne@ilstu.edu

Abstract:
This article reports the evaluation of a leadership seminar based on the assumption that definitions may affect leadership practices. Major findings were: (1) initial definitions of leadership featured “having personal influence,” and “achieving goals”; (2) final definitions of leadership featured “the moral imperatives of leadership,” and “building reciprocal relationships”; (3) possible seminar effects on leadership practices were perceived.