education review // reseñas educativas editors: gene v glass gustavo e. fischman melissa cast-brede a multi-lingual journal of book reviews June 15, 2010 ISSN 1094-5296 Shapiro, Joan Poliner & Gross, Stephen J. (2008). Ethical Educational Leadership in Turbulent Times: (Re)Solving Moral Dilemmas. New York, New York: Taylor & Francis Group. 212 pages ISBN 10: 0-80585-600-5 Reviewed by Judith A. Green Southern Illinois University Educational leaders have always had to make important decisions that affect the studies and lives of the next generation. Now, in this unstable era of war, terrorism, natural disasters, accountability, and high stakes testing, the decision making process can be even more daunting (p. ix). Joan Poliner and Steven Gross offer Ethical Educational Leadership in Turbulent Times: (Re)Solving Moral Dilemmas as their attempt to assist educational leaders in making those difficult decisions (p. ix). The term (re)solving in the subtitle emphasizes the authors perspective on the reality of decision making as a non permanent aspect of solutions. The book consists of 11 chapters that are organized into three parts. Citation: Green, Judith A. (2010 June 15) Review of Ethical Educational Leadership in Turbulent Times by Shapiro, Joan Poliner & Gross, Stephen J. Education Review, 13. Retrieved [Date] from http://edrev.asu.edu/reviews/rev934.pdf
Education Review http://edrev.asu.edu 2 Part One introduces and explains the Multiple Ethical Paradigms Approach and Turbulence Theory as a theoretical framework for educational leadership decision making, Chapter 1 provides an overview of the book, which includes a brief introduction to and background information on the four ethical paradigms of the model: ethic of care, ethic of critique, ethic of justice, and ethic of the profession. This model expands Starratt s three paradigm model (Shapiro & Gross, 2008) and aligns with Standard 5 of the 1996 Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards for School Leaders. Furthermore, this chapter introduces turbulence theory and the four categories of the Turbulence Gauge: light, moderate, extreme, and severe; presents an example of an authentic ethical dilemma; and models the application of the Multiple Ethical Paradigms Approach. While Turbulence theory offers a concept for considering disturbance present in the emotional environment, both the episodic and continuing forces that we live with each day in our organizations (p.19), the Turbulence Gauge provides a mechanism for determining the level of disturbance from light--part of the normal functioning of the organization and easily handled to severe --threatening to annihilate an organizational project or initiative. Chapter 2 provides background information on the development of the Multiple Ethical Paradigm Model and situates each ethic in the literature. Chapter 3 presents the evolution of Turbulence Theory and its contextual variables (cascading, relationships among key individuals, current organizational stability or volatility). It discusses positionality vs. Standpoint Theory and suggests a sequence of questions to illuminate positionality during turbulence (p. 48). Gross s view of positionality is inclusive of the group s perspective, characteristic of standpoint theory, as well as the perspectives of individuals within the group and the perspectives of individuals representing different demographics within the organization. This chapter also presents Turbulence Theory as a metaphor, explains the relationship of Turbulence Theory to Chaos theory, and offers guidance for applying Turbulence Theory in the decision making process. Joan Poliner Shapiro is a professor of educational administration in the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Temple University. Her teaching and scholarly activities are in the areas of ethics in education, gender issues in education, diversity issues in education, participatory evaluation, and feminist assessment. She is a recipient of the University Council for Educational Administration s Master Professor Award. Steven Jay Gross is a professor of educational administration in the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Temple University. His teaching and scholarly activities focus on democratic-ethical educational leadership, turbulence theory, leadership, and curriculum innovation. He is a noteworthy presence in the New DEEL movement.
Education Review http://edrev.asu.edu 3 Part Two provides opportunities for aspiring educational leaders to prepare, in advance, for some of the difficult ethical problems that they will have to face in the future, enabling them to work on these challenging situations in the relatively safe spaces of the classroom or even in their home (p. 53). This is accomplished by inviting readers to assume various leadership perspectives and employ the authors theoretical framework to examine and resolve critical issues in dilemmas laden with ethical implications. One of seven ethical paradoxes constitutes the title for and introduces each chapter, followed first by a summary of four or five dilemmas for that paradox, and then by each of the actual cases. Educational scholars and graduate students constructed dilemmas to cover a range of challenges and focus on problems that develop in an unstable and sometimes even in a fairly stable world (p. 53). A set of discussion questions, designed to draw out elements of the theoretical framework, accompanies each dilemma. The ethical dilemmas associated with the first paradox, security versus civil liberties, are entitled, Protecting Young Children in Terrifying Times, Bomb Threat: Real or Hoax/React or Ignore, Disciplinarian or Intimidator?, and Lady, You Can t Lay the Law Down to the Law! (p. 56-57). These dilemmas situate school administrators and teacher leaders in circumstances in which they face terror or violence and have to act (p. 56). Authors of the ethical dilemmas related to the second paradox, power versus accommodation in curriculum, offer opportunities to examine specific elements of the conflict inherent in this paradox from the perspectives of higher education administrators, department head, and classroom teachers. The scenarios entitled Who Should Teach the Classes No One Wants to Teach?, Authentic Education or a Threat to the Organization?, Achieving a Culturally Sensitive Teaching Approach, and An Elite Curriculum Versus an Appropriate Curriculum explore the issues of teacher scheduling, academic freedom, cultural diversity, and curricular change.
Education Review http://edrev.asu.edu 4 In reference to the third paradox, accountability versus responsibility, Shapiro and Gross do not believe that the concept of responsibility is employed enough when discussing education. Responsibility, while similar to accountability, can be perceived of as more inclusive by placing the onus for success or failure of students achievement on society as a whole and not just on schools (p. 88). Consequently, the dilemmas addressing this paradox offer opportunities for decision making that affects P-12 administrators and expects everyone to share in and care about educating the next generation (p. 89). Specific issues involve a variety of topics such as assessment, staffing policies and procedures, mandatory attendance reporting requirements, and professional career change. The forth dilemma, community standards versus individual rights, focuses on the tension between community standards and individual rights... [which, if] kept in balance can complement one another and make a relatively free society feasible (p.103). Further, the authors assert that the territory between one s rights and the community standards in school is a space filled with negotiation, judgment, and dilemmas for students, teachers, and administrators (p. 105). The cases in this chapter primarily take place in P-12 school settings; however, there is one case, Coaching in Intercollegiate Athletics: The Pressure to Win versus Personal and Professional Moral Codes, that addresses the dilemma from a university president s perspective. In the introduction to the fifth paradigm, equality versus equity, both terms are operationally defined. Equality is considered from the perspective of equal treatment, while equity, based on Shapiro s earlier work with Stefkovich (as cited in Shapiro & Gross, 2008), deals with difference and takes into consideration the fact that this society has many groups in it who have not always been given equal treatment and/or have not had a level field on which to play [often subjecting them to oppression and making them] feel inferior to those in the mainstream. Equity, therefore, offers some justification for unequal treatment for those who have been disadvantaged. (p.119) Higher education
Education Review http://edrev.asu.edu 5 and P-12 administrators perspectives afford lenses for examining issues of curriculum, diversity, affirmative action, academic freedom, and admissions standards. Personal vision versus authority, the sixth dilemma, presents cases of funding, plagiarism, cheating, and natural disaster. A counselor, professor, and two college students each [struggle] over the right course of action and [feel] caught in a dilemma because of where they are in the organization (p. 138). The seventh and final dilemma - rules, regulations, and policies versus individual needs and concerns in student teaching - offers five case studies to bring to life some of the ethical dilemmas that evolve from the complex interaction of federal and state rules, regulations, and policies governing K-12 education (p. 151). Part Three, the final chapter of the book, is dedicated to the New DEEL (Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership), an educational leadership movement initiated in 2004 by the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA) faculty and administrators. Shapiro and Gross state the movement s vision, its mission, and its current activities to change the course of the field of educational leadership. They argue that the paradox of control versus democracy is at the heart of the movement and cite Ella Flagg Young, John Dewey, and George S. Counts, early proponents upon whose shoulders it stands, (p. 169) as evidence of the New DEEL s rich historic tradition of democracy and ethical leadership (p.169). The authors conclude the text by reiterating their original premise and issuing a call to duty: Knowing how to make sound ethical decisions, taking into account both the rational and emotional contexts, is essential for educational leaders, especially in this challenging time (p.175). It is imperative that those of us who prepare educational leaders keep a dialogue going to widen the discussion of democratic, ethical leadership so that we begin to have common understandings (p. 176). Ethical Educational Leadership in Turbulent Times: (Re)Solving Moral Dilemmas is one of a number of texts (Isaacson, 2007; Strike, Soltis, Hailer, 2005: Wilmore, 2008; & Enomoto, Kramer, Kramer, 2007) currently popular in the field of
Education Review http://edrev.asu.edu 6 educational leadership that focus on issues relative to ethics and the preparation of educational leaders. This text appeals to aspiring and practicing administrators and provides the essential elements for examining critical issues in educational leadership: a framework for decision making, its theoretical underpinnings, and cases with questions to guide discussions. The ethical dilemmas are true to life (9/11, Hurricane Katrina). They address not only P-20 leaders perspectives, but also a private preschool director s and other educators (teachers, counselors) perspectives. Readers are prompted to examine issues considering their context, and the levels of disturbance related to the issue and existing at different levels within the organization. This book could be used at the graduate level as a supplemental text in leadership theory courses or as a required text in seminars on ethical leadership. References Enomoto, E., Kramer, B., & Kramer, B. H. (2007). Leading through the quagmire: Ethical foundations, critical methods, and practical applications for school leadership. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Isaacson, L. S. (2007). The principal's purpose: A practical guide to moral and ethical school leadership. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education. Shapiro, J. P. & Gross, S. J. (2008). Ethical educational leadership in turbulent times: (Re)solving moral dilemmas. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group. Strike, K. A., Soltis, J. F., Hailer, E. J. (2005). The ethics of school administration (3 rd ed.) New York: Teachers College Press. Wilmore, E. L. (2008). Superintendent leadership: Applying the educational leadership constituent council standards for improved district performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. About the Reviewer Judith A. Green is an Associate Professor of Educational Administration at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She has served in the field of education as a general and special education teacher, elementary principal, Director of
Education Review http://edrev.asu.edu 7 Special Education, Assistant Superintendent, and Assistant Professor of elementary education. Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review. http://edrev.asu.edu Editors Gene V Glass Gustavo Fischman Melissa Cast-Brede