Strengthening the Heartbeat.Given the accountability challenges offered by No Child Left Behind, by local and national media and by local and national policymakers, sometimes it appears schooling has assumed responsibility for issues raised outside the school environment more than the individuals inside the halls. Managing expectations from competing constituencies outside the school culture can have the unanticipated consequence of draining the energy of teachers and school leaders alike. Thomas Sergiovanni, in Strengthening the Heartbeat, acknowledges this reality and compels us to remember that successful schools give priority to sustaining the culture of the school community. When we do that, we are prepared to meet the many challenges from within and without. Sergiovanni, a professor at Trinity University Trinity University may refer to:
adj. 1. Dexterous; deft. 2. Skillful and adept under pressing conditions. See Synonyms at dexterous. [French, from à droit : à, to (from Latin balances the theoretical and research components of his work with the practical realities found in today's schools. Superintendents and principals will find his discussions of Adlai Stevenson High School in Illinois and Gompers Elementary School elementary school: see school. in Detroit familiar and uplifting. They are familiar in that these schools face the same challenges of so many other schools. They are uplifting in that the work at these schools offers hope for those who try to create learning places built on trust and community. On a personal level, readers will find Sergiovanni's discussion of the virtue of hope especially enlightening en·light·en tr.v. en·light·ened, en·light·en·ing, en·light·ens 1. To give spiritual or intellectual insight to: . The author reminds us of the significant difference between hope and wishing. "Wishful wish·ful adj. Having or expressing a wish or longing. wish  ful·ly adv.wish leaders are just ... wishful," he writes. "They take no deliberate action to make their wishes come true. Hopeful leaders, on the other hand, react actively to what they hope for and deliberately strive to turn hopefulness into reality." In this vein the author carries us through his discussion of how to move from "what we have" to "what we would hope to have." The result is a reading that offers moral and ethical guidance to real and complex issues in today's schools. (Strengthening the Heartbeat: Leading and Learning Together in Schools by Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , 2005, 195 pp. with index, $27 hardcover) Zach Kelehear Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB began in 1936 as the Birmingham Extension Center of the University of Alabama. Because of the rapid growth of the Birmingham area, it was decided that an extension program for students who had difficulties which prevented them from studying in Tuscaloosa was needed. |
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