School Leadership
(EDUC 8677-001/33918)
COURSE INSTRUCTOR:
Richard M. Jacobs, O.S.A., Ph.D.
Office: St. Augustine Liberal Arts Center #365
(610) 519-4641 —or— richard.jacobs@villanova.edu
http://www.homepage.villanova.edu/richard.jacobs
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
School Leadership (EDUC 8677) examines educational management and leadership from an
interdisciplinary perspective. Special emphasis is placed upon organizational learning,
school transformation, and the critical role assumed by school leaders as they enable others
to develop self-managing schools.
COURSE RATIONALE:
School Leadership (EDUC 8677) introduces aspiring school leaders to the complexities
confronting school leaders and their instrumental role in fostering school communities that
promote student learning. EDUC 8677 challenges students to formulate a vision of school
leadership that will assist them not only to navigate successfully the initial transition from
the role of teacher to that of school leader but also to utilize the role of school leader to
engage all members of the school community in substantive discourse about how they might
best translate their school’s purpose into student learning that can be assessed, evaluated,
reported, and used as a tool for a school improvement program.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
To identify and understand the many complexities confronting school leaders.
To develop conversancy with the strategies available for school leaders to deal with the
complexities confronting them.
To become alert to and appreciate the challenges involved in making the transition from
the role of teacher to that of school leader.
To identify and explicate the elements of one’s school leaderships platform.
To formulate one’s provisional statement of school leadership conversant with the
requirements of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(6th edition).
EDUC 8677 School Leadership
(Jacobs, Spring 2012)
-2-
REQUIRED COURSE TEXTS:
The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership (2nd ed.). (2007). San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gabarro, J. J. (Ed.) (1991). Managing people and organizations.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business
School Press.
STUDENT REQUIREMENTS:
In order to successfully complete this course, each student is required to fulfill the following
requirements:
a) to participate actively and intelligently in class;
b) to make content presentations as assigned;
c) to conduct a case study; and,
d) to submit a statement of school leadership.
STUDENT EVALUATION:
Statement of School Leadership:
Case Study:
Content Presentations:
FINAL GRADE:
30%
40%
30%
100%
GRADE:
POINTS:
“A” = 90%
top 10%
“B” = 90%
top 20%
“C” = 80%
top 30%
“D” = 60%
top 40%
“F” < 60%
“N” = incomplete
EDUC 8677 School Leadership
(Jacobs, Spring 2012)
-3-
CLASS MEETINGS):
Class:
Day:
Date:
Tentative Readings/Class Topics:
1
2
Wed.
Wed.
01/18
01/25
3
Wed.
02/01
Course Introduction; A Survey of School Leadership
Conducting/Writing a Case Study
Reading: Handout and Webpage References
Due: Exercise #1—Initial Statement of School Leadership
School Leadership: Theory and Best Practices I
Reading: Managing People (G 1-5)
4
Wed.
02/08
5
Wed.
02/15
6
Wed.
02/22
7
Wed.
02/29
8
9
Wed.
Wed.
Wed.
03/07
03/14
03/21
10
Wed.
03/28
11
Wed.
04/04
12
Wed.
Wed.
04/11
04/28
13
Wed.
04/25
14
Wed.
05/02
G = Gabarro text
School Leadership: Theory and Best Practices II
Reading: Leading an Organization (G 6-10)
The Principles of Leadership (JB 1-5)
School Leadership: Theory and Best Practices III
Reading: Motivating and Managing Individuals (G11-15)
Moral Leadership (JB 6-10)
Due: (if applicable) Revision of Exercise #1
School Leadership: Theory and Best Practices IV
Reading: Managing Group Effectiveness (G 16-20)
Culture and Change JB (11-15)
School Leadership: Theory and Best Practices V
SPRING BREAK: No Class
School Leadership: Theory and Best Practices V
Leadership: Theory and Best Practices VII
Reading: Managing Group Effectiveness (G 21-25)
Standards and Systems (JB 16-17)
Leadership: Theory and Best Practices VIII
Reading: Managing Organizational Change (G 26-29)
Mini-Presentations: Summary of Principal and Teacher
Interviews
Theory and Best Practices IX
Reading: Managing the Human Resource (G 30-37)
Diversity and Leadership (JB 19-22)
EASTER BREAK: No Class
Constructing a School Leadership Platform I
Reading: K 1-12 (Model)
Constructing a School Leadership Platform II
Reading: K 1-12 (Model and Applications)
Due: Exercise #2—Case Study
Constructing a School Leadership Platform III
Reading: The Future of Leadership (JB 23-26)
Authority and School Leadership
Reading: PowerPoint Presentation
Due: Exercise #3—Statement of School Leadership
K = Kotter Text
JB = Fullan text