The purpose of this article is to examine the leadership beliefs and practices of three school le... more The purpose of this article is to examine the leadership beliefs and practices of three school leaders in a large urban school district in the Rocky Mountain West to determine whether any are consistent with transformative leadership. We sought to (a) describe the challenges faced by these school leaders in addressing the needs of changing populations, (b) understand the ways in which these educators conceptualize an equitable education for all, and (c) identify the inclusive practices that they implement to ensure a socially-just education for all. This study used a transformative, multiple case study to understand the beliefs and practices of three school leaders. Data were collected for this study at one elementary, one middle, and one high school in the same urban school district. We used transformative leadership theory as a conceptual framework to guide the data collection and analysis, focusing explicitly on inclusion, equity, excellence, and social justice. The findings demo...
This paper presents findings of a study that examined the impact of year-round education on acade... more This paper presents findings of a study that examined the impact of year-round education on academic achievement in a large Utah school district. Student-achievement data for years 1990-95 were compared by type of school schedule. A case-study component examined the impact of school schedules used by two elementary schools--one adhered to a traditional calendar and the other followed a multitrack year-round calendar. Data were gathered through interviews with all four administrators and all six fifth-grade teachers and through a survey of 114 fifth-grade students and 123 parents. Multitrack schools appeared to provide a slightly superior educational experience for students in terms of enhancing reading ability as well as in terms of increasing the bottom of the range of scores within a schooi. Parents of both srhool types generally supported their respective school programs and calendars. Student academic performance in multitrack year-round schools over a 6-year period exceeded the...
Pathologizing Practices is an innovative cross-cultural study that looks at how deficit thinking ... more Pathologizing Practices is an innovative cross-cultural study that looks at how deficit thinking pathologizes the lived experiences of children and prevents minority children from achieving their full potential in schools. The book explores the contexts, cultures, and structures of the education systems within which three groups of students - Bedouin, Maori, and Navajo - have been marginalized. Taking a critical democratic perspective, the authors develop a cross-cultural analysis that examines ways in which social justice and academic excellence may be enhanced and pathologies of practice overcome.
Read more and get great! That's what the book enPDFd year round schooling promises and pitfal... more Read more and get great! That's what the book enPDFd year round schooling promises and pitfalls will give for every reader to read this book. This is an on-line book provided in this website. Even this book becomes a choice of someone to read, many in the world also loves it so much. As what we talk, when you read more every page of this year round schooling promises and pitfalls, what you will obtain is something great.
This paper examines the differences and similarities in approaches to community, voice and curric... more This paper examines the differences and similarities in approaches to community, voice and curriculum among three Canadian elementary schools with respect to their potential to enact central aspects of a critical pedagogy: to extend voice to students and community; foster participatory, democratic education; and to cultivate critical reflection. The three schools offer different conceptions and practices. In one, a deficit model of education seems to dominate; in the second, we found an individual growth model of education; and in the third, a critical practice model of education was the foundation for more democratic educational practices. We argue that not all change initiatives and approaches are equally valuable, and that the latter model provides a more profound and just educational experience for students. This paper examines the differences and similarities in approaches to community, voice and curriculum among three Canadian elementary schools regarding their potential to en...
According to reports, almost one billion children worldwide live in poverty, many of whom find it... more According to reports, almost one billion children worldwide live in poverty, many of whom find it difficult to attend school on a regular basis. Moreover, when they are able to attend, they too often find themselves unable to succeed, falling farther and farther behind their more affluent peers. By attending to a number of relevant research findings, educators can reverse this situation. First, it is important to understand and address both generational and situational poverty by challenging and eliminating deficit thinking. We must understand the difference between a child’s prior opportunity to learn and his or her ability to learn; hold high expectations of every child and provide them with a rich and engaging learning environment. To accomplish this, transformative leadership offers a way forward. It is also important to ensure our curricula, our pedagogies, and our policies are inclusive, that they acknowledge the lived realities of every child, and that they openly address the...
Help ERIC expand online access to documents currently available only on microfiche. Learn more ab... more Help ERIC expand online access to documents currently available only on microfiche. Learn more about our efforts.
In this paper, we explore the role of district leaders in implementing school reform, specificall... more In this paper, we explore the role of district leaders in implementing school reform, specifically year-round schooling. We examine the experiences of four Florida districts with particular emphasis on their social, political, and fiscal contexts. Successful innovation is promoted as leaders act in a humane and open fashion that specifically in cludes eschewing promises that cannot be fulfilled. We have found that creating wide spread support for the innovation, being flexible, and creating a climate for change and innovation are crucial. Ensuring equitable implementation of the reform and attending fairly to details of both contracts and programs are especially important.
ABSTRACT In this chapter, we examine the experiences of Latino migrant students as illustrative o... more ABSTRACT In this chapter, we examine the experiences of Latino migrant students as illustrative of the ways in which the policy context of American schools neglects, ignores, and marginalizes many groups of students whose lived experiences are distinctly different from the White middle-class norm. The transient nature of migrant students’ lives makes the challenges they face particularly poignant but not necessarily very different from those faced by many other students (African American, Indigenous, some immigrant groups) whose lived experiences are disregarded in today’s educational policy frameworks. Here, we provide a critical analysis of how current policies structure educational experiences in ways that often present barriers to students’ academic achievement. We argue that the current neoliberal policy framework (Giroux, 2005), with its heavy emphasis on testing, forces students to conform to a system that seems largely irrelevant to their daily lives and ill-designed to provide them with educational opportunities of quality. Further, we examine the ways in which solutions to student failure tend to place blame and the onus for change on individual students, teachers, and even schools, rather than on the system itself.
Because spirituality connects us to the most profound realities of life it has an integral role t... more Because spirituality connects us to the most profound realities of life it has an integral role to play in education. Public education and spirituality as distinct from the teaching of or expression of religion, are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, spirituality is both epistemological and ontological. It constitutes one of many legitimate ways of knowing. Hence, I argue that it is incumbent upon educators in public schools to connect what we teach to the multiple lived realities of children. This requires the educational leader to become aware of his or her own spirituality, to become open to the spirituality of others, and to create spaces— liberating conversations—in which participants can bring the totality of their lived experiences.
As we began our study of four schools’ participation in a major School Improvement Program (Saska... more As we began our study of four schools’ participation in a major School Improvement Program (Saskatchewan, Canada), we were particularly interested in examining the practice of leadership and the lessons that might be learned from both successful and less successful change initiatives concerning leadership for positive educational change. We analyzed our data from two perspectives: the technical, political, and cultural frames advanced by Corbett and Rossman (1989), and the disciplines of the learning organization identified by Senge (1990). Findings suggest that provincial guidelines discuss but do not define leadership and that leadership as practiced most frequently consists largely of disconnected decisions, behaviors, and actions. The dual analysis provides support for our contention that a view of leadership that emphasizes the development of shared vision and systems thinking, and which encourages constant learning, renewal, and increased empowerment for all participants might...
Transformative leadership is a leadership paradigm that addresses the need for systemic, equitabl... more Transformative leadership is a leadership paradigm that addresses the need for systemic, equitable change in education. We propose eight tenets within this paradigm that support equity, inclusion, excellence, and social justice. We then apply these tenets to the American School Counselor Association’s ASCA National Model to demonstrate how a comprehensive school counseling program would be designed using transformative leadership, improving learning environments for all students.
The purpose of this article is to examine the leadership beliefs and practices of three school le... more The purpose of this article is to examine the leadership beliefs and practices of three school leaders in a large urban school district in the Rocky Mountain West to determine whether any are consistent with transformative leadership. We sought to (a) describe the challenges faced by these school leaders in addressing the needs of changing populations, (b) understand the ways in which these educators conceptualize an equitable education for all, and (c) identify the inclusive practices that they implement to ensure a socially-just education for all. This study used a transformative, multiple case study to understand the beliefs and practices of three school leaders. Data were collected for this study at one elementary, one middle, and one high school in the same urban school district. We used transformative leadership theory as a conceptual framework to guide the data collection and analysis, focusing explicitly on inclusion, equity, excellence, and social justice. The findings demo...
This paper presents findings of a study that examined the impact of year-round education on acade... more This paper presents findings of a study that examined the impact of year-round education on academic achievement in a large Utah school district. Student-achievement data for years 1990-95 were compared by type of school schedule. A case-study component examined the impact of school schedules used by two elementary schools--one adhered to a traditional calendar and the other followed a multitrack year-round calendar. Data were gathered through interviews with all four administrators and all six fifth-grade teachers and through a survey of 114 fifth-grade students and 123 parents. Multitrack schools appeared to provide a slightly superior educational experience for students in terms of enhancing reading ability as well as in terms of increasing the bottom of the range of scores within a schooi. Parents of both srhool types generally supported their respective school programs and calendars. Student academic performance in multitrack year-round schools over a 6-year period exceeded the...
Pathologizing Practices is an innovative cross-cultural study that looks at how deficit thinking ... more Pathologizing Practices is an innovative cross-cultural study that looks at how deficit thinking pathologizes the lived experiences of children and prevents minority children from achieving their full potential in schools. The book explores the contexts, cultures, and structures of the education systems within which three groups of students - Bedouin, Maori, and Navajo - have been marginalized. Taking a critical democratic perspective, the authors develop a cross-cultural analysis that examines ways in which social justice and academic excellence may be enhanced and pathologies of practice overcome.
Read more and get great! That's what the book enPDFd year round schooling promises and pitfal... more Read more and get great! That's what the book enPDFd year round schooling promises and pitfalls will give for every reader to read this book. This is an on-line book provided in this website. Even this book becomes a choice of someone to read, many in the world also loves it so much. As what we talk, when you read more every page of this year round schooling promises and pitfalls, what you will obtain is something great.
This paper examines the differences and similarities in approaches to community, voice and curric... more This paper examines the differences and similarities in approaches to community, voice and curriculum among three Canadian elementary schools with respect to their potential to enact central aspects of a critical pedagogy: to extend voice to students and community; foster participatory, democratic education; and to cultivate critical reflection. The three schools offer different conceptions and practices. In one, a deficit model of education seems to dominate; in the second, we found an individual growth model of education; and in the third, a critical practice model of education was the foundation for more democratic educational practices. We argue that not all change initiatives and approaches are equally valuable, and that the latter model provides a more profound and just educational experience for students. This paper examines the differences and similarities in approaches to community, voice and curriculum among three Canadian elementary schools regarding their potential to en...
According to reports, almost one billion children worldwide live in poverty, many of whom find it... more According to reports, almost one billion children worldwide live in poverty, many of whom find it difficult to attend school on a regular basis. Moreover, when they are able to attend, they too often find themselves unable to succeed, falling farther and farther behind their more affluent peers. By attending to a number of relevant research findings, educators can reverse this situation. First, it is important to understand and address both generational and situational poverty by challenging and eliminating deficit thinking. We must understand the difference between a child’s prior opportunity to learn and his or her ability to learn; hold high expectations of every child and provide them with a rich and engaging learning environment. To accomplish this, transformative leadership offers a way forward. It is also important to ensure our curricula, our pedagogies, and our policies are inclusive, that they acknowledge the lived realities of every child, and that they openly address the...
Help ERIC expand online access to documents currently available only on microfiche. Learn more ab... more Help ERIC expand online access to documents currently available only on microfiche. Learn more about our efforts.
In this paper, we explore the role of district leaders in implementing school reform, specificall... more In this paper, we explore the role of district leaders in implementing school reform, specifically year-round schooling. We examine the experiences of four Florida districts with particular emphasis on their social, political, and fiscal contexts. Successful innovation is promoted as leaders act in a humane and open fashion that specifically in cludes eschewing promises that cannot be fulfilled. We have found that creating wide spread support for the innovation, being flexible, and creating a climate for change and innovation are crucial. Ensuring equitable implementation of the reform and attending fairly to details of both contracts and programs are especially important.
ABSTRACT In this chapter, we examine the experiences of Latino migrant students as illustrative o... more ABSTRACT In this chapter, we examine the experiences of Latino migrant students as illustrative of the ways in which the policy context of American schools neglects, ignores, and marginalizes many groups of students whose lived experiences are distinctly different from the White middle-class norm. The transient nature of migrant students’ lives makes the challenges they face particularly poignant but not necessarily very different from those faced by many other students (African American, Indigenous, some immigrant groups) whose lived experiences are disregarded in today’s educational policy frameworks. Here, we provide a critical analysis of how current policies structure educational experiences in ways that often present barriers to students’ academic achievement. We argue that the current neoliberal policy framework (Giroux, 2005), with its heavy emphasis on testing, forces students to conform to a system that seems largely irrelevant to their daily lives and ill-designed to provide them with educational opportunities of quality. Further, we examine the ways in which solutions to student failure tend to place blame and the onus for change on individual students, teachers, and even schools, rather than on the system itself.
Because spirituality connects us to the most profound realities of life it has an integral role t... more Because spirituality connects us to the most profound realities of life it has an integral role to play in education. Public education and spirituality as distinct from the teaching of or expression of religion, are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, spirituality is both epistemological and ontological. It constitutes one of many legitimate ways of knowing. Hence, I argue that it is incumbent upon educators in public schools to connect what we teach to the multiple lived realities of children. This requires the educational leader to become aware of his or her own spirituality, to become open to the spirituality of others, and to create spaces— liberating conversations—in which participants can bring the totality of their lived experiences.
As we began our study of four schools’ participation in a major School Improvement Program (Saska... more As we began our study of four schools’ participation in a major School Improvement Program (Saskatchewan, Canada), we were particularly interested in examining the practice of leadership and the lessons that might be learned from both successful and less successful change initiatives concerning leadership for positive educational change. We analyzed our data from two perspectives: the technical, political, and cultural frames advanced by Corbett and Rossman (1989), and the disciplines of the learning organization identified by Senge (1990). Findings suggest that provincial guidelines discuss but do not define leadership and that leadership as practiced most frequently consists largely of disconnected decisions, behaviors, and actions. The dual analysis provides support for our contention that a view of leadership that emphasizes the development of shared vision and systems thinking, and which encourages constant learning, renewal, and increased empowerment for all participants might...
Transformative leadership is a leadership paradigm that addresses the need for systemic, equitabl... more Transformative leadership is a leadership paradigm that addresses the need for systemic, equitable change in education. We propose eight tenets within this paradigm that support equity, inclusion, excellence, and social justice. We then apply these tenets to the American School Counselor Association’s ASCA National Model to demonstrate how a comprehensive school counseling program would be designed using transformative leadership, improving learning environments for all students.
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