2. Understanding the Complexities of Principal’s Role-Making Today
3. Developing a Leadership Platform: Using the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders
4. The Ambiguity in Clarifying Expectations
5. Ethics: The Quandaries of Acting Ethically to Promote Each Student’s Academic Success and Well-Being
6. English language Learners
7. Quandaries of Assessment and Accountability
8. Emotional Intelligence as a Means to Combat Funding Cuts: Meeting Student Academic Success and Promoting Well-being in Challenging Financial Times
9. Principals Supporting the Professional Capacity of Teachers
10. Shared Voice and Vision: Fostering Professional Communities for Student Success
11. Leadership and Resource Allocation in Schools: Applying Micropolitical Perspectives
12. Leadership for Change
13. How Do You Get the Expertise You Need to Negotiate the Quandaries of the Principalship?
Debra J. Touchton is Associate Professor and Program Director of Educational Leadership Graduate Programs at Stetson University, USA.
Mariela A. Rodriguez is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA.
Gary Ivory is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Administration at New Mexico State University, USA.
Michele Acker-Hocevar is Professor and Interim Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at Washington State University, Tri-Cities, USA.
This book provides insights into the everyday practices of school leaders as told through the real-life stories of principals. The editors and their contributors blend practice with theory, helping aspiring leaders to discover that school leadership is not simply putting prescribed solutions into action, but a constant encounter with quandaries that demand thinking, responding, and adjusting to the situations at hand. Readers build their capacities to view quandaries from multiple lenses, consider a variety of responses, and draw conclusions based on perspectives that may vary from those initially identified. The chapter authors encourage a sharper self-awareness of what scholars value and envision about education, encouraging them to think about how to navigate decision-making through a variety of theoretical frameworks and practices while balancing their own leadership platform development.