Defending emotions is neither banal nor senselessness. It is not falling into sentimentality (Camps, 2011, p. 33) would say. Emotions take shape within human actions and imply leadership, not just in a purely mechanistic sense, but in the sense set out by Sartre (1973), dealing with the way the individual understands emotions and the role they…

There has been much discussion regarding the apparent lack of ethics in leaders of public and private organizations, and elected officials. This commentary proposes a foundation that can be used to establish a standard for ethical leadership. The commentary is grounded in classical ethical theories that can be applied to today's leaders. The…

After reviewing the literature on the topic of leadership, Simkins (2005) confirmed what the author finds to be true; that there is an over-abundance of models and theories of leadership in the literature. More concerning is that some of these models and theories disappear as quickly as they appear. Learning about leadership develops through…

This paper argues that sociological theory provides a sound basis for analyzing the social organization and reorganization of the college or university and for guiding the activities of the college dean. Frame analysis theory, developed in the study of social movements, and the attendant concepts of frame shifts and frame disputes, are drawn on to…

Comments on the six articles contained in the special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) devoted to leadership, written by W. Bennis (see record 2006-23492-002); S. J. Zaccaro (see record 2006-23492-003); V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago (see record 2006-23492-004); B. J. Avolio (see record 2006-23492-005); R. J. Sternberg (see record…

Postmodernism has many inferences that can be applied to the theory and practice of higher educational administration. Today, in higher education administrators are continuously focused on strategies that will ensure the future of minority educational institutions. As a result postmodernism is an important factor in the future of higher…

Leadership has traditionally been viewed as a process of social influence. This paper presents an alternative perspective, which views leadership as a social meaning-making process that occurs in groups of people who are engaged in some activity together. It uses the constructivist perspective to describe how people construct their own personal…

Examines the proposition that the "leader" role is an unconscious myth invented by members of a group to ward off anxieties and uncertainties associated with day-to-day exercise of interpersonal power. Focuses on describing the myth, its consequences for the involvement of group members, and researchable propositions derivable from the myth.…

This book reviews recent developments in the study and theory of leadership and explores new applications. It examines the questions that structuration theory raises for leadership, explores the theory of charisma and critical theory as posing new challenges to the understanding of leadership, and describes the uses of postmodernist theory for a…

From the notion that people construct their realities, it follows that people are writers of the texts that they experience and call life, although in some scenes people may have greater or lesser authorship. In schools and educational systems, administrators have the power to write other persons' narratives. In creating educational texts, the…

Schools are perhaps the most complex of all U.S. formal organizations. The primary objective of this book is to enhance insight into human behavior within organizations in order to promote greater skill in governing skills. The book develops three major conceptual frameworks that have important implications for schools. Chapter 1 develops the…

The school leader's behaviors are inspired by theories, and theories are intrinsic to practice. This paper provides an overview of an emerging perspective in educational administration, critical theory. The paper first highlights the philosophies of Immanuel Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Marx, and the Frankfurt School. It then discusses critical theory…

Educational administration, like many other social sciences, has traditionally followed the rubrics of classical science with its emphasis on prediction and control and attempts to understand the whole by understanding in ever finer detail how the parts fit together. However, the "new" science (especially quantum mechanics, complexity,…

Presents a hypothesis about what is characteristically North American in social theory, proceeding from three concepts that recur throughout the theology and cosmology of aboriginal Americans: individual conscience, universal kinship, and the endless creative power of the world. Concludes that from an aboriginal American perspective, industrial…

An original reformulation of the meaning, potential, and practice of educational leadership, informed by notions of self and social empowerment, is provided. This book relies on a variety of theories derived from philosophic schools such as hermeneutics, critical theory, deconstructionism, and pragmatism. Arguments are presented in the following…