Principalship: A Reflective Practice Perspective

The Principalship: A Reflective Practice Perspective, Sixth Edition

Thomas J. Sergiovanni (0-205-57858-6)

The Principalship: A Reflective Practice Perspective focuses on how school leaders can create outstanding schools using reflective practice and moral authority.

New to This Edition

• Expanded coverage of instructional leadership emphasizes the principal’s role in helping to plan, provide, and supervise teaching and learning (Chapters 12 and 13).
• Case studies describing effective schools encourage students to engage in decision-making about the topics discussed.
• Discussions about the building of communities of practice (Chapter 5) and shared leadership (Chapter 8) describe these as a way to move beyond collegiality to the development of a shared practice that is more effective for student achievement.
• Helping teachers become smarter at what they do, a theme of past editions, continues as a theme of this edition with an all new emphasis on the development of smart schools where individual intelligences are aggregated. Smart schools lead to smart students.
• “Some Reflections” features have been added to most chapters as a way to involve the reader in reflection and to provide groups of readers with a shared experience that will enrich classroom discussions.
• A new online Instructor’s Manual with test questions is available to adopters of this text by contacting your local representative.

Here’s what a colleague says about this book…

“One of the best, if not the best, texts ever written for aspiring school administrators. The gentle blend of theory and practicality make it a must read for aspiring school administrators. I enjoyed teaching from this text more than any other.”

–Philip V. Bender, Indiana State University

In its revised sixth edition, The Principalship continues to emphasize school culture, standards, and building community, while also providing a moral basis for leadership as a means of navigating contextual issues and constraints that principals routinely face. Studying The Principalship, future principals will explore in-depth the array of decisions that they will be confronted with and how those decisions will affect students, teachers, and school policy.

Extensively updated, the new edition emphasizes diversity as a part of community building; the importance of instructional and shared leadership; and the building of communities of practice, while the book’s trademark concentration on reflective practice is maintained throughout the text. The sixth edition also contains a new “Some Reflections” feature that appears in most chapters and that offers students a chance for further critical thinking and enriched class discussions.