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Leaders as Communicators and Diplomats

By: Paul D. Houston, Alan M. Blankstein, Robert W. Cole

Motivate, persuade, and inspire your school community!

This sixth volume in the Soul of Educational Leadership series provides innovative ideas on diplomacy and practical strategies for strengthening communication skills. With contributions from top leadership figures like Paul D. Houston, John R. Hoyle, Rich Bagin, and Daniel H. Pink, this resource emphasizes the importance of skillful communication in gaining support, avoiding misunderstandings, establishing productive community relationships, and delivering a quality education to every student. Individual chapters demonstrate how administrators can:

Create dynamic districtwide communication systems
Respond to district challenges and issues
Use electronic communication tools effectively
Increase avenues for keeping the public informed

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Product Details

Grade Level: K-12
ISBN: 9781412949446
Published By: Corwin
Series: The Soul of Educational Leadership Series
Year: 2009
Page Count: 160
Publication date: April 08, 2009

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Description

Motivate, persuade, and inspire your school community!

A central role of any educational leader is that of an accomplished communicator—one who can relate to diverse communities, promote cooperative interaction, and unify stakeholders around the larger cause of quality education for every student.

This sixth volume in the Soul of Educational Leadership series provides innovative ideas on diplomacy and practical strategies for strengthening communications skills. With contributions from top leadership figures like Paul D. Houston, John R. Hoyle, Rich Bagin, and Daniel H. Pink, this resource emphasizes the importance of clear and purposeful communication in gaining support, avoiding misunderstandings, and establishing productive communitywide relationships. Individual chapters demonstrate how readers can:

Create dynamic, effective districtwide communication systems
Respond to district challenges and issues
Use electronic communication tools effectively
Secure and increase funding for their schools and districts
Increase avenues for informing the public about issues that affect schools and students

This insightful book offers all school leaders a rich array of creative, thoughtful communication approaches to empower their leadership and inspire everyone who has a stake in preparing today's students for tomorrow's challenges.

Key features

Compact volume offering contributions from top school leadership figures in theory and practice and compiled by two of the best-known and most influential experts in school leadership
Combines research, practice, and innovative thinking into a single volume
Copublished with AASA and the HOPE Foundation

Author(s)

Paul D. Houston

Paul D. Houston has established himself as one of the leading spokespersons for American education through his extensive speaking engagements, published articles, and his regular appearances on national radio and television. Formerly executive director of the American Association of School Administrators from 1994 to 2008, Houston has served as a teacher and building administrator in North Carolina and New Jersey. He has also served as assistant superintendent in Birmingham, Alabama, and as superintendent of schools in Princeton, NJ; Tucson, AZ; and Riverside, CA. Houston has served in an adjunct capacity for the University of North Carolina, Harvard University, Brigham Young University, and Princeton University. He has served as a consultant and speaker throughout the United States and overseas, and he has published more than 100 articles in professional journals.

Alan M. Blankstein

Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A former “high-risk” youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher. He worked for Phi Delta Kappa, March of Dimes, and Solution Tree, which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years while launching Professional Learning Communities beginning in the late 1980s. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. Alan is Senior Editor, lead contributor, and/or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera,. He also authored some 20 articles in leading education print including Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Principal, and Executive Educator. Alan has provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major U.S. Ed Org, and throughout the UK, Africa, and the Middle East. Alan has served on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, and the Jewish Child Care Agency, where he once was a youth in residence.

Robert W. Cole

Robert W. Cole is proprietor and founder of Edu-Data, a firm specializing in writing, research, and publication services. He was a member of the staff of Phi Delta Kappan magazine for 14 years: assistant editor 1974-1976, managing editor 1976-1980, and editor-in-chief 1981-88. During his tenure as editor-in-chief, the Kappan earned more than 40 Distinguished Achievement Awards from the Association of Educational Publishers, three of them for his editorials.

Since leaving the Kappan, Cole has served as founding vice president of the Schlechty Center for Leadership in School Reform (1990-1994). At CLSR he managed districtwide and communitywide school reform efforts and led the team that created the Kentucky Superintendents’ Leadership Institute. He formed the Bluegrass Leadership Network, in which superintendents worked together to use current leadership concepts to solve reform-oriented management and leadership problems.

As senior consultant to the National Reading Styles Institute (1994-2005), Cole served as editor and lead writer of the Power Reading Program. He and a team of writers and illustrators created a series of hundreds of graded short stories, short novels, and comic books from Primer through Grade 10. Those stories were then recorded by Cole and Marie Carbo; they are being used by schools all across the United States to teach struggling readers.

Cole has served as a book development editor for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), for Corwin Press, and for Writer’s Edge Press. He has been president of the Educational Press Association of America and member of the EdPress Board of Directors. He has presented workshops, master classes, and lectures at universities nationwide, including Harvard University, Stanford University, Indiana University, Xavier University, Boise State University, and the University of Southern Maine. He has served as a special consultant to college and university deans in working with faculties on writing for professional publication. Recently he began serving as managing editor and senior associate with the Center for Empowered Leadership.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

1. The Superintendent as Communicator and Diplomat

2. The Leader as Communicator and Diplomat

3. The Educational Leader: Diplomat and Communicator for All Students

4. Learning to Be a Leader

5. Leaders as Communicators and Ambassadors

6. The Superintendent as Key Communicator and Diplomat: A Case Study

7. The Superintendent as Blogger

8. A Whole New Mind for Schools

9. Endnote

Index

Reviews

"Houston, Blankstein, and Cole have hit the nail on the head yet again in this new addition to their Soul of Educational Leadership series. A blend of stories, techniques, and technology to keep the educational administrator out front and leading."

Chuck Bonner, Assistant Principal
Great Valley High School, Malvern, PA

"The writing is easy to follow and provides good insights. This is important material for superintendents, aspiring superintendents, and all school leaders."

Paul G. Young, Executive Director
West After School Center, Lancaster, OH

"This book creates an awareness of the many tools we can use to communicate. The real-life examples help the reader see the need to keep all lines of communication open."

Ralph A. Gilchrest III, Principal
Lake Gibson High School, Lakeland, FL

“Today’s school leaders must be both excellent communicators and skilled diplomats. It’s no longer sufficient to plot a course to meet the needs of students. Leading a school system through change requires the mastery of persuasive communications and interpersonal relations that will earn the leader the respect of constituents and faith in his or her decisions. This book offers sound guidance on new and established ways to connect with the community to advance high-quality education for all students.”

Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director
American Association of School Administrators

Other Titles in: Communication | Leadership

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