But as teachers
race along the information highway, we need to
remember that we still have to use the craft of
teaching to effectively predict the most appropriate
delivery methods for learners of all ages.
Why The Information Highway?
Lessons from Open and Distance Learning examines distance
education in the Canadian context. It is a rich
resource for teachers looking for a national
perspective.
Contributors
use both established work and practical experience,
supported by research to examine the challenges in
both teaching and learning using new technologies.
Roberts and Keough divide the book into three areas:
emerging issues, case studies and an analysis of
emerging policy.
Case studies
include:
- Learners
in the Workplace
- Distance
Education and the Transformation of
Elementary/Secondary Education
- Aboriginal
Learners, Needs and Practices
- The
Francophones of Canada: A Global network
- Virtual
Realities or Fantasies? Technology and the
Future of Distance Education.
Roberts and
Keough conclude that major factors contributing to
Canadian success in distance education are a highly
developed infrastructure, a strong tradition of the
pedagogy of distance learning and governments that
have been eager to promote and fund distance
education development.
Why the
Information Highway? Lessons from Open & Distance
Learning, provides a rich agenda and a forum for
professional dialogue for teachers interested in the
emerging field of distance education. This book will
appeal to educators and policy experts alike, a great
read and comprehensive overview.
Laura Sheehan is a program
officer in the Accreditation Unit of the
College’s Professional Affairs Department. She recommends two web sites for
teachers interested in distance education in Canada:
the Canadian Association for Distance Education
(CADE) at http://www.cade-aced.ca and the NODE (Network for
Ontario’s Distance Educators) at http://node.on.ca
Leadership for
the Schoolhouse
How is it
different?
Why is it important?By
Thomas J. Sergiovanni
Jossey-Bass
Publishers, San Francisco
|
 |
Reviewed by David
McPhail
It has been
said, "That the only thing that is constant is
‘change’." To many of us in the
educational field this is very frightening, since we
tend to fear the unknown and all too often, change
represents the unknown.
Probably, this
is because many changes we have experienced seem to
be without appropriate planning and in a milieu void
of philosophy and lacking in well-established and
properly-grounded educational research. Thus the
change is not good for communities, students,
jurisdictions and most of all students in the
classrooms.
Thomas J.
Sergiovanni in his book, Leadership for the
Schoolhouse offers us some hope in the despair of the
changing times. He sets forth a blueprint for change
that is supported by research and carries a
philosophy that is both reasonable and attainable.
Throughout the
book he sets forth an abundance of ideas that are
valuable for educators to know and possibly follow.
With chapter titles like "Doing What is Best for
Students", and "The Roots of School
Leadership", we are riveted to read on to
determine if some of what he writes applies to
ourselves.
Sergiovanni
cites study after study to support his material. He
makes a strong case for smaller schools rather than
smaller classes. He establishes an upper limit to
school sizes for both elementary and secondary
schools and shows how this can be attained even when
the overall population of a building is "very
large".
He compares
education to large businesses – to General
Motors or IBM – and clearly points out that
schools are not like businesses and the work of the
school and results of the schooling process are a
long way away from the current and accepted business
models.
Throughout all
the work, Sergiovanni clearly sets forth two main
themes. First he believes that there must be the
establishment of a moral tone in the school. This
moral belief helps us to think about leadership as
"a shared followership." Community members
are bonded together to share commitments. These allow
for a community to have a set of shared ideas, values
and commitments.
Second and
equally important is Sergiovanni’s strong
support for the "building of community".
This community building takes places in the
classrooms, throughout the school and into the area
served by the school itself. This theory takes us
away from empowerment that focuses on rights,
discretion and freedom and on more commitments,
obligations and duties that people feel toward each
other and toward the school.
Thus, people
tend to work together as a team and in team-building
processes where the members are connected to each
other for such moral reasons as mutual obligations,
shared traditions and other normative ties so that
collegiality comes from within.
The student is
always at the forefront of this work and all plans,
literature, philosophical references and suggestions
for change set the reader in this direction.
This is a book
well worth a read – worth a read by anyone who
has even the slightest interest in education. As we
move toward more changes in the Ontario education
scene, all leaders at all levels of education must
consider what Thomas Sergiovanni is saying.
"Each new generation acquires its moral
anchoring in the home, in the family. We must insist
once again that bringing children into the world
entails a moral responsibility to provide not only
the material necessities but also the moral education
and character formation."
This book is a
change from the ‘individual rights’ theory
and moves more towards a balance of individualism and
community values. Take time and read Leadership for
the Schoolhouse by Thomas J. Sergiovanni. You will be
glad you did.
David McPhail is principal of
Lansdowne Public School in Sarnia.
