Reframing+the+Path+to+School+Leadership,+A+Guide+for+Teachers+and+Principals

Bolman, Lee G. and Terrence E. Deal. //Reframing the Path to school Leadership; a guide for teachers and principals.// Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2002. Through a very readable narrative connecting the first year for a principal and a teacher within his school, the authors lead the reader through an examination of administrative problem solving by reframing the problems through four different lenses. Those are: 1. The Political Frame: "Who are the key players? Who are the people who are likely to make a difference in how the issue gets resovled?" (p.47) "Schools are political because of two essential features. The first is they are invevitably coalitions of different individuals and groups with enduring differences in background, beliefs, and agendas...The second essential feature is scarce resources...The interplay of different interests and scarce resources inevitably leads to conflict between individuals and groups." (p. 51) Questions; Who are the key players? What is the interest of each of these? How much power does each player have? Informed approach: Clarify your agenda. Build relationship and alliances. Soothe and learn from the opposition. Deal openly with differences. Negotiate. (p. 53)

2. The Human Resource Frame: "Empower youself and others... Ask questions and tell the truth...Listen to others. Attend to their feelings, concerns and aspirations...Ask for feedback." (P. 67)

3. The Structural Frame: "A group needs to be clear about four things: what it's supposed to do, what authority it has, who it's accountable to, and what it's accountable for." (p. 76) Clarify rules. "In a classroom, a school, or any other group, people like to know where they're headed, who's in charge, what they're supposed to do and how their efforts relate to others'." (p, 84) "The trick is to set specific, measurable goals that set up a clear, challenging, reachable target." (p. 86) A clear, top down structure is helpful for straightforward, clerical task, but not for creating "teacher-proof" curriculum. The structure should fit the task. (p.86)

4. The Symbolic Frame: "Celebration and ceremony are antidotes to boredom, cynicism, and burnout." "Learn and celebrate the history" "Diagnose the strength of the existing culture" (p. 104) "Reinforce and celebrate the culture's strength." "Mark transitions with ceremony." (p. 105)

I couldn't help thinking about the reorganization of the DOE as I was trying to digest the different frames. I wonder if Klein ever thought about the Human Resource Frame or the Structural or Symbolic. I think he's functioning purely on the poltical. J.S.