Return-Path: <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id hALMV7m13115; Fri, 21 Nov 2003 17:31:07 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 17:31:07 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <CFA0B6B409EBD411ABBF0000F8CD206C06FECC34@CREXC01> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: bodman@ucc.edu To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:829] RE: teachers as leaders X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2655.55) Status: O Content-Length: 4494 Lines: 125 Good points. Great example. Do you think that Bethune was ordinary or extraordinary? Jean Bodman Union County College bodman@ucc.edu Work: 908-965-6096 Home: 609-695-6567 -----Original Message----- From: Tamara Thornton [mailto:tclunis@txstate.edu] Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 11:59 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:825] RE: teachers as leaders Howard Gardner in his book, Leading Minds, talks about the ordinary leader and the extraordinary leader. I appreciate his delineation. The reality is that an ordinary leader is a leader all the same. The leader that goes after the small win paves the way for the extraordinary leader in the future. Because a leader operates within the system does not mean that a person is not willing to put their job on the line. This issue certainly much be viewed within the leadership context. You made the comment "When one works within the system, not much heat is usually engendered." There are numerous examples of leaders that operated within the system, engendered much heat and stayed the course on their actions. For example, Mary McLeod Bethune, advocated for educational access for African-Americans as administrator of the Office of Minority Affairs under Franklin Roosevelt. She challenged the federal government to go farther than it had ever gone before. Did she engender much heat? You bet. Burns (1978) and Kouzes and Posner (2002) discuss the transactional, transformational, and charismatic leaders. I believe it is possible to be a transactional leader within a system and have a transformational outcome. Mary McLeod Bethune was all of these. She was able to influence change to allow greater access for African-American youth and adults to education. She was willing to stand out front as head of a federal agency even when she repeatedly faced death threats on her life for the cause of African-American education. >===== Original Message From nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov ===== >Notice that I didn't say that they would have to put their job on the line, >but only that they must have a conviction that the issue they are espousing >would be worth putting their job on the line. That conviction of rightness >and willingness to sacrifice for the good of the cause is very compelling to >the group. Leadership on the little issues is easy and does not require >much of a leader. Often a facilitator and organizer will do. When one >works within the system, not much heat is usually engendered. Change is >incremental. Major, subtantive change of the system itself takes major >courage. Leaders that I have been willing to follow have been willing to be >out in front and personally take any heat that comes for the benefit of the >group. > >Whadayathink? > >Jean Bodman >Union County College >bodman@ucc.edu >Work: 908-965-6096 >Home: 609-695-6567 > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Tamara Thornton Clunis [mailto:tclunis@txstate.edu] >Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 1:59 PM >To: Multiple recipients of list >Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:822] teachers as leaders > > >I have been following the discussion thread regarding teachers as leaders. I >don't know if I necessarily agree in all cases with the statement that a >teacher that leads should be willing to put their job and career on the >line. I think those are more extreme circumstances. I agree that a leader >can be courageous etc and keep your employment. I actually think that an >important quality of a leader is to be able to lead while operating within >the system. > >Many of the issues facing teachers in adult literacy are systemic issues. >Systemic change can not happen overnight. A leadership legacy that endures >happens over a period time...often with that person remaining in the >position over a period of years. > >There is a wonderful book by Howard Gardner called Leading Minds. The book >profiles leaders who lead organizational or social movements over a period >of time. I often wonder would have happened to these movements or >organizations if the leader left their positions early on. > >Tamara Thornton Clunis >Grant Director >Texas State University >Center for Initiatives in Education >601 University Drive >San Marcos, Texas 78666 >512.245.9045 (office) >512.245.8151 (fax) >tclunis@txstate.edu Tamara Thornton, Grant Director Juvenile Justice Research Project Center for Initiatives in Education Texas State University College of Education 512.245.9045 512.245.8151 (fax) tt09@txstate.edu
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