1st Edition
Leadership Theory and the Community College Applying Theory to Practice
This book presents leaders and aspiring leaders in community colleges with a theoretical and practical framework for analyzing their leadership styles, and determining the dimensions of leadership they need to improve in order to strengthen their capacity to resolve complex issues and effectively guide their institutions. It does so through presenting theories about leadership that are congruent with the notions of equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change, and social justice that drive the missions of community colleges, and at the same time provides the reader with the strategic skills to prepare for and navigate the profound changes ahead.Readers will gain an understanding of how to use theory as a tool to guide their practice, better understand the intricacies of the issues confronting them, the power dynamics and organizational context in which they operate, predict potential outcomes, and develop processes to achieve desired outcomes. Utilizing theory in conjunction with case study analysis provides community college leaders with the tools needed to comprehensively interrogate and inform decision-making processes. The authors provide a number of rich and realistically complex case studies, all of which are situated in a community college environment, to which readers can apply the various theories and perspectives, develop their view about the principles and actions most likely to lead to satisfactory outcomes, and hone the approaches to leadership that are authentic to them, and effective. The authors aim to help readers develop the multi-faceted approach to leadership that is essential to running complex organizations. They aim to promote development of the “whole” leader through a three-fold framework of theory, practice, and introspection in context of institutional change. In doing so, leaders will be better equipped to lead community colleges in challenging times.The authors tie AACC’s competencies to the leadership theories they cover, as well as to the analysis of the case studies, and leadership inventories, as an essential framework for developing the skill sets to enact the community college mission.The book is suitable for personal reading and reflection, institutional leadership retreats and training, and as a text for higher education courses.
Acknowledgments Foreword Preface 1. Reflective Case Leadership Framework 2. Organizational Theory and the Community College. An Overview 3. Bureaucratic Leadership 4. Democratic Leadership 5. Path-Goal Leadership 6. Situational Leadership 7. Ethical Leadership 8. Leader-Member Exchange Theory 9. Political Leadership 10. Systems Leadership 11. Transformational Leadership 12. Symbolic Leadership 13. Transformative Leadership References About the Authors Index
Biography
Carlos Nevarez J. Luke Wood is an Assistant Professor of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education at San Diego State University. He also is co-director of the Minority Male Community College Collaborative (M2C3), a national project that partners with community colleges across the U.S. to enhance access, achievement, and success among minority male community college students. He is also the founder and current editor of the Journal of African American Males in Education, chair of the Multicultural and Multiethnic Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, and chair-elect for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Council on Ethnic Participation (CEP). Dr. Wood has authored nearly 70 publications, including more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is author of three textbooks: Community College Leadership & Administration: Theory, Practice, and Change (2010), Leadership Theory in the Community College: Applying Theory to Practice (2013), and Ethical Leadership and the Community College: Paradigms, Decision-Making, and Praxis (Stylus, in press). He also is editor of Black Men in College: Implications for HBCUs and Beyond (2012), Black Males in Postsecondary Education: Examining their Experiences in Diverse Institutional Contexts (2012), STEM Models of Success: Programs, Policies, and Practices in the Community College (in press), and Community Colleges and STEM: Examining Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities (2013). Dr. Wood received the 2013 Barbara K. Townsend Emerging Scholar Award from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges and the 2010 ASHE CEP Mildred Garcia Award for Exemplary Scholarship. Rose Penrose Eduardo J. Padrón is President of Miami Dade College.
"Leadership Theory and the Community College promises a work that applies theory to practice by integrating the American Association of Community Colleges' core competencies for emerging and current community college leaders. The authors offer a dynamic and resourceful discussion focusing on contextualizing theory guided by equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change and social justice as challenges to existing leadership practices. Existing leadership practices include the concepts of equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change, and social justice. The authors claim the business as usual approach is not working and that leadership transformation is required in challenging times. Their purpose is to develop the whole leader through theory, practice, and introspection."
Community College Journal of Research and Practice
"We are surrounded by talent and our current efforts at reinvention are calling forth a new generation [of leaders] to navigate a new era. The chapters that follow will serve them well. I am betting they and a community of impassioned colleagues will be lifting lessons from these pages and applying them in ways we never dreamed."
Eduardo J. Padrón, President of Miami Dade College
"Nevarez, Wood, and Penrose have struck the right chord with Leadership Theory and the Community College. This text offers an innovative approach to case analysis that encourages the reader to engage in reflective practice. The authors effectively align theoretical perspectives and the application of leadership principles in steering deliberation on problems and solutions. This work is a definitive compendium of community college case studies that will provide a useful framework for emerging and current community college leaders."
Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, Professor and Coordinator, Community College Leadership Program, Eastern Michigan University
