Donaldson, Gordon A. (2006). Cultivating Leadership in Schools: Connecting People, Purpose, and Practice (2nd edition). Reviewed by Anthony H. Normore, Florida International University

Donaldson, Gordon A. (2006). Cultivating Leadership in Schools: Connecting People, Purpose, and Practice (2nd edition). NY, NY: Teachers College Press. 216 pp. $27.95     ISBN 0-8077-4710-6 Reviewed by Anthony H. Normore Florida International University November 5, 2006 Policymakers, researchers and practitioners argue incessantly about who the school leaders should be, what they should do, and how they should be held accountable. In the second edition of his book, Cultivating Leadership in Schools: Connecting People, Purpose, and Practice, and in the words of Michael Fullan, Donaldson “inspires and points the way by highlighting the importance, excitement, and worthwhile challenges of reform” (p. vii). The author begins by asking the following question: Do schools need leaders? Questioning the need for leaders has led to discussions on who leaders are and what it is that they do. Few would claim that typical principal activities “are second only to classroom instruction” (p. 1) to ensure that all students learn and learn well. However, that every school needs a principal won’t ensure that a school has a leader or that every child is provided a sound education. With this idea in mind, the author writes “what it takes to run a school does not equate with leading a school” (p. 1). With the central premise of his book focused on what is meant by “school leadership,” Donaldson maintains that American public schools need a particular model of leadership that is more fitting to the realities of those schools than past models have been. Furthermore, he asserts that the classical leadership paradigm has not only contributed to the failure of school reform but has convinced many principals and teachers that they do not belong among the ranks of school leaders. Hoping to ensure the credibility of school leadership and to emphasize the need for school leaders, the author presents a leadership model that integrates three streams of organizational life: relationships, purpose, and action-in-common. These components combine to ensure the success of leadership through raising the quality of learning in the school. The format of the book is clear, practical, theoretical, easy to follow, and organized into eleven chapters. The first four chapters glean research findings from the literature while the remaining chapters look more practically into how school leadership, when developed differently from the past models, can cultivate strong leadership. In chapter one, school leadership challenges are considered that help develop a leadership model that is more aligned with the realities of American public schools. These challenges are considered within a structural context. For example, the author sets aside past conceptions of what school leaders are (e.g., principals, assistant principals, department heads, athletic administrators, and others with formal titles). Instead, he offers a definition of leadership as “the mobilization of people to adapt a school’s practices and beliefs so that every child’s learning and growth is optimized” (p. 3). Based on a preponderance of evidence in the research and accounts of best practices, Donaldson claims that leadership must be productive for students and sustainable for leaders. To achieve this, there is a need for more leadership, not more management. He then offers a three stream model for school leadership. The model highlights three essential dimensions of leadership activity: egalitarian ethos (relational), moral purpose, and bias for action. Chapter two discusses the classical notions of leadership-as-administration and how schools need to move beyond these notions by capitalizing on the “professional tribalism of educators” (p. 25). The author reiterates how schools must move beyond the “conspiracy of busyness” (i.e., leadership "on the fly," whole-faculty meetings, and committee and team meetings) and not only "embrace the busyness of schools but also offer ways to harness it” (p. 15). Donaldson suggests ways to make time for rich collegial conversation and important informal communications. The premise of this chapter is that schools have strong cultures and teachers have a powerful sense of professional community that shapes their practices and their relationships to one another – “that the informal social architecture brings them together beyond the reach of principals and often teacher leaders” (p. 25). In chapter three, the author discusses how the culture and social norms of most schools conspire to thwart conventional forms and styles of leadership. Building from the previous chapter, Donaldson helps to further establish the groundwork for a new leadership model that is better adapted to contemporary conditions in American public schools. The author identifies five themes from the literature and uses these themes as organizers throughout the chapter that mark the socio-cultural context of school leadership. These themes include: rewards come from students and classrooms, ethos is individual, collegial work is voluntary and permissive, the semi-profession (undervalued and peripheral), and school-wide matters are for administrators. Each theme is elaborated in detail providing a synopsis that explains why “it is past time that we create a model of leadership that will help our best educators to succeed. . . the model must not only mobilize schools toward demonstrable improvement in student learning but also make the work of leading both manageable and personally fulfilling” (pp. 43-44). Chapter four introduces the central message of the book. Donaldson presents the Three Stream Model by describing the three “streams” and offers justification as to why these streams shape the school’s capacity to mobilize for school improvement. The author offers brief explanations of the strengths of each stream and reiterates how their complementarity constitutes the quality of school leadership. In the United States, asserts the author, “We have grown up with a concept of school leadership as administration that has dangerously polarized our assumptions about who is responsible for or capable of providing leadership for schools” (p. 45). Donaldson's core premise is that “leadership is not a quality with which individuals are imbued or a process that selected individuals conduct with followers; rather it is a form of relationship among people that has the effect of mobilizing them to accomplish purposes they value” (p. 47). To support the model’s framework, the author organizes the chapter around the dimensions of leadership including: (1) open, trusting, affirmative relationships, (2) a commitment to mutual purposes with moral benefit, and (3) shared belief in action-in-common. The central message discussed centers on leaders’ work – that leaders’ work “lies in the merging of these three streams into one strong current of nutrients to feed the school’s improvement with children” (p. 63). Elaboration of each stream follows in the next three chapters where the focus shifts from leadership to leaders. In chapter five, Donaldson identifies the challenges faced by principals and teacher leaders that foster strong working relationships. Rather than present a how-to manual for leaders, the author presents clusters of leadership activities that contribute to the leadership prospects and pitfalls for building relationships. While conditions are identified that militate against relations-building (i.e., size of school; isolation and individualistic culture of teachers in classrooms; hierarchical relationships; and formality of most occasions when the whole faculty come together), Donaldson provides conditions that unify relationships (i.e., staff do have power, responsibility and autonomy; a human, personal need for affiliation; a commonness of purpose and mission; and challenges of the work that can pull people together personally and professionally). Essentially, the chapter highlights the vital role that teacher leaders play in cultivating open, affirming relationships where the power of leaders grows most from their actions and working relationships. Chapter six focuses on the core activities that constitute the stewardship of mutual commitments to common purposes. These activities include: (1) a well-articulated vision and value system that is representative of the school’s moral and social fabric, and (2) bridging the practical, daily work of members with the ideals of the school’s purpose. To help further understand the range of states of readiness for “purposing,” the author presents a summary that indicates how the sense of purpose in schools falls between “faint” and “robust” (p. 95). The stewardship of commitment to purpose needs not only firm core values and beliefs, but the strength within the group to question, confront, and challenge those values and beliefs and “the practices they give rise to - when evidence compels a reassessment” (p. 104). Chapter seven focuses on the third stream of the model: nurturing a belief in action-in-common. With the premise that nothing convinces educators that they should collaborate more than seeing that it makes each person more successful, Donaldson identifies four ways that leaders shape the group’s belief and trust in their action-in-common. These include: (1) leaders identify the value of interdependent work; (2) leaders model behaviors and stress values that say "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"; (3) leaders ensure a steady diet of feedback on work and its effects; and (4) as leaders provide the feedback, they enable people to act on these data to simultaneously solve their own problems and meet organizational challenges (p. 108). As with the previous chapter, Donaldson presents a summary of this stream in the form of a development continuum from “paralyzed” to “propelled,” as school leaders engage in their readiness to act (p. 115). This chapter ends with a diagram that clearly outlines the assets and liabilities of teacher leaders and principals, and highlights the prospects and pitfalls from all three streams of the model. The next three chapters offer a more pragmatic perspective on The Three Stream Model. The author describes the core activities of school leaders as they engage in the three stream model of leadership in schools. One very fundamental shift that emerges throughout these chapters is the concept of moving from “I” (the individual who makes leadership happen) to “We” (in relationships that cultivate each other). In Chapter eight, Donaldson presents a synopsis of activities that cut across many roles, situations, and contexts embraced by leaders as they strive to cultivate relationships among those around them. The web of relationship-building activities highlighted in this chapter includes: (1) fostering connections among staff; (2) honoring how people feel in their work and about one another; (3) clarifying and redefining roles to strengthen relationships; and (4) facilitating the group’s capacity to work within its natural limits, preventing overextension. In the web of relationships created by leaders who put these relationships first lies “the school’s capacity to mobilize wisely for action to adapt and improve its service to children and community (p. 143). Chapter nine reiterates how school leaders help their school communities respond constructively to periods of adaptive challenge. Examples of activity are introduced that capitalize on what leaders do to help their colleagues and constituents face essential challenges and renew commitments to a new mission. Such activities include, but are not limited to: facing questions of mission and moral purpose; inviting evidence of success and failure; taking ownership of the challenges; and understanding the roles they play in the predicament. Furthermore, skills and dispositions are necessary to address conflicting views and frustrations created in the system while preserving basic consensus about moral purpose. The author suggests how important it becomes for leaders to critically understand and articulate challenges, and how they contribute to the current conditions and their own responsibility for moving the school forward. Other significant points in this chapter center on interpersonal safety and authenticity of leadership as well as accepting responsibility and expecting success as a result. Donaldson ends the chapter by emphasizing that leadership must come from a number of people, not from one in order to capitalize on “the array of interpersonal and intellectual skills and the breadth of knowledge about public schools” (p. 158). In chapter ten, Donaldson focuses on the importance of blending learning and action in order for effective leadership to unfold. With the premise that learning leads to new action, he presents a series of activities clustered around four themes: (1) modeling inquiry in attitude and practice; (2) gathering people together to learn; (3) demonstrating a bias for action; and (4) seeking evidence of results. The blending of learning and action calls upon leaders to possess ambition to find a better way, a trust in experiential knowledge, and active caring. A summary of all activities and qualities in all three streams is presented in a table. An interesting observation at this point is found in the differences in leadership qualities between Donaldson’s suggested leadership model and those of other models used to describe competencies for school leaders (e.g., the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium) (see pp. 176-177). In the final chapter, the author brings us back to the original question posed at the beginning of the book: Can schools be led? Using the example of a vignette of a Leadership Team at Acadia High School (pp. 178-182), Donaldson illustrates how people are apt to learn that leadership is everywhere in a school where people believe that together they can improve, where cultivating leadership in schools involves a series of processes that connect people, purpose, and their practices. He presents a perspective in this chapter that highlights the major message in the book: where educators resolve to lead together, their capacity to form strong relationships and connections, and to nourish a robust sense of moral purpose and commitment will undoubtedly lead to productive action. Cultivating Leadership in Schools: Connecting People, Purpose, and Practice offers a comprehensive cutting-edge look at crucial issues in school leadership. Armed with powerful and useful tips for establishing a culture of shared leadership among teachers and school administrators, this book offers new insights into how these school leaders can better understand their jobs and perform them more effectively in support of increased student learning and sustainable effective leadership. This book is one of the most highly valued and recommended volumes on leadership of its time. It is replete with practical examples and action advice for how to confront complex matters of school reform .It is especially recommended by this reviewer as a comprehensive resource for aspiring and practicing school administrators, teachers and other school teams, for it clearly indicates how educational leadership research and practice are connected. As noted on the final page of text in the letter from a principal, what the authors have presented “is a template that can guide you in developing a school and staff that most surely can become and endure as an authentic community of learners. Take a moment or two and contemplate that as a real possibility” (p. 203). About the Reviewer Anthony H. Normore, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, College of Education, Florida International University, Miami, Florida Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review. >