Summary Of Jossey-Bass Reader On Educational Leadership: Moral Leadership

When reading and listening to lectures I was struck by the information presented in part two of the Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership: Moral Leadership. I believe this stemmed from three key ideas: trust, relationships, and business.
To begin, I was extremely interested in the emphasis on trust and how trust is the glue that holds together a school. When reading I found myself nodding along at how important trust is to an organization especially a school that functions mostly on communication. I whole-heartedly agree with Moran when she states that, “the absence of trust impedes effectiveness and progress” (99). People need to be able to rely on one another and feel that what they are saying has value. Also, teachers want to know that administrators are going to put into place the steps in order to reach a goal if that is what they say they are going to do. Finally, parents and students need to have trust in the system which is often difficult when the system has failed them in the past. Therefore, establishing and maintaining this trust in each other is paramount to running a successful student-centered school.

I have worked under a few different administrators that were not genuine and always seemed to say exactly what you wanted to hear rather than telling the truth. This lack of authenticity eroded the system from the inside out and made it so that not one teacher sought out those administrators. We all felt the lack of follow through and the trust had vanished. Without being honest and sincere I feel that administrators lose the following of the staff and lose admiration from staff and students as well. I was drawn to what Evans stated when he claimed, “…leadership begins at one’s center” (144). I agree that leadership starts at the core of a person rather than the show that they portray to the