Sonia Stewart
Executive Officer of Organizational Development
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools
“This book is a treasure trove of meaningful and beautiful stories that illustrate the power of caring between educators, students, and families. The book begins by defining caring in the context of schools, followed by a cogent argument for why we need to understand and practice caring. At the start of each collection of stories, there is a set of focusing questions to deepen the reader’s engagement with and reflection on the stories. This book would be valuable for the preparation of school leaders, as well as for self-study and professional development.”
Megan Tschannen-Moran
Professor, William & Mary School of Education
“This collection of stories demonstrates the importance of building caring relationships with children and their families in order to create a school culture where learning can take place. You will find examples of how school leaders show students and their families empathy, kindness, and compassion. This book is a must read for educators who want to see the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders brought to life.”
Jacquelyn Wilson
Executive Director, National Policy Board for Educational Leadership
Director, Delaware Academy of School Leadership, University of Delaware
To
Rachel, LC, and Dan
Stories of Caring School Leadership
Mark A. Smylie
Joseph F. Murphy
Karen Seashore Louis
Copyright © 2021 by Corwin Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Smylie, Mark A., author. | Murphy, Joseph, 1949- author. | Louis, Karen Seashore, author. | Smylie, Mark A. Caring school leadership.
Title: Stories of caring school leadership / Mark A. Smylie, Joseph F. Murphy, and Karen Seashore Louis.
Description: Thousand Oaks, California : Corwin Press, Inc., 2021. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020021916 | ISBN 9781071801826 (paperback) | ISBN 9781071801840 (epub) | ISBN 9781071801857 (epub) | ISBN 9781071801864 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Educational leadership–Psychological aspects. | Caring. | Moral education.
Classification: LCC LB2806 .S5838 2021 | DDC 371.2–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021916
Printed in the United States of America
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
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Preface
This Book and How to Use It
In the many years that the three of us have worked in educational leadership and school improvement, we have come to believe that caring lies at the heart of schooling and promoting the learning and development of children. We have also come to believe that caring is an essential quality of school leadership. We are not alone in our thinking. Abundant evidence from research shows the importance of caring and support, along with high expectations and intellectual rigor, to the academic success of students. Educators know how essential it is for students’ learning and well-being that they are in strong, trusting, caring relationships with adults and peers in and beyond school.
In 2020, we wrote a book exploring the concept of caring and its application to school leadership. That book, Caring School Leadership (Corwin), surveys writing and research from education, related academic fields and disciplines, and the human service professions. It identifies practices that school leaders might use to be caring in their relationships with students, cultivate their schools as caring communities, and foster caring in families and communities beyond the school. This book of stories is a companion to Caring School Leadership. On the pages that follow, we present stories that illustrate concretely many of the practices of caring school leadership discussed in that book.
Purpose of This Book
The purpose of this book of stories is to illuminate,