Are Our Children Becoming Well-Schooled or Well-Educated? Critic Bemoans Lack Of Effective Leadership In Our School Systems

Almost everyone from parents to politicians are concerned about the quality of public schools. What kind of leadership is necessary to produce “good” schools? Can we “engineer” excellence into the schools or do they require a different kind of leadership? Do test score numbers tell the story about whether our students are becoming educated? Is there a difference between being well-school and becoming well-educated? Should schools be run like businesses or do they require something more?

(PRWEB) February 10, 2006 -- Almost everyone from parents to politicians are concerned about the quality of public schools. What kind of leadership is necessary to produce “good” schools? Can we “engineer” excellence into the schools or do they require a different kind of leadership? Do test score numbers tell the story about whether our students are becoming educated? Is there a difference between being well-school and becoming well-educated? Should schools be run like businesses or do they require something more?

Increasingly, in the last few decades, schools have evolved into businesses focused on numbers, instead of havens of learning directed by the needs of children. In the era of “no child left behind” it has become apparent that many children are being left behind as test scores seem to drive teachers and the curriculum. “Getting the numbers” has become an obsession that denigrates other important aspects of education.

Leadership is essential to producing “good” schools. ”Schools and corporations cannot rely on 16th-century thought to structure their organizations,” says George A. Goens , Ph.D., Senior partner with Goens/Esparo, LLC, which works with public and private sector organizations in leadership searches, leadership development, and accountability. ”How we think determines how we behave and we have to think differently about schools and education so that our children can live lives of promise.”

Goens insists that students yearn to belong to something larger than themselves, something noble and with purpose, and which gives them a sense of efficacy. As a school superintendent for 15 years, Goens learned firsthand that, “leadership is a human and philosophical endeavor. It is not about things, systems, processes or data. It is about people -- you and me -- and who we are and what we can become together.”

His new book, Soft Leadership for Hard Times, proposes an entirely different metaphor for schools than the business/accountability model based on metrics alone. “Control is a mirage,” Gordon says. “Force can move people in the short term, but it does not motivate them. Relationships are at the core of leadership. Developing creative, imaginative, and passionate schools that can truly educate children and help them begin to gain wisdom is what education is all about. It takes strong leadership to develop schools like that.”

For a review copy of the book or to set up an interview with Dr. Goens for a story, please contact Jay Wilke at 727-443-7115, ext. 223.

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