Educational Leadership: Authentic Case Studies for Today's School Leaders

This book, Educational Leadership: Authentic Case Studies for Today’s Leaders, was created as one part of a larger philosophical project at Austin Peay State University. Teachers across the state of Tennessee needed a pipeline to educational leadership that removed the barriers of proximity, time, and finances that prevented excellent teachers from pursuing principal licensure. In 2020, the Eriksson College of Education endeavored to address each of these hurdles for educators in our state. We reimagined our MAED Educational Leadership Studies program such that it was completely rewritten to address the research and professional practices a transformational leader would need to thrive in the current public-school environment. The partnership between New Leaders and Dr. Laura Barnett reimagined each of the 10 courses to reflect these goals. The two-year, in-person program is now designed to be accomplished in one-year in an accelerated and fully online model. This program of study is now a cohort model that engages students with peers across the state, high-impact leaders as instructors, and a new coaching model to address problems of practice and case studies. The integrated lessons are now job-embedded for learners to investigate each course in the context of his or her own school with a Mentor Principal. In keeping with our philosophy of removing barriers, we discarded the many textbooks that had previously been required purchases for each course. In place of those, we wrote this ONE textbook to coordinate with each course. 

Educational Leadership: Authentic Case Studies for Today’s Leaders, is now the only textbook for the entire program and each chapter addresses the high-level topics and research students need to prepare for their leadership identity and future role in schools. The inclusion of vignettes and case studies in each chapter provide opportunities for learning leaders to apply the content to real-life examples of the complicated role of being a transformational leader. These case studies come directly from experiences the authors of the text had in their years of school administration. Mentorship and “passing the torch” from our collective experiences is a driver in how we thought about each chapter and each learning opportunity. We believe these simulations to be one of the best teachable moments for students. Engaging in the diagnosing and prescribing of thoughtful and impactful leadership is an art. We are pleased to be able to share this text with students who truly desire to be change agents in their profession.