Reading for Superintendents

This is a quick but potentially important question.

In light of:

  • Our changing information environment,
  • The demands of our rapidly changing future, and
  • The unique qualities of millennial students…

If you could recommend one book for your superintendent or all superintendents in your state to read, what would that book be?

You can either comment or send me an e-mail at david.warlick@gmail.com.


Image Citation:
Fez, “Books.” (fez)’s Photostream. 3 Dec 2006. 4 Dec 2006 <http://flickr.com/photos/rchoucroun/312758630/>.

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17 thoughts on “Reading for Superintendents”

  1. We gave copies of Will Richardson’s “Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts” to the members of our district’s “Leadership Team” (the super and all his assistants) a couple of months ago. At this point, I have no idea how many of them actually read the book or have a good understanding of any of those terms.

    Actually, the book I would rather have them all read is “Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative” by Ken Robinson. It’s not a “technology” book or even strictly speaking an education book. But it does address a major problem we have with the current structure of school, which is that as kids get older we tend to wring the creativity out of them in favor of conformity.

  2. Honestly, it wouldn’t be a book, it would be to set up a bloglines account and to peruse your tech learning blogerati listed to the right (and a few principals who are now blogging) and subscribe to their blog and read 10 minutes a day for a month.

    If not and it had to be a book, it would be the World is Flat – the chapter on the flatteners and the chapter on education. (It is a long book!) Educators need to wake up that it is a new world and it will require different practices.

  3. I’d have them read Chapter 1 of The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida. As Vicki noted, they need to understand the depth of the changes that are occurring in the workforce. I had a wonderful session last week with the entire administrative team of a suburban school district here in Minnesota (about 60 school leaders). We talked extensively about the fact that the “creative class” is growing fast (it’s doubled since 1980) and that these are the jobs that make money, contribute to the forward progress of our nation’s economy, etc. In other words, these are the jobs we want personally for our kids and grandkids and thus should be what we want for all kids generally. From there it’s an easy step to highlighting the fact that schools do not provide kids with the opportunities to learn/practice the skills needed in the creative workplace and that Web 2.0 technologies, video games, etc. do.

  4. Ours ARE reading the Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, and I think other than World is Flat, that is the book I would have recommended.

    I find it interesting that almost all the recommendations are for books about right-brained abilities!

  5. Well…

    All of my first few choices were already taken, but the book I am reading right now also gives significant insight into the educational world of tomorrow.

    Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins

    The book does a good job to illustrate what is already happening with respect to convergence and lays out the future of how things will continue to converge.

    The other thing I would do is have them watch EPIC 2014 and Karl Fisch’s 2020Vision videos. I think you could change more minds in 20 minutes than having them read a book that they probably won’t get through.

  6. I recommend that education leaders seek inspiration from accomplished educators, rather than read books on business, pop-psychology or technology. A regular dose of John Dewey or Seymour Papert will keep your mind healthy, but here are my top recommendations.
    My recommendations are:
    1) The Big Picture: Education is Everybody’s Business by Dennis Littky and Samantha Grabelle
    Dennis Littky’s book is a quick-read, but synthesizes everything we should know about learning, school leadership and the purpose of education. Best of all, he walks the walk by creating "Big Picture" schools that succeed in educating students traditionally abandoned by traditional public secondary schools.
    2) Doc: The Story Of Dennis Littky And His Fight For A Better School by Susan Kammeraad-Campbell
    This book chronicles one of Dennis Littky’s successful school reform efforts prior to starting "The Met" and scaling up his "Big Picture" schools. The first half of the book chronicles one of Dennis Littky’s successful school reform efforts prior to starting "The Met" and scaling up his "Big Picture" schools. The second half of the book reads like an educational thriller and illustrates how something as small as a school board election can completely derail educational innovation. This should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the fragility of good schools.
    3) In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization by Deborah Meier
    Macarthur Genius Deborah Meier makes the case for democratic schools, capable of open dialogue, communication and self-correction. Her decades of educational leadership inform the examples provided in this very fine book.
    4) The Inner Principal by David Loader
    David Loader was the principal of two of Australia’s largest and most prestigious schools. (These schools are larger than many school districts) Among his countless innovations, Loader was the first principal in the world to embrace laptops for every student way back in 1989. "The Inner Principal" is a remarkably candid set of personal reflections on the work, thoughts and doubts of educational leaders.
    5) Two of the best books ever written about learning are:

    The Book of Learning and Forgetting by Frank
    Smith

    What do YOU Mean by Learning? by Seymour Sarason

    6) Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope by Jonathan Kozol
    This too often overlooked by Jonathan Kozol is the perfect gift at this time of year. It beautiful book reminds us of who we serve and shares ecumenical goodnes provided by the spirituality of children
    Bonus If you are looking for a novel gift for Superintendents, the DVD, Comedian , by Jerry Seinfeld is perhaps the best exploration of learning ever recorded on film. It has become a staple of my learning course at Pepperdine University.
    More book recommendations may be found at http://www.stager.org/books

  7. I would first suggest The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Educators, both teachers and administrators need to understand the ever-changing world that we are not only living in, but are creating right before our eyes. I do like Vicki Davis’ suggestion about setting up a bloglines account. I think a lot can be learned from other’s thought-provoking writings.

  8. To those of you enamored with “The World is Flat,” you might take a look at today’s San Francisco Chronicle:

    a href=”http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/12/04/EDG41LIA9F1.DTL” target=”new”>Flattening the Great Education Myth and Flattening the Great Education Myth & the Free Market Fundamentalists from The Huffington Post
    You might also enjoy the article I wrote more than a year ago, Reading Fads: Why Tom Friedman Does Not Compute

  9. Sorry for the bad html above. The link I suggested is repaired in the following…

    To those of you enamored with “The World is Flat,” you might take a look at today’s San Francisco Chronicle:

    Flattening the Great Education Myth and Flattening the Great Education Myth & the Free Market Fundamentalists from The Huffington Post
    You might also enjoy the article I wrote more than a year ago, Reading Fads: Why Tom Friedman Does Not Compute

  10. I would say:
    Growing up Digital by Don Tapscott
    Edutopia-George Lucas Foundation
    Both of these have been around for years but still hold a lot of lessons
    The last thing has already been said and that is blogs from educators like yourself.

  11. I agree with Vicki Davis. I would recommend any involvement with online virtual classes. Last winter I took a class Becoming a Webhead with the Electronic Village Online. This opened up a whole new world of friends in cyberspace, conversations and learning about the read-write web. I have to say this was the best professional development I’ve ever participated in.
    Join Becoming a Webhead, or Look at the K12online Conference. The 21st Century is Now! You won’t regret it.
    Over and Out.

  12. I have three recommendations:

    1. Ditto to what Vicki had to say…about reading online blogs etc. Of course, this could require extensive professional development on their behalf. 🙂
    2. Also, I concur with James, they should read Will Richardson’s “Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts”
    3. The Transparent Leader by Herb Baum with Tammy Kling. “How to build a great company (e.g. school system) through straight talk, openness, and accountability” A must read all leaders…

    http://lostjohns.blogspot.com

  13. I too agree with the suggestion by Vickie Davis for setting upa bloglines account and following the discussions from a number of educators.

    And I highly recommend that ALL educators read Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat. We all need to cognizant of a rapidly changing world and where the education community should fit in that scenario. Yes, it’s a long book, but it’s well worth the time and effort.

  14. The most recent book I would have them read is “The Starfish and the Spider; the Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations” by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. This book describes “the sweet spot” between the balance of centralized and decentralized or flat organizations. Let’s face it, our superintendent’s can never decentralize our institutions completely, but they can learn to be more like ebay, Amazon, and Alcoholic’s Anonymous by leveraging the power of leaderless groups – because now they have the technology to do it!

  15. If they haven’t read “The World is Flat,” they most likely will never read it. I think A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink will lead them in a direction of where education should be headed after we get rid of testing, testing, and more testing of students.

    Jim

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