The Moral Imperative of School Leadership

Michael Fullan - Michael Fullan Enterprises Inc.
The Moral Imperative of School Leadership
March 2003 | 112 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781483304076
Available from January 0001
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ISBN: 9780761938736
Available from January 0001

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"Fullan shows how moral leadership can reinvent the principalship and bring about large-scale school improvement. This is a masterfully crafted and accessible book by North America's foremost expert on change."
—Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Lillian Radford Professor of Education
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

"Fullan challenges all who work in education to rethink the critical role of the principal as school leader in the current era of accountability. With clarity and insight, he offers a series of strategies to reshape the culture and context of leadership in schools to create learning communities where both students and teachers can excel."
—Paul D. Houston, Executive Director
American Association of School Administrators

"Once again, the writing of Michael Fullan is a tour de force. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership is a must-read for those who want to make a difference!"
—Gerald N. Tirozzi, Executive Director
National Association of Secondary School Principals

The time has come to change the context of school leadership!

The role of the principal is pivotal to systemic school change. That is the fundamental message of The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, which extends the discussion begun in Fullan's earlier publication, What's Worth Fighting for in the Principalship? The author examines the moral purpose of school leadership and its critical role in "changing the context" in which the role is embedded. In this bold step forward, Fullan calls for principals to become agents as well as beneficiaries of the processes of school change. In an effort to make the position more rewarding and exciting, he shifts the principal's role from one of a site-based superman or superwoman, and recasts it as one in which principals figure prominently both within their school and within the larger school system that surrounds them.

Concepts explored in-depth include:

  • Why "changing the context" should be the main agenda for the principalship
  • Why barriers to the principalship exist
  • Why the principal should be seen as the COO (chief operating officer) of a school
  • Why the role of the principal should figure more prominently within the system
  • What individuals and the system can do to transform school leadership to a powerful new force

The challenge, and moral imperative, for today's principal is to lead system transformations to resolve the top-down/bottom-up dilemma that exists in systemic change. To end the exodus from the principalship, and for great school leaders to evolve in large numbers, the time to redefine the position is now!

See Facilitator's Guide to The Moral Imperative of School Leadership 

Contents

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

Preface

About the Author

About the Author

Dedication

  • 1. Changing the Context
  • The Public Schools We Need
  • The Principals and Teachers We Need
  • 2. Barriers to School Leadership
  • Self-Imposed Barriers
  • System-Imposed Barriers
  • 3. The Moral Imperative at the School Level
  • Level 1: Making a Difference in Individuals
  • Level 2: Making a Difference in the School
  • The Emerging Image of the Moral Imperative of the Principalship
  • 4. Making a Difference Beyond the School
  • Level 3: Making a Difference Regionally
  • Level 4: School Leadership and Society
  • 5. How to Get There: The Individual and the System
  • The Individual
  • The System

References

References

Index

Index

Description

"Fullan shows how moral leadership can reinvent the principalship and bring about large-scale school improvement. This is a masterfully crafted and accessible book by North America's foremost expert on change."
—Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Lillian Radford Professor of Education
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

"Fullan challenges all who work in education to rethink the critical role of the principal as school leader in the current era of accountability. With clarity and insight, he offers a series of strategies to reshape the culture and context of leadership in schools to create learning communities where both students and teachers can excel."
—Paul D. Houston, Executive Director
American Association of School Administrators

"Once again, the writing of Michael Fullan is a tour de force. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership is a must-read for those who want to make a difference!"
—Gerald N. Tirozzi, Executive Director
National Association of Secondary School Principals

The time has come to change the context of school leadership!

The role of the principal is pivotal to systemic school change. That is the fundamental message of The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, which extends the discussion begun in Fullan's earlier publication, What's Worth Fighting for in the Principalship? The author examines the moral purpose of school leadership and its critical role in "changing the context" in which the role is embedded. In this bold step forward, Fullan calls for principals to become agents as well as beneficiaries of the processes of school change. In an effort to make the position more rewarding and exciting, he shifts the principal's role from one of a site-based superman or superwoman, and recasts it as one in which principals figure prominently both within their school and within the larger school system that surrounds them.

Concepts explored in-depth include:

  • Why "changing the context" should be the main agenda for the principalship
  • Why barriers to the principalship exist
  • Why the principal should be seen as the COO (chief operating officer) of a school
  • Why the role of the principal should figure more prominently within the system
  • What individuals and the system can do to transform school leadership to a powerful new force

The challenge, and moral imperative, for today's principal is to lead system transformations to resolve the top-down/bottom-up dilemma that exists in systemic change. To end the exodus from the principalship, and for great school leaders to evolve in large numbers, the time to redefine the position is now!

See Facilitator's Guide to The Moral Imperative of School Leadership 

Contents

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

Preface

About the Author

About the Author

Dedication

  • 1. Changing the Context
  • The Public Schools We Need
  • The Principals and Teachers We Need
  • 2. Barriers to School Leadership
  • Self-Imposed Barriers
  • System-Imposed Barriers
  • 3. The Moral Imperative at the School Level
  • Level 1: Making a Difference in Individuals
  • Level 2: Making a Difference in the School
  • The Emerging Image of the Moral Imperative of the Principalship
  • 4. Making a Difference Beyond the School
  • Level 3: Making a Difference Regionally
  • Level 4: School Leadership and Society
  • 5. How to Get There: The Individual and the System
  • The Individual
  • The System

References

References

Index

Index

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The Moral Imperative of School Leadership


March 2003 | 112 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/02/2026 9780761938736 $37.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781483304076 $35.00

"Fullan shows how moral leadership can reinvent the principalship and bring about large-scale school improvement. This is a masterfully crafted and accessible book by North America's foremost expert on change."
—Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Lillian Radford Professor of Education
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

"Fullan challenges all who work in education to rethink the critical role of the principal as school leader in the current era of accountability. With clarity and insight, he offers a series of strategies to reshape the culture and context of leadership in schools to create learning communities where both students and teachers can excel."
—Paul D. Houston, Executive Director
American Association of School Administrators

"Once again, the writing of Michael Fullan is a tour de force. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership is a must-read for those who want to make a difference!"
—Gerald N. Tirozzi, Executive Director
National Association of Secondary School Principals

The time has come to change the context of school leadership!

The role of the principal is pivotal to systemic school change. That is the fundamental message of The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, which extends the discussion begun in Fullan's earlier publication, What's Worth Fighting for in the Principalship? The author examines the moral purpose of school leadership and its critical role in "changing the context" in which the role is embedded. In this bold step forward, Fullan calls for principals to become agents as well as beneficiaries of the processes of school change. In an effort to make the position more rewarding and exciting, he shifts the principal's role from one of a site-based superman or superwoman, and recasts it as one in which principals figure prominently both within their school and within the larger school system that surrounds them.

Concepts explored in-depth include:

  • Why "changing the context" should be the main agenda for the principalship
  • Why barriers to the principalship exist
  • Why the principal should be seen as the COO (chief operating officer) of a school
  • Why the role of the principal should figure more prominently within the system
  • What individuals and the system can do to transform school leadership to a powerful new force

The challenge, and moral imperative, for today's principal is to lead system transformations to resolve the top-down/bottom-up dilemma that exists in systemic change. To end the exodus from the principalship, and for great school leaders to evolve in large numbers, the time to redefine the position is now!

See Facilitator's Guide to The Moral Imperative of School Leadership 


Table Of Contents:

  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • About the Author
  • Dedication
  • 1. Changing the Context
  • The Public Schools We Need
  • The Principals and Teachers We Need
  • 2. Barriers to School Leadership
  • Self-Imposed Barriers
  • System-Imposed Barriers
  • 3. The Moral Imperative at the School Level
  • Level 1: Making a Difference in Individuals
  • Level 2: Making a Difference in the School
  • The Emerging Image of the Moral Imperative of the Principalship
  • 4. Making a Difference Beyond the School
  • Level 3: Making a Difference Regionally
  • Level 4: School Leadership and Society
  • 5. How to Get There: The Individual and the System
  • The Individual
  • The System
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

This is very well suited to the ethical elements I wanted to draw out in the course for future administrators.
Dr Katherine Bertolini, Teacher Education Dept, South Dakota State University
"The Moral Imperative of School Leadership is an important read for school leaders and system administrators, not so much because it provides a prescription for the future of public education, but more because it elevates the moral imperative of public schooling, and enshrines the view that effective school leadership must be driven from a deep moral purpose. "
Journal of Educational Administration, Vol.43, Issue 2, 2005
"The Moral Imperative of School Leadership is a practical handbook for educators focusing on the pivotal role played by principals as agents of systematic change…Fullan appeals to something all educators have: the desire to do the right thing and the wish to make a difference."
Education Review, January 2005
"Fullan challenges all who work in education to rethink the critical role of the principal as school leader in the current era of accountability. With clarity and insight, he offers a series of strategies to reshape the culture and context of leadership in schools to create learning communities where both students and teachers can excel."
Paul D. Houston, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators
"Once again, the writing of Michael Fullan is a tour de force for those who toil in the vineyards of the school principalship. In this latest book, Fullan brings into clear focus the critical role of school leaders to "change the content" within schools—stressing the need to elevate the moral purpose of schooling in an era of accountability for academic achievement. Fullan makes the critical point—and sets an insightful direction—as to the equally important case for public schools to promote the personal and social development of students. Therein lies Fullan’s challenge to school principals. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership is a must read for those who want to make a difference!"
Gerald N. Tirozzi, Executive Director, National Association of Secondary School Principals

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