Leadership Theory and the Community College: Applying Theory to Practice - Tapa dura

"We are surrounded by talent and our current efforts at reinvention are calling forth a new generation [of leaders] to navigate a new era. The chapters that follow will serve them well. I am betting they and a community of impassioned colleagues will be lifting lessons from these pages and applying them in ways we never dreamed."-- (04/01/2013) "Leadership Theory and the Community College promises a work that applies theory to practice by integrating the American Association of Community Colleges' core competencies for emerging and current community college leaders. The authors offer a dynamic and resourceful discussion focusing on contextualizing theory guided by equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change and social justice as challenges to existing leadership practices. Existing leadership practices include the concepts of equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change, and social justice. The authors claim the business as usual approach is not working and that leadership transformation is required in challenging times. Their purpose is to develop the whole leader through theory, practice, and introspection."-- (02/01/2017) "Nevarez, Wood, and Penrose have struck the right chord with Leadership Theory and the Community College. This text offers an innovative approach to case analysis that encourages the reader to engage in reflective practice. The authors effectively align theoretical perspectives and the application of leadership principles in steering deliberation on problems and solutions. This work is a definitive compendium of community college case studies that will provide a useful framework for emerging and current community college leaders."--Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, Professor and Coordinator, Community College Leadership Program, Eastern Michigan University

This book presents leaders and aspiring leaders in community colleges with a theoretical and practical framework for analysing their leadership styles, and determining the dimensions of leadership they need to improve in order to strengthen their capacity to resolve complex issues and effectively guide their institutions. It does so through presenting a multiplicity of theories about leadership that are congruent with notions of equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change, and social justice that drive the missions of community colleges, and at the same time provides the reader with the strategic skills to prepare for and navigate the profound changes ahead. Readers will gain an understanding of how to use theory as a tool to guide their practice, better understand the intricacies of the issues confronting them, the power dynamics and organisational context in which they operate, predict potential outcomes, and develop processes to achieve desired outcomes. Utilising theory in conjunction with case study analysis affords community college leaders with the tools needed to comprehensively interrogate and inform decision-making processes. The authors provide a number of rich and realistically complex case studies, all of which are situated in a community college environment, to which readers can apply the various theories and perspectives, develop their view about the principles and actions most likely to lead to satisfactory outcomes, and hone the approaches to leadership that are authentic to them, and effective. The authors aim to help readers develop the multi-faceted approach to leadership that is essential to running complex organisations. They aim to promote development of the "whole" leader through a three-fold framework of theory, practice, and introspection in context of institutional change. In doing so, leaders will be better equipped to lead community colleges in challenging times. The authors tie AACC's competencies to the leadership theories they cover, as well as to the analysis of the case studies, and leadership inventories, as an essential framework for developing the skill sets to enact the community college mission. The book is suitable for personal reading and reflection, institutional leadership retreats and training, and as a text for higher education courses.