The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership. - Review - book review

School Administrator, Feb, 1997 by William J. Leary

Joseph Blase of the University of Georgia and Gary Anderson of the University of New Mexico have produced a thoughtful, provocative study that analyzes power and political relationships in schools and districts in their book, The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership.

The authors believe that shared governance in most districts is only superficial and is restricted to only what central authority structures permit. They point out that what appears to be collaboration among stakeholders may, in fact, be collusion with various groups and individuals excluded from consensus decisions.

Ultimately, Blase and Anderson conclude that most constructs of leadership and schooling are not working. They call for a radical reconstruction of public institutions around democratic principles, arguing schools are the most logical places to begin such a model.

(The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership, by Joseph Blase and Gary Anderson, Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1234 Amsterdam Ave., New York, N.Y. 10027, 1995, 175 pp. with index, $22.95 softcover)