Editorial Statement

This issue of The Educational Forum marks the beginning of a new era in the history of Kappa Delta Pi's flagship publication. The new look and layout of The Educational Forum reflect its renewed mandate to challenge and inspire. We want authors to reconsider educational roles, practices, and policies. We want educators to overcome limitations imposed by role, rank, gender, culture, organizational structure, and geography. In short, we want The Educational Forum to engage us in the ongoing search for academic excellence, social justice, and equity.

Why a renewed mandate? First, the context for education has changed irrevocably. Our work is influenced more than ever by national and international events. We understand clearly that our work is not isolated from the efforts of colleagues in other settings. Thus, The Educational Forum will be more international in scope than it has been in the past. Second, as we learn more about child development, societal influences on learning, and the role of education in democratic societies, there is a corresponding increase in the complexity of our work. Therefore, educators will be able to rely upon The Educational Forum to provide relevant and timely information. Third, teaching and learning always have been multifaceted. However, in addition to the cognitive, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions of teaching, educators now must consider how, for example, technology, politics, and economic forces have emerged as increasingly major factors. As a result, The Educational Forum will profile various issues that sometimes go beyond those traditionally associated with schooling. Fourth, we know and appreciate the contributions that well-known scholars continue to make to our work as educators. Concurrently, we believe that it is important to provide opportunities for future leaders to find their public voice. Therefore, The Educational Forum will seek articles written by major academics and also by those individuals we believe are emerging as serious players in academia.

The articles in this issue of The Educational Forum fit our renewed mandate very well. Moos, Moller, and Johansson describe a vision of democratic reflective leadership that is an articulate response to global social and cultural trends. Webber and Robertson outline the educational benefits of international dialogue and offer a description of a support infrastructure that facilitates cross-cultural communication. Mai draws on informative examples from business, the military, and sports to call for leaders of school improvement to balance the roles of critic/provocateur and learning advocate/innovation coach. A focus on effective leadership related specifically to developing and monitoring the implementation of curriculum is highlighted by Ruebling, Stow, Kayona, and Clarke. Beachum and Dentith offer an enlightening ethnographic account of how teacher leadership can foster school renewal, creativity, and rich accountability. Zimmerman uses a compelling mountain-climbing analogy to urge each of us to prepare to lead change, to better understand school reform, and to provide essential tools and support for change. A powerful perspective on bullying is supplied by Shariff who posits that most anti-bullying initiatives in schools are largely ineffective and counterproductive. Shariff proposes an alternate model based on improved professional development on bullying and law-related education. Finally, Webb, Neumann, and Jones describe a comparative framework for identifying, analyzing, and practicing acts of leadership and use the framework to argue for the recognition of teachers as pivotal leaders in school reform efforts.

The articles in this issue of The Educational Forum are international in scope, are relevant and timely, explore educational issues from unconventional perspectives, and include wellknown and promising new authors. We believe that these articles fit our mandate to challenge and inspire, and we urge readers to use the articles as they seek to promote academic excellence, social justice, and equity.

Charles F. Webber

Academic Editor

Charles F. Webber, Ph.D., is Professor and Associate Dean in the Graduate Division of Educational Research in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary in Canada. His current research focuses on cross-cultural leadership development, including technology-mediated leadership development. During his career as an educator, he has served as a classroom teacher, curriculum consultant, principal, and professor. He has published widely in national and international journals and served as an invited presenter at conferences, seminars, and workshops in North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. Dr. Webber also holds an appointment as Adjunct Senior Fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

Copyright Kappa Delta Pi Spring 2004
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