The Constructivist Leader

This book essentially examines the dynamics of a learning community within the theoretical framework of constructivism. While the book is dense in theory, it?s clear prose and liberal inclusion of examples and stories make it an accessible and meaningful read. The book?s title may be misleading in that an educational leader, in the constructivist sense, is any educator who seeks school improvement through open, democratic processes. In this sense, the book would seem useful to any organizational development specialist who craves a broader theoretical understanding of the nature of OD, and insight into how groups of educators can build learning communities committed to improving the lives of their stakeholders. The book is complex in its scope and depth, but nonetheless answers a fairly simple question: How does constructivism help us see what humane and effective schools should look like? Lambert and her colleagues weave a fairly cohesive and inspiring narrative of social change within the educational context.According to the writers, constructivism is a theory of learning derived from the fields of philosophy, psychology, and science. Constructivism in simplest terms posits that learning is the process of reforming what we know, believe and value based on the connections between new and already held knowledge, values and beliefs. In other words, people are in a constant state of learning in order to secure or enhance their existence. In the school context, Lambert defines ?Constructivist Leadership? as ?the reciprocal processes that enable participants in an educational community to construct meanings that lead toward a common purpose about schooling.? (p.29) These reciprocal processes entail building trust through social and professional relationships, identifying and reconstructing commonly held assumptions and beliefs, building new shared knowledge, and altering individual and group behaviors to create new ways of doing school. In this way, Lambert and her colleagues argue, we begin to see leadership, community, and schools themselves not as roles or physical entities, but as social processes, which require constant tending and development. In a biological sense, individuals are in a constant state of constructing their understanding of the world. In an ecological sense, interdependent groups of individuals must co-construct their understandings in order to create a desired reality. In this way, Lambert?s constructivist view of learning and leadership is in close company with Senge?s view of the learning organization, which strives to move from status quo to a shared ideal of something better. Theoretically, constructivism owes much Lee Vygotsky?s work on the relationship between language and learning. Not surprisingly then, this book?s core chapters all deal with the role of communication in constructivist leadership. In ?Leading the Conversations?, Lambert argues that conversations ?are the visible manifestation of constructivist

Constructivism has a myriad of definitions, or so it seems in education today. In this book, the general principals of constructivist leadership are defined and "fleshed out" through the contributing authors. Excellent book for administrators that are trying to find theory based rationale for site based management in school. A book that should be kept on your office bookshelf because you will refer to it often. The listing and comparisons of past educational methods is nicely done and easy to reference.