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Pathways to the Humanities in School Administration

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Pathways to the Humanities in School Administration DOCUMENT RESUME ED 320 290 EA 021 958 AUTHOR Popper, Samuel H. TITLE Pathways to the Humanities in School Administration. Third Edition. INSTITUTION University Council for Educational Administration. REPORT NO ISBN-1-55996-144-9 PUB DATE 90 NOTE 247p.; For previous edition see ED 285 291. AVAILABLE FROMPublications, University Council for Educational Administration, ($13.95 plus postage and handling). PUB TYPE Books (010) -- Viewpoints (120) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Administrative Principles; *Administrator Education; Art History; Culture; *Educational Administration; Elementary Secondary Education; Higher Education; *Humanities Instruction; *Interdisciplinary Approp.ch; Leadership; Liberal Arts; Literary Criticism; Literature Appreciation; Mythology; Organizational Communication; Philosophy IDENTIFIERS Anouilh (Jean); Barnard (Chester); Dante (Alighieri); Jefferson (Thomas); Machiavelli (Niccolo); Shakespeare (William); Sophocles; Zeitgeist ABSTRACT Based on the author's experience as a professor of educational administration, this monograph is an argument for establishing a link between the humanities and instruction in school administration. Part 1 discusses the instrumental value of the humanities in administrative preparation and recounts the limitations of past attempts by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) to incorporate the humanities. Part 2 is a discourse titled "Chester Barnard's Conception of Authority Considered in the Context of Sophocles' Antigone' as Adapted by Jean Anouilh." Part 3 is entitled "Dante's De Monarchia': An Early Italian Renaissance Backdrop for Thinking about Thomas Jefferson's Wall of Separation'." Part 4 discusses art and artists in their role as imagemakers of a zeitgeist and concludes by emphasizing the importance of cultural sensitivity in institutional leadership. Part 5, entitled "Clio's Footprints in the Textbook Literature of Educational Administration," discusses the importance of historiography in understanding thematic trends in the development of textbooks on educational administration. The third edition is enlarged with a new section on Shakespeare that integrates Machiavellian ideas and their impact on Shakespeare's conception of political power, especially on the tetralogy called the Henriad. An extensive bibli-graphy is included. (LMI) * Reproductiohs supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. 11 L.fl PATHWAYS TO THEHUMANITIES In SchoolAdministration U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Education', Research and Impromnent EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Kim, document has been reproducedas eceived from the person or organizobon originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality Points of view or opinions stated in this docur. ment do not necessarily representofficial OE RI position or policy r r v miswatu lox fl "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY U TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Samuel H.Popper BEST COPYAVAILABLE TOW'S xar4.8vPs AST1LMALI 111' PATHWLYS TO THE HUMANITIES IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Samuel H. Popper, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus Department of Educational Policy and Administration University of Minnesota Third Edition homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto Terence The University Council for Educational Administration 116 Farmer Building Tempe, Arizona 85287-2211 3 ISBN: 1-55996-144-9 Copyright ©1985, 1987, 1990 by UCEA, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 4 In Memory of Sidney Lawrence "Ein voller Becher Weins zur rechten Zeit Ist mehr wen als alle Reiche dieser Erde!" Gustav Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde 5 i Foreword This book is a masterpiece incontemporary school administration literature. Machiavelli, in his introductionto The Prince, expressed the fear that he might be thoughtpresumptuous because he differed from other writers on the art of governing. ProfessorPopper has dared to be different from other writers, not on the matter of governing, but on the matter of how to present leadership ina way that grasps the totality and complexity of the human conditionin our society. Professor Popper suggests that the humanitiescan grasp the totality of modern man in all kinds of situations;both micro and macro in scope. He holds that the humanitiesare preeminently equipped aesthetically to sharpen empathic insight bymeans of their own way of knowing. To this writer, it is the keywe are searching for in our teaching of school administration. What is andwhat ought to be? This book is one of the bestarguments for establishing a link between the humanities and departments of SchoolAdministration in our colleges and universities. In fact, it is a good directional guide of where professors in these twoareas can and should teach together in workshops, seminars, and classes. ProfessorPopper has had this experience. He and a colleague in the humanitiescollaborated in a seminar for school administrators in the field.It was received with great enthusiasm by the administrators and, in theevaluation, a substantial number of participants spoke ofthe seminar as one of the best educational experiences that they hadencountered. A similar seminar under the direction of Professor GeorgeChambers was given at the University of Iowa with a like reaction fromparticipants. The author of Pathwaystothe HumanitiesinSchool Administration emphasizes two important elementsfor his colleagues in administration and the liberalarts to consider: 1) This book is just a start; 2) there are other aesthetic pathways to understandingthe social and political forces aroundus. The author has demonstrated that the humanities can be usedas an instrument to provide insight into the administrative process and thecontemporary theories used to explain it. 6 it Professor Popper demonstrates that he is a scholar both in school administration and the liberalarts. His book moves from contemporary administration theory to antiquity smoothly and in a meaningful way. This book is an eloquent and practical approach to the humanities as a source of knowledge in administration. It provides a pathway to communicate with others about what we do as administrators. Willard R. Lane Professor of Educational Administration University of Iowa and President, Board of Trustees, UCEA, 1968-1970 7 iii Publisher's Note I saw the new film version of Shakespeare'sHenry V. It is a powerful film and my appreciation of itwas enhanced greatly by my having read previously the Shakespeare materialadded to this third edition of Pathways to the Humanities inSchool Administration. Having been predisposed to juxtapose the headyquestions facing King Henry with contemporary challenges, Iwas reminded of the need to make educational leadershiphuman. Ironically, the larger- than-life cinematic Henry dran 'adzes the needto restore the human proportion. The compassion, resoluteness, vitality,and humor of the kin 9, created by Shakespeareover 400 years ago, scorns the centuries with its relevance and banishes mechanical/technicaldefinitions of leadership. The humanities are celebrations of what is humanand impor- tant to our consciousness. When we are deeply distracted, especially in times of upheaval and change, the humanitiesguide the human spirit. And so, UCEA is happyto publish a newly expanded edition of Pathways to the Humanities ata time when the globe is preoccupied with social change and the reform of NorthAmerican education is urgently needed. Regardless of the schools reformerswill create in future decades, we know thatour childi en must learn from environ- ments that celebrate humanity, its emotions, strengths,accomplish- ments, and weaknesses. School leaders needto be in touch with this humanity r.s they build learning environmentsfor the future. Path- ways to ;he Humanities is a good starting place. I hope this book will stimulate the inclusionof humanities content in administrator preparationprograms. We are grateful to Professor Popper for this wonderful volume;surely it will endure as a major contributio.i, touching and changing the lives ofmany who lead in schools. Patrick B. Forsyth Executive Director, UCEA March, 1990 8 iv Author's Preface Pathways to the Humanities has been germinating in my thoughts since the early 1960s when I served on a UCEA Task Force on Interdisciplinary Content. I was at the time als9 reading extensively in the philosophy of aesthetics. John Dewey's Art as Experience I had read before. Upon rereading it then in conjunction with F. S. C. Northrop's The Logic of the Sciences and the Humanities, actually m:' first encounter with Northrop's philosophical ideas, I became convinced, as Jack Culbertson was already, that the humanities also ought to be explored for usable "interdisciplinary content" in administrative preparation. It was my intent at the time to write on the subject for publication, but somehow there was always something else on my agencia which required more immediate attention and time. Then when Jack was about to leave UCEA service, he prepared a detailed memorandum for the file in which, under "unfinished business," he urged continued UCEA initiatives in the humanities. Charles Willis, his successor as Executive Director of UCEA, was responsive and within several months after he had taken office I had
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