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The Lifeworld of Leadership: Creating Culture, Community, and Personal Meaning in our Schools
Thomas J. Sergiovanni - 2000. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, CA
It will not be possible to improve schools if the "lifeworlds" of these institutions continue to be ignored, while local authority is usurped by oppressive mandates from afar. For schools to work well, they must achieve balance between their lifeworld and their systemsworld, that is to say, a balance of culture (foundational values and beliefs which provide meaning and significance) and management (instrumentalities of efficiency, outcomes, and productivity). Essential for understanding this symbiotic relationship and its impact upon school reform and renewal, is the assertion that the lifeworld must drive the systemsworld. These are the central premises of Sergiovanni's latest work, The Lifeworld of Leadership.
Sergiovanni's first book of the new millennium seems at times to be a synthesis of his work in the I990's. Specifically, Sergiovanni often cites the evidences of successful schools as set forth in three of his books: Moral Leadership (1992), Building Community in Schools (1994), and Leadership for the Schoolhouse (1996). In referencing these works, Sergiovanni subsequently concludes that institutional character is a common characteristic of successful schools. The Lifeworld of Leadership contains nine chapters, each seemingly a summation of some prior text or massive body of research. The chapters are relatively short in length, as Sergiovanni quickly covers such broad topics as school character and effectiveness, competence and caring, community, standards and accountability, holistic assessment, teachers, change and localism, leadership and democracy.
Chapter one, The Lifeworld at the Center, examines the role of culture as it provides a unique framework for the lifeworld of the school. It is here that Sergiovanni formally defines the concepts of lifeworld and systemsworld, and traces their general meanings from the German philosopher and sociologist, Jurgen Hubermas. Using families to illustrate the importance of both worlds, Sergiovanni asserts that schools must also focus on the protection, growth, and development of their members. Schools must be equally concerned with purposes, norms, and traditions that help members create meaning and significance. Yet, schools like families must also address...