Principal's Hot Seat - 2nd Edition by Nicholas J Pace & Shavonna L Holman & Cailen M O'Shea (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

This book moves beyond dry case studies to provide readers with a window into the ways principals seek to navigate challenging, unpredictable, and authentic school leadership dilemmas.

Review Quotes

Being a principal has never been more complex or more difficult. It is difficult to be fully prepared for all of the challenging scenarios that principals encounter each day. Books such as this one provide an excellent opportunity to engage in both preparation and reflection. It would be valuable for a principal to engage with on an individual basis and also provide for rich conversations in groups. I think both new and experienced principals would find value in it as well as those studying to become building leaders in the future.

Case studies are incredibly important because they situate school leaders' learning in authentic dilemmas and contexts. With 19 different scenarios, The Principal's Hot Seat provides both text and video simulations that address real-world problems of practice for principals such as teacher evaluation, special education, bullying, and professional learning communities. The numerous discussion questions that are provided after each scenario are guaranteed to spark robust conversation regarding educational leaders' decision-making and problem-solving. I can't recommend this resource highly enough for school districts, principal preparation programs, and administrators' practice with courageous conversations.

The principalship is a complex and challenging role, and is key to supporting student and staff success. In The Principal's Hot Seat, the authors bring a depth of experience, understanding of relevant and timely issues facing today's leaders, and a synthesis of key research implications into our classroom through short leadership vignettes and video clip scenarios. These relevant cases provide a timely resource for addressing the key issues facing school leaders today. I highly recommend this as a read for aspiring administrators seeking to better understand--and tackle--challenges and opportunities in today's schools.

The Principal's Hot Seat is an enthralling, absolute must-read for current and aspiring school leaders. It brings the reader up close into the day-to-day, oh so dynamic, interactions that are quite simply engrossing. Readers will be enlightened and transformed through the very pertinent and leadership lessons with relevance with every school context imaginable. The authors do an amazing job in igniting the reader to think clearly and critically about the multitude of "unexpected" situations and issues that arise in education. Anyone involved in the development of school leaders will treasure this book because it provides an avenue to help future leaders become both more observant, and introspective.

About the Author

Nicholas J. Pace, former social worker, teacher, coach, and principal, serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Shavonna L. Holmanis an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).

Cailen O'Shea is a former mentor, interventionist, teacher, athletic and academic coach, and currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Educational and Organizational Leadership at North Dakota State University.