Challenges, Challenges, Challenges: A Portrait in Educational Leadership

The four volumes of A Portrait in Educational Leadership are not a research study. The volumes are chronological detailed descriptions of activities and experiences the author encountered in positions of educational leadership. They are in essence, a window into a lifetime of adventures in educational leadership. Such positions included Superintendent of Schools in rural, small town, suburban, state and a large city, and Dean of School of Education, and Professor at a major university. The detailed chronological recording was made possible by utilizing newspaper articles, speeches, letters, and memory triggered by such sources. Volume one (1923 - 1963) includes family background, years of schooling, military service and records events and experiences in Gilboa, McCutchenville, Woodville, Amherst and Cuyahoga Falls in Ohio. Volume two records events and experiences in the State of Delaware. Volume three records events and experiences in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Greater detail of both the events, recommendations of the Superintendent and the action taken by the Board of School Directors can be found by referring to seven years (1967-1974) of published documents titled Proceedings of the School Board. Volume four records events and activities experienced as Dean and Professor of Education at Indiana University in Bloomington-Indianapolis, Indiana. The working experiences in all four volumes detail the events that were encountered and the action that was taken. In the final chapter of volume four, the author shares commonalities, reflections, observations, beliefs and questions encountered in the four volumes, to provide a learning exercise for aspiring educational leaders.