|
Volume 2, Issue 1: Spring 2009
Ethical Decision Making Topic of UH-Clear Lake Professor’s Latest Book
New on bookstands is UH-Clear Lake School of Education Professor Paul A. Wagner’s latest publication, “Ethical Decision Making in School Administration: Leadership as Moral Architecture.” The book provides K-12 school administrators with the knowledge to see how a moral infrastructure can be created so that procedures aimed at a shared vision for all involved are recognized as good. The book begins with theory and ends with prescriptions for practice.
Says Wagner, “Virtually no one who has responsibility for managing other people can do so without simultaneously making moral judgments moment by moment. This is a book about leadership and decision-making. Because it is a book about leadership and decision-making it must also address the semantics and syntax of moral thinking in such problem-solving contexts.” Wagner is director of the Project in Professional Ethics. He has taught economics for undergraduates, and business management theory as well as organizational behavior to business graduate students at University of Houston-Victoria.
Wagner is a former executive secretary of the Philosophy of Education Society, vice-president of the Association of Philosophers in Education and has served on the national ethics committee of the 40,000 member Association of Public Administrators. He was a founding member of the state of Texas’ Annual Ethics Workshop for senior-level officials. Wagner authored “Understanding Professional Ethics,” a Phi Delta Kappa fastback publication, in addition to over 100 articles, book chapters, and essay reviews. He has served as an ethics consultant to both Leadership Houston and the American Leadership Forum.
The book is available on Amazon.com.<<Top
Doctoral Student Helps Win $220,000 TEA Mathematics Coaching Grant
Jacqueline Shuman, K-12 mathematics coordinator for Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District and first-year UH-Clear Lake doctoral student in educational leadership, helped net a $220,000, two-year mathematics coaching grant from the Texas Education Agency for the school district.
Shuman, while in Kathryn Matthew’s doctoral course “Professional Writing and Communications” last fall, identified the grant as part of her class assignment. Working with other members of GCCISD, Shuman and her colleagues submitted the grant proposal in December 2008 and learned of the award just before spring break.
“We’re excited to receive the grant,” Shuman says. The grant, titled “Mathematical Instructional Pilot Program Cycle 2,” will focus on Algebra 1 and Mathematics Models. It will allow the district to bring on a specialist for in-class observing and lesson modeling and provide teachers more hands-on ways to teach mathematics. The grant will serve 23 teachers, three high schools and one alternative campus. If the grant is successful, it could lead to a full-time position.
Shuman joined the UH-Clear Lake educational leadership doctoral program in September, and Matthew’s class was among the first required. “If I hadn’t been in the class, I wouldn’t have been looking for the grant,” Shuman, who had never written a formal proposal before, admits. “I guarantee that when this grant is coming to a close, I’ll be out there searching for the next one. It’s made me aware and given me confidence — if I got this one I might be able to get another.” <<Top SOE is offering a first-of-its-kind Special Populations degree specialization providing leadership-oriented coursework focused on three key populations of students: Early Childhood (P-3), Bilingual/ESL and Special Education P-12. It is designed to give professionals working with diverse populations an opportunity to acquire more in-depth knowledge about current issues in policy and programs, assessment, curriculum and child and family resources that affect all three populations. This specialization can lead to careers in program supervision, curriculum design and development, professional development, policy and advocacy.<<Top UH-Clear Lake Graduate Returns to University as SOE Faculty Member
“I feel like I bring something to the table because I’ve sat where these students are sitting,” says UH-Clear Lake Assistant Professor of Educational Management Felix Simieou. “Of course it’s changed . . . but I feel like there is something I can add,” notes the 1999 UH-Clear Lake graduate, who received a Master of Science in Educational Management from the university 10 years ago.
Simieou joined the UH-Clear Lake faculty in 2006 after completing a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Administration at Michigan State University. He brings with him to the classroom a wealth of “real life” experience. Simieou taught fifth grade in Beaumont Independent School District, and served as a program administrator for Beaumont ISD Title I Summer School. He served as an assistant principal in both Beaumont and Lansing, Mich., and has been a project evaluator, as well. His school experience prepared him to help others “be the best administrators they can be.”
Simieou provides his students a strong foundation through theoretical frameworks, but with practical experience, too. “In my classes I make sure they are all about service projects. I don’t believe in wasting students’ time. I give them things they can actually take back and utilize.”
School-community relations is Simieou’s specialty. It was the topic of his dissertation, an area he continues to research today. “I’m always trying to see how we can increase relations.” He recently helped develop a program for novice administrators, one that provides for their development as well as offering support. And he is passionate about the issue of discipline in alternative schools. He is currently developing a transition program that will help stop the recidivism rate among students who go back and forth to the alternative schools.
While Simieou enjoyed his work in school administration, he’s pleased to be back in the classroom again. “With teaching I feel like you’re giving something back.” <<Top
Scholar Spotlight: Linda Sansing
What is patriotism? Think you know?
While Texas and nine other states mandate teaching patriotism in elementary schools, Linda Sansing, a UH-Clear Lake doctoral student and former fourth-grade teacher, says the statute is not clear as to what constitutes patriotism. Sansing, working in conjunction with UH-Clear Lake Professor Paul Wagner, was invited to present the paper “From Patriotism to Paternalism” at the 2008 American Association for Teaching and Curriculum Conference in Austin.
“The audience ended up demonstrating Dr. Wagner’s and my point,” Sansing says. At the conclusion of the presentation she stepped back and watched as a heated debate ensued among the conference attendees. “They started arguing over what patriotism is.”
“Our point,” Sansing continues, “is that the definition has been abused and, as a consequence, focus on its meaning has suffered. There is nothing wrong with the definition commonly found in most dictionaries today but some have ignored that definition and reacted as though it meant something akin to jingoism. Our hope is that educators will abandon ideologies and make a more concerted effort to focus on the meaning of patriotism. The definition of the term needs serious attention.”
Sansing, who received a Bachelor of Science in Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas A&M, taught in Clear Creek Independent School District for 11 years. She completed a Master of Science in Educational Management with Principal Certification at UH-Clear Lake. Today, Sansing is a doctoral graduate assistant, teaching two Mathematics Methods classes, and she is a member of the first cohort of the UH-Clear Lake Educational Leadership doctoral program. “I enjoy research,” she says. “I’m enjoying working on my dissertation.” She is targeting December 2009 for completing her doctoral degree. <<Top
University of Houston-Clear Lake’s School of Education Educational Leadership program offers a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and a Master of Science in Educational Management, as well as Principal and Superintendent Certifications. These programs provide quality leadership preparation for educators. UHCL’s Alumni Association Wants To Hear From You UH-Clear Lake’s Alumni Association wants to hear from you if you’ve switched jobs, gotten married, had a baby, retired or received a special honor or award. Class Notes allows all alumni to stay up to date on the exciting news from their classmates. Visit the UHCL Alumni Association Web site to submit your Class Notes online. Entries in the Class Notes section may appear in the next edition of Egret. <<Top | |||||||||||||||||||||
