From Power Struggles to Conflict Resolution: Transform your School's Culture Today

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Positive school culture is at the heart of effective teaching and learning. As such, improving a schools culture is a critical component to school transformation. This resource provides school leaders with a concrete professional development plan for staff and students designed to eliminate power struggles in order to improve school culture. The author provides six alternatives to power struggles. The six are then applied to a series of vignettes that provide specific examples of how power struggles play out in your school setting and how they can be avoided. From power struggles in the classroom, to power struggles with parents your school team will be better equipped to handle the nuances of all of the relationships that are at the core of your school culture.

Reviews

This is a concise volume intended for school leaders who are ready to address power strugglesan interaction between two or more people where one person is trying to control another in order to be the dominant person in the interaction and to get the subordinate to comply. Writing in a conversational style, veteran school administrator Case devotes chapters to conflicts between teachers and students, teachers and paraeducators (such as bus drivers), and school staff and parents, as well as those among teachers. There is a chapter devoted to strategies for avoiding confrontation: offer choices, steer clear of negative words, show understanding, and be prepared to walk away. Numerous vignettes of common power struggles (student dress code violations, disagreements about teaching styles, and conflicts between teachers and parents) with alternate approaches using the lesson strategies round out each chapter. The author encourages school leaders and administrators to embrace ownership of a positive school culture through reflection, honest dialogue, and compromises. Honoring the voices and lives of students is a central concern of this work.

Verdict: Case sets the path to improving school culture with this valuable guide.

* School Library Journal *

In her book, "From Power Struggles to Conflict Resolution: Transform Your School Culture Today" Janice Case has created an excellent source for in-practice and pre-service administrators. As Ms Case discusses in her book, power struggles can destroy a positive culture within schools. Without appropriate intervention conflicts erode morale and almost immediately diminish the effectiveness of the best administrator or teacher; the school culture suffers along with all stakeholders in the process.
Not only does Ms. Case offer relevant strategies for conflict resolution administrator to teacher/staff, administrator to student, and teacher/staff to student, she clearly demonstrates that she has walked these paths before. Her safe advice helps us to avoid pitfalls and mistakes along the way as we work to ensure a positive school culture; one that is nourished by effective leadership. Although there are many resources available for administrators on effective leadership, Ms. Case's book specifically addresses power struggles and how to avoid them so there are no losers in the conflict.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in building and maintaining strong relationships through appropriate conflict resolution.
From Power Struggles to Conflict Resolution is a must read for anyone interested in growing personally and professionally. Janice Case, a proven school leader, shares practical examples of how power struggles within school environments can be prevented or successfully resolved. These same strategies could just as easily be applied to government, business, and personal settings.

-- Patricia I. Wright, EdD, Virginia superintendent of public instruction (2008-2014)
As a colleague, I have seen Janice Case operate as a high school principal. She is one of the best I have ever observed. Her focus has always been on using what you know and applying it to practice. She has used that same approach in this book by providing practical suggestions for school leaders. Power struggles and conflict exist to some degree in most schools. These conflicts often impact the culture of the school and the learning environment. Janices premise is that it is the adults in the school that control the culture so it is the adults in the school that can transform power struggles and conflict into an environment where student learning is most important. Through a variety of ways, she provides practical suggestions that will challenge leaders to examine their own behaviors and, in doing so, create an opportunity to change the culture of their schools. -- Roger Jones, EdD, professor and chair, School of Education, Leadership Studies, and Counseling, Lynchburg College
Great reading for school leaders wishing to create a school culture built on relationships based on mutual respect. Janice Case provides authentic vignettes to set the context of power struggles among leaders, teachers, parents and students, then provides step-by-step activities and lesson plans to guide leaders who are ready to transform their school culture. -- JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director, National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
These scenarios will help you - they are the scenarios playing out in the media all across our country- and we need to figure out how to react to them. Learning how to correctly respond to power struggles will be key information for future success of our schools, read this book to help yourself and school and district! Having a principal who understands how to create a positive working environment for teachers and staff will change your world - there is no way to explain this phenomenon except to say that you will not believe the results until you have experienced them - this will work! -- Loretta Jacoby, school counselor
Wow! A book that truly understands positive relationships are one of the essential building blocks of a positive, productive school culture. With professional development in mind, "From Power Struggles to Conflict Resolution" is a must read for school leaders who are serious about creating a school culture in which everyone feels respected and valued. -- Jarvis Weeks, assistant principal, Loudoun Division, VA
As a teacher, this book increased my awareness to the various settings throughout the school day where my students may engage in power struggles and then bring the load of unresolved conflict into my classroom. The vignettes provide an opportunity for me to reflect on the strategies to implement as a teacher-leader when I observe power struggles occurring in our school. -- Tonya Smith, teacher, Loudoun County Public Schools; Loudoun County, Virginia

Author Bio

Janice Case has been an educator for more than twenty years. She currently consults with schools, districts, and state and national organizations to support school leaders and teachers in the work of enhancing and transforming schools.