Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them
by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini, Harvard Business Review, Boston, Mass., 303 pp., $32 hardcover

Humanocracy by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini boldly challenges us to recreate our organizations to be as resilient, creative and full of passion as the people who work within them. To do so requires that we dismantle antiquated bureaucratic organizational structures and change processes that stifle human freedom, engagement and trust.

The authors assert that “humanocracy,” in contrast to bureaucracy, places human beings at the center of organizational life rather than structures and processes. Rather than focusing on how human beings can better and more efficiently serve the organization, the focus shifts to creating an organization that unleashes, elicits and merits the best that human beings can give. 

Content-rich and packed with extensive research, the book makes both the intellectual and strategic case for change. The chapters of the book highlight what the authors refer to as the “DNA of a human-centric organization.” This DNA includes principles over practice and the power of ownership, markets, meritocracy, community, openness, experimentation and paradox. 

Embedded throughout the book are multiple business-sector examples, strategies and practices that underscore this deep paradigm shift and strengthen the profound significance of this work. The authors skillfully leave little doubt that industrial age bureaucratic organizations are not structurally equipped to meet the unrelenting change and challenges of today. 

So what does this book mean for us as educators? Although the connections to our educational sector are not explicit, this notable book provides a catalyst for deep conversations around our values, assumptions, and how we organize for the important work we do. 

Reviewed by Mary B. Herrmann, clinical associate professor of education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

Career Pathways for All Youth: Lessons From The School-To-Work Movement
by Stephen F. Hamilton, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2020, 216 pp., $32 softcover 

For those of us who remember the School-To-Work movement morphing into discussions about career and technical education and then essentially disappearing, Career Pathways For All Youth by Stephen Hamilton is a welcome continuation of career-focused education. This book is particularly relevant today as the educational paradigm appears more favorable toward project-based learning and work-based learning than it has been in many years. Essentially, the timing is right for a book such as this.

Hamilton, an emeritus professor at Cornell University, points to the fact that competition between regular academic instruction and vocational education is lessening, largely due to the influence of deeper learning strategies and a growing collaboration between the K-12 and postsecondary levels. Opposition to the notion of school-to-work is no longer the case as educators’ emphasis has shifted to a focus on career pathways.

John Dewey’s project-based learning has resurfaced as a viable alternative to the traditional college-at-any-cost focus. Students want options, and career pathways provide a strong link between K-12 and college opportunities with several suggestions for how to bring the post-secondary and the K-12 systems together.

Our present systems are more open to change than they have been in quite some time and career pathways may be just what we are looking for to lead the way. Hamilton combines active engagement with the Deeper Learning Movement. He demonstrates how career pathways prepare students for both college and careers by sharing several examples of successful programs including dual enrollment, college partnerships and youth apprenticeships. 

The idea that career pathways should be the platform to help prepare students for both college and career is a major theme in the book. Hamilton highlights work-based learning as a refreshing alternative to standard classroom instruction. By issuing realistic guidelines and using examples of actual working programs, Hamilton demonstrates that work-based learning can help provide compatibility between equity and excellence. In the final chapter, “Overcoming Obstacles,” Hamilton addresses the hurdles (as well as potential solutions) we must face going forward as we embrace the vision of career pathways.

Reviewed by John W. Hannum, assistant professor of education, Caldwell University, Wantage, N.J.

 

The Person in the Mirror: Education and the Search for Self and Meaning
by George A. Goens, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2019, 192 pp., $25 hardcover
 
The Person in the Mirror: Education and the Search for Self and Meaning by George A. Goens, a former superintendent, would be a valuable selection for an educator’s book club.
 
Goens, a Connecticut-based consultant, opens each of the 12 chapters in his book with a quote and concludes each chapter with a poem. In between these bookends, he addresses a different time period in his life. Goens’ purpose is to engage the reader in connecting their own life experiences to a broad concept of education. The purpose is to answer two questions, “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?”
 
As I went on this journey to answer these two questions through his guidance, I came to a conclusion as a reader. Read Chapter 8, and then go back to the beginning of the book and read Chapters 1-12 and the epilogue. This restructuring will help educators read the text through the lenses of both their professional lives and personal lives. As a tool for introspection and action, I recommend that individuals read this book with opportunities for them to ask questions or share with others.  
 
Mimicking his style of including a poem to connect with the theme of each chapter, could be used as the culminating activity, an exit ticket, for each book discussion session. In this manner, the participants would be able to conclude with their own sense of self-reflection, their pause, before moving onto the next item on their to-do lists.
 
Reviewed by Hope S. Blecher, educational consultant, Dumont, N.J.
Superintendent Case Studies: Creating Meaningful Engagement
by Wafa Hozien, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2019, 160 pp., $65 hardcover, $32 softcover

Ascending into the position of superintendent carries with it the responsibility of decision-making that will be subject to scrutiny. In Superintendent Case Studies, author Wafa Hozien examines superintendents’ decisions that have had questionable, if not spurious, ramifications not only on their position, but on the school district as well.

The author divides the book into two sections, Equity Issues and Supportive School Community, but in both sections Hozien,  a professor of educational leadership at Central Michigan University, maintains the same structure: a concise presentation of the issue, the identification of the dilemma, concluding with a series of questions that guide the reader to focus on the specific situation. This allows the reader to explore the impact and perspective of each decision made in the cases described within the book.

Superintendent Case Studies is an excellent read. Hozien's approach to each case is concise, not more than five pages each. This allows ample reading for the time-strapped superintendent who wants to stay on top of current topics, or for the executive who wants to engage in practical discussions with her team on the consequences of decisions that may have unintended consequences.

Reviewed by Marc Space, retired superintendent, Taos, N.M.

 

Remote Guidance

The Regional Educational Laboratories have produced evidence-based guidance about remote teaching and learning for educators and families.

Resources include trauma-informed strategies to support transitions back to school and three steps for supporting equity during remote learning.


Workplace Basics

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce has released a report titled “Workplace Basics: The Competencies Employers Want.”

The report found the most in-demand competencies are communication, teamwork, leadership and problem-solving skills, while strength and coordination are the least in demand.


Virtual Standards

The National Virtual Teacher Association has released a guidebook, “Virtual Instruction Standards: Optimizing Teaching & Learning,” to help educators transition from brick-and-mortar to virtual classrooms.

The guide is based on current research, expertise of nationwide virtual instructors and proven best practices.


Vollmer’s Network

Jamie Vollmer, author of Schools Cannot Do It Alone, has launched a coalition of educators and their allies to defend public education.

Members of the network will receive benefits such as a copy of Vollmer’s book and pro public education videos.



Principal Training

A new report from the Institute of Education Sciences examines professional development activities of public school principals, including support of effective instruction and school climate.


Curriculum Model

The Carnegie Corporation of New York released a report that studies teaching in the context of high-quality, inquiry-based curriculum and the professional development aligned with such a model. The report includes core design features.


AASA RESOURCES

AASA Radio on Equity

In our latest AASA Radio segment, Luvelle Brown, superintendent in Ithaca, N.Y., and co-chair of the AASA Equity in Action Cohort, addresses educational inequity in school systems. Brown believes the pandemic provides an opportunity to fix the issues that have plagued schools for generations.


Conference News

AASA members will receive a daily e-newsletter during AASA’s virtual national conference in mid-February that provides summaries of major presentations and award announcements.

The e-newsletter, produced by AASA staff, will show up in inboxes around 7 a.m. ET on Feb. 18, 19 and 20.