ABSTRACT

Despite deans playing critical roles in education, little is known about the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for the job, or the practical dilemmas they face on an almost daily basis. Each chapter of this international collection opens the role up for examination and critique, developing a deeper understanding of what it means to be a dean, and offering insights into the transition into the role, managing the daily demands and expectations of it, and what it means to exit the deanship. The book brings being a dean and the leadership inherent in the position into sharp focus based on international perspectives on doing the job.

part I|45 pages

Understanding self in relation to role

chapter 1|18 pages

A process of change

The transition to becoming a dean

chapter 2|14 pages

At your service

An associate dean's role

chapter 3|11 pages

A Dean's roles in different contexts

Simply a matter of boundary crossing?

part II|49 pages

Explicating leadership

chapter 4|14 pages

Fortress days 1 —1,278 of them

chapter 5|18 pages

Twenty-Five years of deaning

A colourful journey

chapter 6|15 pages

Academic leadership

Careerism with a sense of calling

part III|50 pages

A focus on leading in teacher education

chapter 7|18 pages

The dean as cultural leader

chapter 8|15 pages

Beyond the campus

A dean's “external roles” and the impact on college priorities

chapter 9|15 pages

The art of diplomacy

Looking back at the position as Head of Teacher Education

part IV|41 pages

Learning when to leave

chapter 10|11 pages

Outside the circle of knowing

Life beyond the dean's office

chapter 11|16 pages

The impossible dream

Doing deanship with pessimistic optimism

chapter 12|12 pages

Deaning

Duty and desire