Your Recommended Readings

The books assigned for the course are by authors Peter Senge (Fifth Discipline Fieldbook), DuFour DuFour and Eaker (Professional Learning Communities) and Bryson (Stategic Planning for Non-Profits and Public Sector). These books should not have been expensive if you went on-line for your purchase. By now they are classics in the field.

The only book that has specific assignments is the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. The others are referenced as comparative readings. These are excellent books for reference to have in your personal libarary and will provide timely and helpful information when studying for the TExES exam or when trying to work with teams on your campus for planning, problem solving, and budgeting.

Any writings by these authors is highly recommended. A list of writings and seminars offered by Peter Senge can be found on the website for his organization called the Society for Organizational Learning (SoC), http://www.solonline.org/. Senge's belief is that an organization that is not able to grow, develop and learn from its mistakes is like a person with a learning disability. The organization that cannot process information and act on the information to improve its performance and its internal communication will probably continue in patterns that are dysfunctional and unproductive. As educators you may have worked in such an organization at some point in your career. If you are fortunate to have missed such a frustrating experience then you are blessed beyond words. I hope you will learn to read appreciate Senge as an author and continue to read and reflect on his works in your professional practice and personal reflections.

DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker maintain an organization called the Solution Tree. They have taken the ideas of Peter Senge and Chris Argyris and others and crafted an educational concept that many schools are using today called "Professional Learning Communities" or (PLC), http://www.solution-tree.com/Public/Main.aspx Their aim is to improve planning at the campus and grade level in a process that involves all stakeholders. They have several book titles, any of which can be subsituted for the recommended book for this course. Most of their books restate similar themes.

Bryson in Strategic Planning provides very very detailed approaches to systematic planning, the most commonly used is the SWOT model. You are asked to reflect on some of this writings but you can instead go to websites that describe the SWOT model in any assignment where the Bryson reading is mentioned.