Vol. III - Penn State Abington

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The Center for Protection for the Rights of Disadvantaged Citizens of Wuhan University. (2009, February 5). Summary in 2008 of CPRDC. Retrieved March 9, 2009 from http://www.cprdc.org/web/ShowArticle.aspArticleID=705 The Legal Aid System. Retrieved March 23, 2009 from http://en.ec.com.cn/article/entrade/eclaw/enlrothers/200804/603223_1.html World Bank. (2009, March 30). Global Economic Prospects 2009 - Forecast Update. Retrieved April 19, 2009 from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/EXT GBLPROSPECTS/0,,menuPK:615470~pagePK:64218926~piPK:64218953~theSitePK:6 12501,00.html Yu, Helen & Guernsey, Alison (2009). What is the Rule of Law Retrieved April 2, 2009, from University of Iowa, Center for International Finance and Development web site: http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/faq/Rule_of_Law.shtml Zhou, Cheng. (2002). Lend a Hand to Vulnerable Groups - An Experience from Wuhan University. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from China Society for Human Rights Studies web site: http://www.humanrights.cn/zt/magazine/200402004811102720.htm THE DIALECTICS ▲ 2009 www.abington.psu.edu/dialectics 19
SOCIAL CAPITAL IN URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOL LEADERSHIP By Chase Nordengren ∗ The Catholic University of America Urban schools in the United <strong>State</strong>s struggle amidst poverty, despair and an overall attitude of disenfranchisement. Poor performance on standardized tests, endemic violence and significant staffing issues have left urban schools the education center of last resort in the eyes of many parents, reserved only for those students too poor to afford private tuition. The breakdown in urban schools is related more fundamentally to a breakdown in the basic stabilizers in any social system: trust, transparency, and collaboration. As part of a leadership strategy, social capital can reinforce these stabilizers and thereby create fertile ground for substantive reform. The Social Capital Dynamic in School Leadership School leadership is not only administrative but inherently social and political. Goldring and Greenfield (2002, p. 3-6) identify four social characteristics unique to school leadership. The first characteristic is the need for moral agency. Where values conflict, moral agency is an essential aspect of arbitrating disputes: “in a pluralistic society ... it follows that the ends—the common good, the public interest—will, by definition, be multiple and often conflicting” (Jackson, 1995, p. 5). In education, policy disputes are frequently specific expressions of general moral principles like the right to unionize or the responsibility of the state to children. School leaders must evaluate and prioritize among these principles when actors like teachers unions, parent organizations or lawmakers place them in conflict. Second, school leaders are stewards of the public trust. School constituencies demand quality schools which provide the best outcomes for their children while not advocating for specifics; school leaders make significant policy decisions in their place. When schools produce a “poor product,” their essential role in children's lives draws a unique level of criticism from the public (Jackson, 1995, p. 3). Third, school leadership is unique because of the complexity of teaching and administration, made particularly intense with the increased attention to pedagogy applied in the last twenty years. School leaders must define what makes a good teacher or what curricula prepare students for the modern economy where answers to these questions are inconclusive, contradictory and constantly evolving. The most important characteristic of school leadership, however, is the highly peopleintensive character of education delivery. School leaders are “people working with and through people to influence people” (Goldring and Greenfield, 2002, p. 6), subject to the will of the people. Although all local administration is to a certain extent social, school leaders are expected to balance running a bureaucracy, pleasing taxpayers and legislators, and caring for a constituency of the young and dependent. ∗ Chase Nordengren is an undergraduate at the Catholic University of America, where he is studying politics, philosophy and religion. He is interested in building sustainable, just and well-reasoned social policy, focused particularly on human capital development. Chase is the 2007 undergraduate winner of the Brookings Institution Hamilton Project’s Economic Policy Innovation Prize for his research work in rural health care provider retention. THE DIALECTICS ▲ 2009 www.abington.psu.edu/dialectics 20
Page 1 and 2: EDITORIAL BOARD STUDENT EDITORS The
Page 3 and 4: A Call for Essays The Dialectics: J
Page 5 and 6: one described in the opening paragr
Page 7 and 8: The United States of America, 2025
Page 9 and 10: UGANDA: CONFRONTING A HUMAN RIGHTS
Page 11 and 12: the astounding prevalence of HIV/AI
Page 13 and 14: It is evident that much more needs
Page 15 and 16: LEGAL AID CLINICS IN CHINA: BRIDGIN
Page 17 and 18: ecame the country with the largest
Page 19: China’s legal aid is multiplying,
Page 23 and 24: leadership style, not the legitimac
Page 25 and 26: capital formation (Paxton, 2002), t
Page 27 and 28: http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/advocacy
Page 29 and 30: that need to be made to protect and
Page 31 and 32: REFORMING THE CREDIT RATING AGENCIE
Page 33 and 34: their operations in a short time to
Page 35 and 36: the current financial crisis. Just
Page 37 and 38: transactions have become increasing
Page 39 and 40: yet, this is a good opportunity for
Page 41 and 42: TAXATION WITHOUT AGGRAVATION: A CAS
Page 43 and 44: In 2008, more than 250 million peop
Page 45 and 46: AMERICA’S LOST DECADE By Justin K
Page 47 and 48: THE SECOND AMENDMENT: RELIC OR REQU
Page 49 and 50: whose sole job is to promote an env
Page 51 and 52: Spitzer, R. J. (2003). The Second A
Page 53 and 54: say, that if one set of expression
Page 55 and 56: an anthropological study on a parti
Page 57 and 58: European Commission. (2001). Direct

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