Getting at the Moral Leadership of Education Deans

Vignettes were used to prompt four education deans to think aloud about ways in which they would resolve problems with embedded moral issues. Thematic coding was used to analyze the interview texts that had been tape recorded and transcribed. There was general support for the two moral themes of holding to broad social ideals and negotiating for mutually acceptable outcomes, but individual expressions of specific strategies and actions differed. The results of this study support a multi-dimensional approach to the study of the leadership of deans that simultaneously examines the moral, social, intellectual and emotional aspects of problem solving. The results also suggest a possible shift in the way to advertise and interview for education deans. The advertisement should ask prospective candidates to discuss their list of accomplishments in relation to personal leadership characteristics. The interview should include an administrative colloquium on the order of the pedagogical colloquium suggested by Shulman (1993)