International Education Leadership: Stories From Across the Globe: Leadership Lessons From 13 International School Leaders – by Catarina Song Chen, Lindsay Prendergast, and Dr. Wallace Ting

An in-depth review

Overall Score: 6/10

Quick Review:

This book has a lot of potential, and my review speaks to what can be improved because I would love to see this approach realised equitably. With a purposeful review of intent, ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ could present something truly unique in a future edition.

I am passionate about sharing stories, and ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ provides 13 of them with different points of value. Standout contributions from such individuals as Bridget McNamer, Dr Michael Johnston, and Dr Ruth Allen resonated with me. I am confident all readers will find value in some, if not many, of the contributions.

Despite these points of value, the contributions share similar perspectives and contexts while being relatively sterile in their approach. This reduces the book’s overall value for the reader and can make it less accessible for certain identities.

Throughout ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’, we are guided to be inspired by what the contributors have done and experienced. Rather than being walked through the reality of the contributor’s experiences, ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ suffers from sterile writing. A common occurrence found in writing by school leaders, the necessity for confidentiality can lead to the most impactful key points and realities being left out. A richer but still professionally appropriate approach, which you sometimes see in blog posts, would have set this book apart and been more inspiring.

In ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’, there are 16 different contributors to the book. Though a strength of the book is the range of topics, the book lacks a coherent vision or ‘call to action’ for the reader. Despite the theming, it is not clear what the editors envisioned readers taking away from the book, such as affirmation and empathy, specific inspiration to handle challenges, or techniques and approaches for their leadership journey. This leads to some repetition and vague entries where a cohesive editorial vision would have provided support.

For example, different authors utilise identical John Dewey quotes, and the use of referencing is not consistent. These characteristics seemed to display a lack of comprehensive editing and refinement of the messages from the different contributors to ensure consistency and harmony without repetition. This negatively impacts the overall reading as you have a completely different approach from one contribution to another with little to no common thread. Diversity is good, and this is not a call for all entries to have a cookie-cutter format but rather some integration into an overall narrative for the book. However, engaging with the book as isolated chapters negates some of these challenges.

‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ has no activities or direct application though some contributors make suggestions. However, the stories may help affirm and prepare readers for specific experiences while considering their personal values and approach.

Overall, ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ is a book that I may not recommend from the rooftops, but it gets a pass due to the importance of reading the stories of others. But I would pair this with recommendations to engage in dialogue with other school leaders. Perhaps it should not be ‘leadership lessons’ but ‘leadership experiences’ as this better reflects the stories. I believe this book can benefit new and upcoming leaders in mid-to-large size schools but read on and draw on your own conclusions.

Detailed review:

Readability – 8/10

‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ is printed in a medium font with good spacing and kerning. The paragraph blocks are large in places, but this is generally not problematic due to the considerate spacing and font. Highlighting and notetaking is quite easy with this book though not particularly necessary. The language varies dramatically across the stories, with many places, acronyms, organisations, and strategies mentioned throughout. Generally, prior knowledge is not assumed, and new information is explained and contextualised though this is not always consistent and makes some sections more challenging. Generally, a full-time teacher, especially a school leader, will engage with the language of the book quite comfortably.

DEIJ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice) awareness – 3/10

It was good to see ‘Equity and Cultural Responsiveness’ as one of the themes in the book. Unfortunately, this was one of the most concerning sections as a reader from a minoritised background. Below is an example of writing in that section which, though well-intentioned, has many parallels to the colonial writing of explorers in the 1900s (Explore the writing of April Biccum such as ‘Biccum, A (2010), Global Citizenship and the Legacy of Empire – Marketing development: a “new” national narrative‘ to learn more).

‘Alex rules the stage and conquers the audience as he moves his whole body in syncopated rhythm with the music, his dark skin glistening and radiant, his smile a bolt of white…’

‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ pg150

Many minoritised readers will find this caricatured writing inappropriate, and its presence speaks to a lack of oversight or conversation with a diverse range of readers prior to publication. Further to that, as a series of descriptions of a child, it speaks volumes that no one took issue with or considered reframing or contextualising this style of writing during editing prior to publication. Though only an isolated quote, the surrounding pages were a point of discomfort for several people who shared their experience of reading it with me.

It is crucial that authors and publishers increase their racial literacy and inclusion of minoritised perspectives when publishing passages about minoritised people. If there is a deeper intention with the inclusion of such writing, this needs to be made clearer and more intentional. Though the gender representation of the book is fairly balanced, the homogeneity among the authors has been heavily overlooked:

• The dominance of Latin American teaching experiences
  
• The similarities regarding education and business-minded outlook
  
• The high-profile and Western-centric markers of ‘success’ (degree, university, chairing boards, owning businesses etc., rather than more diverse humanistic markers)
  
• The size of the schools they represent

This focus minimises the wealth of other experiences and journeys that have not been included, which readers may find valuable. The lack of racial narratives, class-based narratives, and consideration of historical contexts will be potentially harmful to the new generation of more diverse leaders. Without challenging norms, inclusivity in international school leadership will not be developed in a meaningful way.

A common missing point for leadership books which ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ falls into, is the trap of excluding small international schools. Though some of the contributors have experience in smaller schools, it is clear that nearly all considerations in the book and lessons to be learned are positioned at 600+ student international schools. When considering the leadership structures, facilities, and considerations, many <400 student schools may not be able to approach these concepts through the same lens.

Overall, it appears that a more intentional DEIJ lens was needed for this book in the editing process. Actions and procedures such as thematic coding and a clear rubric of language use and presentation for the contributors would support a more inclusively written book. Though well-intentioned, DEIJ is ultimately about what we DO, not simply what we intend.

Applicability: Work – 6/10

The various contributors to ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ recall their experiences; some speak about specific systems they use, which you can learn more about by following their ventures or services outside of the book. Thus the book is less for direct application but more to inspire or guide by helping to recognise that many others have faced the challenges you may be facing and have overcome them successfully. Despite this approach, the inspiration is quite voyeuristic rather than engaged. Some entries feel more like the author is speaking about themselves rather than speaking to the reader and would benefit from more consideration of desired outcomes. As discussed in the quick review, a richer approach is necessary, which gets more into the realities of some of the exchanges and conflicts that arise along with the school leadership and presents it in a way for engagement and self-application by the reader.

Applicability: Life – 6/10

I think all readers of ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ will find a few different contributors with whom they resonate. As such, you may find applications for the book’s takeaways outside the meeting room.

Classroom use – 6/10

Though ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ is precisely focused on leadership, some references to classroom relationships can inform approaches to student engagement. Moreso, this book approaches the classroom from the viewpoint of establishing the vision and whole-school pedagogical approaches.

Reading Speed – Moderate to fast

‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ is a relatively light read, with some chapters denser than others. The contributions vary from the surface level to the more detailed and model-orientated with relevant impact on reading speed.

Reading order – Selective

I recommend reading the book chapter by chapter rather than viewing it as a whole book. ‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ is easy to cherry-pick the leaders or themes you want to focus on at no detriment to your understanding.

Uniqueness – Similar to good blog posts

‘Leadership Lessons from Across the Globe’ is a presentation of stories that have value but are similar and need a clearer intent. Oftentimes more detailed and intentional narratives can be found in blog posts, conversations with school leaders on podcasts, and through reaching out on LinkedIn. This is not a detriment to the book as a whole, but the majority of what you find here can be found elsewhere. This book has a lot of potential, and with the feedback here and refinement of the approach, it could present something truly unique in a future edition.

Acknowledgements – I would like to sincerely thank Nunana Nyomi for the time he gave to help ensure this review was appropriately positioned and presented to be growth orientated. I also thank family, friends, and colleagues who also shared with me their experiences with the text.