Cracking open the latest bookshelf additions
Soccer is Fun Without Parents
by Dr. Peter M. Jonas, professor, leadership doctorate
2019 Readers’ Favorite Bronze Medal Winner in the Non-Fiction – Sports Category
This is a comedic, and often alarming, collection of stories about soccer parents and all the crazy things they do. Soccer is a cherished pastime played around the world, but it has a dark side that doesn’t have anything to do with the sport or the players. The problem is parents. Soccer seems to bring out the worst in some moms and dads, and in this humorous retelling of some of the most outrageous examples, Dr. Peter Jonas doesn’t only make readers laugh and shake their heads in disbelief—he also offers guidance.
Transforming Learning: Don’t Let School Interfere With Your Laughing
by Dr. Peter M. Jonas, professor, leadership doctorate
Many authors have researched the connection between humor and education, but as E.B. White said, “Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.” However, Dr. Peter Jonas takes a broad and practical approach in examining the connection between humor and learning. The book uses a metaanalysis and meta-synthesis to identify nine areas where humor significantly improves various aspects of the learning environment. This book provides practical examples: learning, stress reduction, job satisfaction, relationships, creativity, culture, communication and engagement, as well as research on how much of an effect (effect size) humor has on leadership. Humor needs to be taken seriously, because when you get people laughing you can transform learning.
Outcome-Based Strategies for Adult Learning
by Dr. Mette L. Baran, associate professor, leadership doctorate; Dr. Janice E. Jones, professor, associate dean, College of Education and Leadership; and Dr. Preston B. Cosgrove, ’12
The definition of education and learning has been changing as the field experienced, and is still experiencing, many changes. One of those changes is a rise in adult learners in higher education. To set their classrooms up for success, it is vital for educators to be aware of and fluent in adult instructional strategies. This book provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of nontraditional education and applications within curriculum development and instructional design. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as experiential learning, instructional design and formative assessment, this book is ideally designed for educators, academicians, educational professionals, researchers and upper-level students seeking current research on how instructional strategies can be tied to assessment.
Your Life is Your Message: Discovering the Core of Transformational Leadership
by Dr. Nancy Stanford Blair, professor emerita, and Dr. Mark L. Gesner, ’13, executive director, the Stritch Hub for Innovation and Community-Engaged Learning
You are invited on a journey to clarify your life’s message so that it aligns with and empowers the legacy you want to leave behind. Based on over 100 interviews with leaders from around the world who found their way to mission-driven lives, you are led on a path to determine your own life’s meaning along with the influence you hope to achieve. Beyond insights from inspirational figures, this book provides a model and practical tools to prompt introspection and greater clarity about your desired life trajectory. While intended for emerging and accomplished leaders of businesses, organizations and communities, this book rings true for anyone interested in finding the authentic and impactful leader within.
The Prophetic Voice: Antoinette Brown Blackwell’s Jeremiads in the Social Purity Movement
by Dr. Barbara S. Spies, professor, communication arts
In the late 19th century, women spoke as prophets for transformation in an unequal system. The jeremiad, as a rhetorical genre, demonstrates the prophetic voice. We hear speakers today using this form in response to pandemics, environmental issues, political crises, among many other circumstances. This book examines the work of Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordained as a Protestant minister in the United States in 1853. Brown Blackwell modeled the prophetic voice in her determination to prevent the legalization of prostitution. The examination of her rhetoric for the Social Purity Movement underscores the significance of the jeremiad as a genre for illuminating crisis communication, especially in a Christian context.
Five Levers to Improve Learning: How to Prioritize for Powerful Results in Your School
by Dr. Tony Frontier, ’99, ’07, associate professor, leadership doctorate, and James Rickabaugh
Why have decades of reform and billions of dollars had so little measurable effect on student achievement? Too often, educators are pulling the wrong levers. The authors explain that the various components of schooling fall into five categories: structure, sample, standards, strategy and self. Understanding how these levers work can help unlock the potential for lasting improvements in teaching and learning. The authors show readers that changes to structure and sample (how schools are organized and how students are grouped) will not be effective without changes to standards (expectations for student learning), strategy (instructional strategies to engage students in meaningful learning) and self (the set of beliefs teachers and students have about their capacity to be effective).