Public Spaces, Private Lives: Beyond the Culture of Cynicism
Public Spaces, Private Lives: Beyond the Culture of Cynicism, Henry A. Giroux, 2001
Henry A. Giroux offers an extensive critique of the culture of political apathy and cynicism and its effects on public values and private lives. He explains how the logic of corporatization, commercialization, privatization, and consumerism has promoted an individualistic ethic at the expense of the common good, leaving individuals distrustful, apathetic, and hopeless. People in the United States, says Giroux, are more concerned with who is voted off the show Survivor than with the urgent social and political issues of our times.
Regarding public education, Giroux argues that educators, in response to the public's demand for more testing and higher standards, often reduce schooling to technique and method by failing to raise questions that center on the moral, social, political, and democratic aspects of education. Public Spaces, Private Lives forces us to ask important questions about public education: How can schools play a role as a site for civic education and authentic democracy? What are the social implications when education is viewed as a private rather than a public good?
For educators, several arguments are especially relevant—in particular, Giroux's insightful examination of how “zero tolerance policies” turn schools into adjuncts of the criminal justice system and his sharp analysis of conservative criticisms of education. Giroux develops the idea of “educated hope,” which combines democracy, political agency, and pedagogy, and directs them toward social problems and issues.
Readers beware—Public Spaces, Private Lives is not an easy read, and anyone reluctant to decipher Giroux's arguments and lengthy sentences should pass on this critique of American culture and politics. But this text is worth the time and effort for educators seeking a revitalized vision for public education.
Published by Rowman & Littlefield, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706;www.rowmanlittlefield.com. 224 pages. Price: $24.95 hardcover.
—Reviewed by Michael H. Romanowski, Associate Professor, Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio.
Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, 2002
The main task of leaders, whether in business or education, is to create “a reservoir of positivity that frees the best in people,” write Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. They offer a new leadership model based on emotionally intelligent competencies. Drawing on their own research, they argue that intellect alone will not make great leaders because “leaders execute a vision by motivating, guiding, inspiring, listening, persuading—and, most crucially, through creating resonance.”
The book is divided into three well-balanced and well-organized sections. Part 1 discusses the four domains of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management) and compares resonant and dissonant leadership styles. Part 2 describes the adult learning process of moving through five discoveries to become a resonant leader: defining the ideal vision for oneself; recognizing the real self with strengths and gaps; developing a learning agenda; experimenting with and practicing new behaviors, thoughts, and feelings; and developing relationships. Part 3 presents the necessary steps to maximize a group's emotional intelligence and to build emotionally intelligent organizations. In this section, the authors outline the process of creating an effective organizational culture and sustaining change.
Although most examples and anecdotes are drawn from the political and business world, Primal Leadership is an essential resource tool for education leaders. Teachers, teacher educators, and instructional and administrative leaders would all benefit from understanding how to drive emotions in the right direction and how to help build emotionally intelligent competencies in individuals and organizations.
Published by Harvard Business School Press, 300 N. Beacon St., Watertown, MA 02472. 298 pages. Price: $26.95 paperback.
—Reviewed by Andrea Honigsfeld, Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York
