Principal of the Thing : The Journal of a High School Principal

Summary: THE PRINCIPAL OF THE THING is a fascinating, highly detailed two-year journal of the professional life of the vice-principal, & later principal, of an outstanding New Mexico comprehensive high school. Definitive in his comments on human nature, Ed Boykin's insights into school administration also point up the problems addressed by reform measures as well as problems caused by those measures, comments that should be o...f interest to both educational professionals & parents. A moving first-person narrative that carries conviction in its sincerity & point of view, the journal reflects the author's experience gained in USAF instructional schools -- during which he taught AF students how to fly single-engine jet aircraft -- his graduate training in two New Mexico universities, & his years as a teacher, coach, & administrator. The high-lighting of Boykin's Eleven Cardinal Rules for Principals alone make the book worth the price for would-be principals. Of interest, too, are his experiences in dealing with the Lou Gehrig's disease with which his wife, Jo, was stricken, which led to his decision to take early retirement to care for her, just after being recognized as the outstanding secondary school administrator in the state. [read more]