Ethical leadership - Book Report/Review Example

The book itself outlines the reality that ethical leadership only occurs when the personal investment in moral character and development is of utmost importance. To illustrate this, Dr. Starratt purports that such a commitment is based upon the three core values and virtues of proactive responsibility, personal and professional authenticity, and an affirming, critical, and enabling presence to both the workers and the work that is involved in the actual teaching and learning process. The purpose of the author writing about these virtues rests in the belief that these very virtues are required of modern day educational leadership because of the high stakes involved in the schooling process today.

Leaders must be of sound moral character in order to successfully navigate the field today. He illustrates this principle throughout the book by providing a narrative of a principle that constantly struggles to do the right thing for both his students and staff. These individuals, it seems, are always on pressure to perform on state mandated tests, and they are occasionally punished if the results are lower than expected. Through this narrative, the purpose is to provide some suggestions for educational leaders about how they can persevere with their integrity in tact (Starratt, 2004).

The author of this text is Dr. Robert Starratt, a since retired professor education at Boston College. Previous to him tenure at Boston University, he taught at Fordham University, in addition to serving a principal and teacher at various throughout Denver, Connecticut, and Massachusetts early in his career. In addition to Ethical Leadership, Dr. Starratt has authored several polished books and numerous professional articles for publication. Most of his academic work focused on the area of moral and ethical issues in education.

As a student, Dr. Starratt earned his Doctorate at the University of Illinois under the supervision of