Lessons for Principals: Case Studies from High School Administration

By Richard Seltzer

The doctoral dissertation "Human Relations in Secondary School Administration: Case Episodes". Presented for the degree of doctor of education at the University of Maryland in 1957. The author eventually became superintendent of schools in three communities in Pennsylvania (Bristol, Huntingdon Valley, and Columbia).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seltzer Books
• Release date: Sep 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781455448074

Book preview

Lessons for Principals -- Case Studies from High School Administration

(The doctoral dissertation Human Relations in Secondary School Administration: Case Episodes)

by Richard Warren Seltzer

Copyright © 1957 Richard Warren Seltzer

CHAPTER  I --  The Purposes and Method of this Study

CHAPTER II -- Review of Literature

CHAPTER  III --  The Episodes

o 1. Second Chance.

o 2. Hit Back!

o 3. I've Got Tenure.

o 4. One Year to Go!

o 5. The New Coach Takes Over.

o 6. Roadhouse Interlude.

o 7. The Custodian.

o 8. The Wayward Wallet.

o 9. Lost Control.

o 10. I'm the Boss!

o 11. I Object!

o 12. Let's Be Democratic

o 13. The Bentonville Incident.

o 14. Juvenile Department.

o 15. Keep Your Hands Off Me.

o 16. Please, Don't Tell Mother.

o 17. I Quit!

o 18. Chaperones.

o 19. The Impasse.

o 20. He's Really a Good Boy.

CHAPTER IV -- Suggested Research

APPENDIX: The Episodes -- Decisions and Results

o 1. Second Chance.

o 2. Hit Back!

o 3. I've Got Tenure.

o 4. One Year to Go!

o 5. The New Coach Takes Over.

o 6. Roadhouse Interlude.

o 7. The Custodian.

o 8. The Wayward Wallet.

o 9. Lost Control.

o 10. I'm the Boss!

o 11. I Object!

o 12. Let's Be Democratic

o 13. The Bentonville Incident.

o 14. Juvenile Department.

o 15. Keep Your Hands Off Me.

o 16. Please, Don't Tell Mother.

o 17. I Quit!

o 18. Chaperones.

o 19. The Impasse.

o 20. He's Really a Good Boy.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1957 Vita of Author

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER  I --  The Purposes and Method of this Study

 The relations between one man and another are as old as men himself. Ever since there were two human beings on earth. there hare been human interactions. Early man sometimes worked with his neighbors and sometimes worked against them in his efforts to obtain the necessities of life. In both situations human relations were taking place.  Man  had to learn that when several men killed a prize for the table, each had to share with the others. Living together in primitive villages men learned to interact satisfactorily for their mutual defence.

The early crude attempts at human relations were greatly refined when Jesus of Nazareth brought to man a new concept through his words:

... love one to another (John 13:35)

... whosoever smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:39)

"Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’ (Matthew 7:12).

This concept has had a lasting influence in Western culture upon man in his relations with other men in all walks of life.

What Jesus and other religious leaders did was not identified as a scientific experiment in human relations because there was no real need at the time for the scientific study of human situations. George F. F. Lombard observes:

Until recently the pace of social change allowed individuals and groups to acquire the capacity to understand one another by living together without explicit attention to the process involved. (1, p.225)

In modern living, however, there can he found innumerable symptoms of misunderstanding and conflict at all levels of society. The striking workers of industry, the increase in all types of crime, the turnover in employment, and the increasing divorce rate, are some of the symptoms in recent decades.

Near the turn of the century, Dr. Sigmund Freud of Vienna, Austria, made some interesting observations which indicated to the world that human problems could be studied scientifically. (10, p. 6)  Freud developed a dynamic psychology wherein he studied the transformation and exchanges of energy within the personality. (10, p. 6) The studies made by Freud in the area of personality have contributed directly tot he scientific study of human relations, and greatly stimulated the development of more meaningful research in this field. The modern development of psychology and psychiatry has introduced new concepts and understandings of the relations between humans.

The industrialization of civilization has indicated the need for research in human relations to better understand the personal interactions of men as they affect production. Lombard explains the position of industry as follows:

The present state of our industrial civilization requires research in human relations which will yield results of immediate practical value to the responsible administrator. This research must also produce the data necessary to develop in the long run an understanding of the basic forces at work in our society. A program of clinical research resulting in case reports recognizes and meets both these needs. (1, p. 225)

Industry has made an effort meet these needs as suggested by Lombard through a number of studies. One study conducted on the problem of human relations was done by the Western Electric Company to determine the factors of high productivity among workers. The elements of social organization were evident in every investigation. Interrelations of people were rarely planned or formally organized. They consisted of basic human relations out of which emerge loosely-knit social structure dominating the behavior of individual workers. (30, p. 21)  One of the most interesting of the conclusions of this study was that external factors, such as physical working conditions, had little effect on production. Changes in social and psychological organizations played an important part. It was found that it was not the music that played over loud speakers in factory rooms, or the lounges that were provided for rest periods, that affected production, but rather how well one worker got along with another, or with his boss, or with his wife.

The volume of literature dealing with human relations has been increasing in the past two decades and indicates an interest in the subject which covers a variety of endeavors. [Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, 1946-54; Dissertation Abstracts, formerly Microfilm Abstracts, by University Microfilm, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1954; Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities, 1940-54; published by W.H. Wilson Company of New York; and Research Studies in Education, a Subject Index, 1941-51.] However, among all the researches done on human relations, there are comparatively few dealing with human relations in schools among school personnel. To the writer, it seemed that there should be more consideration given to human interactions in secondary school administration based upon the democratic principle that the individual is of supreme worth and the only concrete reality with which we can deal. (30, p. 195)

Within the scope of education there has been increased attention given to human relations in such areas as the teacher-pupil and the superintendent-staff relationships. In one of the most recent studies, the emphasis is placed upon the school superintendent as the central person in the human interaction of school administration. (24) Relatively little attention seems to have been given to the high school principal as a vital participant in the human interactions on the high school level.

The findings of the latest White House Conference on Education (November 1955) have indicated a definite need for, and trend toward consolidation of smaller school districts.  This information seems to indicate that there will be more secondary school principals and fewer superintendents of schools, and thus of schools, and thus emphasizes the necessity of greater human relations training at the secondary level. This trend points up the increasing importance of the individual secondary school administrator, and, in so doing, calls attention to the need for human relations training of the secondary school administrator.

The Problem.  The specific problem of the study is the collection, writing, and selection of episodes which can be used to help to improve human relationships in secondary school administration.

The ultimate objective of this study is to contribute to answering a larger question which may be stated as follows: How can communication and understanding between individuals, and between individuals and groups, be improved under differing conditions and with varying relationships in secondary school administration?  It is recognized that this study alone will not achieve this objective, however, together with other studies, it will make a contribution t this end.

Purposes of the Study.  The first purpose of this study is to develop episodes as a teaching-aid for university courses in educational administration, or for in-service educational programs.  Any one of the episodes found in Chapter III of this study might be used as the central problem for a discussion on human relations.  The episodes may be used to deepen insights concerning what might be done in a specific situation to attain a definite goal in a manner consistent with good human relations.  Furthermore, the episodes provide an opportunity to study typical problems confronted by secondary school administrators for the purpose of developing student capacity to deal with the problems of human relations in a complex and changing environment. (1, p. 25) George Terry, in his case studies in business and industrial management expresses this purpose as follows:

To provide laboratory material in which practice can be acquired in such important things as: (1) recognizing problems to be solved; (2) ferreting out pertinent facts; (3) analyzing these facts to reach a decision; and (4) applying them to the specific circumstances. (27, p. v)

The writer of the present study believes that the episodes which comprise the third chapter of this study will provide laboratory material for students of secondary school administration in their practice with human relationships in a school situation.

The second purpose is to help the student using the episodes to learn to develop empathy with the administrator, and to improve sensitivity and understanding for the administrator's position. The episodes in administration provide an opportunity for a student to place himself in a number of different situations in the field of secondary administration, and to identify himself with the administrator who is encountering problems in these areas.

The third purpose of this study is to locate possible research problems in the field of educational administration.

The Research Method.  The case study method of research was developed as early as 1871 by Langdell for use primarily at the Harvard Law School.  (5, p. 22)  (For an example of early social case work see W.W. Pettit Case Studies in Community Organization.) (17) John Brewer did some early work in the application of the case method to educational administration with his cases on the administration of guidance for vocational education obtained from student seminars. (4, p.1) However, it was not until Wallace A. Donham (then Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration) began his experiments in the situation-oriented case studies that any appreciable spread in this method of research was noted.  The Donham Method, as Creegan calls it, was unique in that he used the situation-oriented case with concern for interpersonal relationship factors. (34, p. 214) Creegan goes on to say that Donham was the first to bring to business administration training the use of cases which ... were studied in terms of concrete interpersonal adjustments rather than in terms of legal prerogatives. (34, p. 214) Donham intended that cases would function as the hub of discussion of human relations as found in the business world and provide occasion for the members of the group to acquire new attitudes and expand limits of their understanding. (34, p. 25)

More recently, the Harvard experiments under the leadership of George F.F. Lombard have focused upon the training of individuals for the achievement of cooperation in organization including individual satisfactions and organization purposes. (1, p. viii)  To achieve this objective, students study real life problems which center about actual events.  Students endeavor to disentangle the human relations which are involved in the case situation. Furthermore, students strive to become aware of the various points of view of the major participants. Finally, students attempt to decide what is required in a particular situation as responsible action from the administrator most concerned. This method provides the students with an opportunity to think for themselves without benefit of verbal solution and abstract principle. (1, p. viii)

Richard H. Byrne says in his study that at least one reason for the acceptance of the situational case study has been the tremendous concern about the nature and the improving of techniques of interpersonal relationships... (5, p. 26)  This same concern for improving techniques in human relations was partially responsible for the case method refinements effected by Carl Rogers through his