Biography
of Albert Shanker: Closing Summary
EDUC 802, Leadership Seminar, December 18, 2000
Mungazi’s biography of Albert Shanker is that of an education leader whose approach to decision-making is grounded in March’s (1994) rule the logic of appropriateness, where Shanker’s identity as union leader shaped the principles of the union and the man, and rule following is the hallmark of his decision-making process. Shanker has clearly demonstrated his leadership through “voice” (Bennis 1989) and his ability to persuade followers to follow, permanently establishing collective bargaining and coalition building as change mechanisms for teachers in public education. Shanker’s assets and legacy (De Pree 1989) continue as leaders in and out of public education seek his advice and opinions on a variety of social issues, and the AFT and UFT as organizations have expanded their membership rolls significantly.
One caveat that did occur to me is that Mungazi, being a Critical Theorist, has made a conscious effort to shed the best light on Shanker, another Critical Theorist. Mungazi (1995) apparently anticipated this concern among his readers when he said the following:
In 1989, Fletcher L. Byrom, the retired chairman of the Kappers Company, which manufactured chemicals, said of Shanker, “At first I thought he was a reprehensible character. But now I think that Albert Shanker understands the problems facing public schools better than any other person in the country.” This author, who undertook this study with a preconceived bias against Albert Shanker’s leadership, has experienced a 180-degree turn in his opinions of the man and strongly concurs with Byrom’s statement.
I second that opinion.
