3.1 Challenges to maintaining the human touch in educational

Ncpea publication

About the Author

• Dr. Sandra Harris is professor and Director of the Center for Doctoral Studies in Educational Leadership at Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas. She is widely published in the areas of human relations and social justice. Her chapter here is a result of her selection as a "Living Legend" by NCPEA in 2011.

Introduction

Participating in professional organizations, such as NCPEA, UCEA, AERA, NAESP, NASSP, and AASA has been a valuable experience for me as the relationships that have been fostered through these associations have enabled me to grow personally and professionally. This has led me to consider some of the issues facing educational leaders today and in the years to come, specifically that of focusing on the notion of how to effectively maintain human relationships. While few leaders agree on everything, there is no doubt that we all agree this is a complex time for our schools. My focus of this article is to consider three of the challenges before us to maintain the human touch in our profession:

• Identifying appropriate responses to the dilemmas that are occurring due to technology advances which include movement to hybrid/blended and fully on-line teaching venues,
• Establishing covenant communities in our diverse classrooms and beyond, and
• Nurturing our professional relationships as educational leaders.

While these three topics might seem unrelated, I believe they all are connected to our shared humanity and all have the potential to develop or diminish the human touch.

Identifying responses to technology dilemmas

Matthew Militello (2011) argues that technology in schools today has the potential to be that of a “disruptive force” or to have a “transformational impact” (p. 15). The determining difference, he suggests, does not lie in the technology, but in the humans who control the technology. To illustrate his point, he cites Kurt Vonnegut’s 1952 book, Player Piano , the story of a world created where technology begins to control every aspect of life, thus taking away creativity and ultimately individual freedoms. Reading this article caused me to consider the player piano. How exciting it must have seemed at the beginning; what an awesome piece of technology . . . but after the tunes in its repertoire had been played and played and played and the “new” had worn off, where was the ability to create a new tune, to sing a new song? That was invested only in human capacity.