Book Review: Leading 21st Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement

Lynne Schrum and Barbara B. Levin put together a wonderful resource that is valuable to anyone that is or will be involved in 21^st century education. Leading 21^st Century Schools is well structured with a strong balance of theoretical insight and practical, tested applications from which readers are likely to gain great knowledge. Further, the general style of the book is one that allows readers the ability to understand. This stands to reason due to the authors of the book being educators.

Leading 21^st Century Schools is formatted into three sections. The first section, titled "21^st Century Schools: A New World for Administrators, Teachers, and Students" sets the tone for the rest of the book. In it, Schrum and Levin underscore the need for administrators to understand not only who their students are today, but also who their young teachers are – a generation that is hungry for the use of technology and the ability to create. The authors wrote, "They are a generation that will grow up creating, using, and distributing text, images, audio, and video everyday during their life" (p. 33). If school leaders want to move their organizations forward they have to understand the group they are trying to reach.

"New Tools and Strategies for Teaching and Learning in the 21^st Century," the second section of the book is the most informative and helpful section for non-administrative school leaders. This would include teacher-leaders who are trailblazers for their campus. Four chapters are devoted to instructional strategies, introductions to various Web 2.0 tools, and practical applications on how to incorporate these tools in to the classroom. From blogs and wikis to webquests and virtual field trips, this second section was perhaps the most beneficial section in the entire book.

Beyond just the classroom, Schrum and Levin seek to involve community stakeholders like – parents – in the discussion of 21^st century education. "School leader blogs are also being used, mainly to communicate with parents, family members, and others in the community." (p. 124). The idea of trying to sell something in which you do not buy does not work. The authors of this book did a great job identifying and clarifying their perspective in Part III of this book, "Leading the Way," that leading change is multifaceted and must be ultimately led by example.

Generally speaking Leading 21^st Century Schools communicates a high priority for administrators. While a teacher-leader would find this to be an excellent resource it seems that administrators are the target audience of this work. This is not a shortcoming of the book by any means, merely a statement of fact. Overall, the book is an inspiration for anyone involved in educating 21^st century learners.