Power and Persuasion: The Superintendent's Role In Designing Therapeutic Education for L/LD Children

The superintendent's leadership behavior, more than any other factor, determines the character and quality of the instructional programs provided for atypical learners. If education for these children is to become therapeutic, the superintendent must step beyond the limits of traditional administrative models and adopt a more "vital" leadership style. With this transcendence, the superintendency becomes more than a position; it becomes a process. Emphasizing a team approach, it carefully calibrates the elements of power and persuasion in order to obtain and maintain an environment conducive to research and program development, administering more to the nature of the learner than the structure of the organization.