Shouse Co-Authors Book on Education Reform in Taiwan

by Joe Savrock (October 2010)

Roger C. Shouse, associate professor of educational leadership, and Penn State Alumna Kuan-Pei Lin ’05 Ph.D. are co-authors of a newly released book that examines the status of Taiwan’s education system. The book is titled Principal Leadership in Taiwan Schools (2010, Rowman & Littlefield).

Lin is now a faculty member in the Graduate Institute of Educational Administration at the National Pingtung University of Education in Taiwan. Shouse spent the 2002-03 academic year in Taiwan working as a visiting professor and conducting research for the book.

Principal Leadership in Taiwan Schools is based on a review of Taiwan's history of school reform. Through principal interviews with principals and observations of the schools, the authors examined the adjustments that Taiwanese school principals are making in their new leadership roles. These adjustments are in response to decisions by Taiwan's Ministry of Education aimed at globalizing schools. The reform involves restructuring curricular, instructional, and decision-making practices along western lines.

As part of the school reform, Taiwanese principals must share power with other school stakeholders. They are held responsible for implementing reform measures that tend to damage trust and confidence in the system among local stakeholders because they cut against longstanding social and organizational norms. 



“Beyond the question of how Taiwan principals adjust to school reform, the book also examines the various contested meanings of school leadership and how these differ and evolve in western and East-Asian settings,” said Shouse.