Literacy is subversive

Amy K. Conley serves as a high school English teacher at Fortuna High School in Humboldt County, California, where she works to promote educational programs that foster excellence in service-learning, literacy, and equity, and lecturer at Humboldt State University in elementary education literacy practices. The first woman in her family to attend college, Conley has always sought to improve access to literacy in diverse populations. She has taught in California for 19 years, primarily as a high school English teacher, graduated with a Master's (2000) in Mass Communication from San Jose State and is currently enrolled in the Collaborative Online Doctorate in Education Leadership, a joint venture between California State University, Channel Islands and Fresno State University. She received a $17,000 Institute For Teaching grant from the California Teachers Association to establish a district-wide service-learning program in Humboldt County.  Since 2001, Conley has volunteered to t...

An article by Dr. Josie Ahlquist,  25 Higher Education Presidents to Follow on Twitter , examines the Twitter style of university presidents that allows a peek at leadership perspectives. Most of the presidents selected employ Greenleaf's (1977) servant leadership model, hyping student and program accomplishments and being the face of the university. Some go beyond that paradigm to be transformative, advocating for change and leading values discussions (Gardner, 2005). Even fewer presidents demonstrate servant and transformative and authentic leadership that cheerleads their campuses, pushes for positive change, and displays themselves transparently as fallible humans.