Academic Advising and Living the Examined Life: Making the Case for a Values Perspective
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” However, if the unexamined life is not worth living, then the unexamined value is not worth holding. To make this argument, perspectives and some tools are offered that may help advisors become better at their jobs. In addition, the suggestions might make all educators into better persons, and of particular interest, demonstrate practical contributions advisors can make to shape a better world.
Contributor Notes
Paul Begley is Professor and Head of the OISE/UT Centre for the Study of Values and Leadership (established June 1996). This center is also affiliated with the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) through a partnership with the University of Virginia. Paul is also an International Associate of the Centre for Principal Development at Umea University, Sweden.
His current teaching and research interests include the influence of values and ethics on school leadership practices, socializing influences experienced by aspiring principals, international images of effective school leadership, the ethics and procedures of performance appraisal, the administrator's role in school improvement, and state-of-the-art pre-service and in-service practices for school leadership development (including distance education).
A former elementary school principal in Ontario (1979–86), Paul Begley's academic interests center on the ideas and issues related to administrative values and school leadership development. He maintains a particular interest in how individuals respond to, or construe, the dynamics of school leadership. Because of his extensive field development experience in Ontario, the Northwest Territories, Sweden, Hong Kong, and Australia, his work reflects a strong practitioner orientation.
Dr. Begley can be reached at pbegley@oise.utoronto.ca
Since 1992, Jill Johnson has been the Behavioral Science counselor in the Environmental Sciences program at the University of Guelph. She is currently a doctoral student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
She is a past member of the NACADA board as Canadian representative and the 2001 National Conference Chair in Ottawa. She is also the incoming Science and Engineering Commission Chair.
