ERIC Number: EJ1184682
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1745 -7823
EISSN: N/A
'Because the Ego Started to Grow Bigger than the Project Itself': A Case Study of Founder's Syndrome on an Educational Community of Practise
Ceaser, Donovon Keith
Ethnography and Education, v13 n4 p459-476 2018
In 2010 I worked at Green Shoots, a nonprofit service-learning urban farming school started by John Browne. Despite an openly egalitarian community of practise ethic, Browne used his leadership to create a hierarchy at the school that eventually led to a walk-out by staff in which he responded by outright firing them. Using the theory of founder's syndrome, or the tendency of a founder to subvert the aims of their organization, I examine Browne's leadership and how his attitude destroyed the community of practise at Green Shoots. Findings reveal a character profile of Browne as a charming and inspirational teacher who engaged in a dominating leadership that contradicted the community of practise's ideals, creating further contradictions which resulted in disrespected students, disillusioned staff, and a founder unable to take responsibility for his leadership. Finally, I discuss the importance of addressing the power of founders so that founder's syndrome does not impede the important work of educational nonprofits.
Descriptors: Case Studies, Communities of Practice, Nonprofit Organizations, Power Structure, Service Learning, Urban Areas, Agricultural Education, Leadership Styles, School Administration, Administrator Attitudes, Profiles, Teacher Student Relationship, Leadership Role, Teacher Dismissal, Environmental Education, Ethnography
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A