In this inspiring collection, 13 early childhood leaders take action to challenge and change inequitable educational practices in preschools and elementary schools. For them, educating for social justice is not an empty platitude. Steadfast and resolute, they turn rhetoric into reality as they guide early childhood teachers to teach for social justice innovatively and strategically. Through the voices of families, teachers, and the administrators themselves, each chapter shares ways that these leaders use the power entrusted in them to question and disrupt discriminatory and marginalizing practices that deny opportunities for some students while privileging others. The book includes insights, strategies, and resources that administrators can use to build confidence, knowledge, and skills as they invest in more equitable and just pre/schools. Book Features: Highlights the actions of administrators as they take a stand to transcend standardized approaches to teaching and learning, creating more equitable educational environments.Portrays strategies and resources used to engage teachers in critical examination of self and the institutions in which they work.Describes principles and practices that guide administrators as they support the development of culturally relevant practices and policies. Offers powerful ways early childhood administrators can approach inequitable mandates.Highlights the voices of families as they participate in and are impacted by the work of administrators. “Susi Long, Mariana Souto-Manning, and Vivian Vasquez, scholars with stellar reputations in the fields of early childhood education, critical literacy, and social justice education, have combined their considerable talents to edit a book that will serve as a beacon of hope for administrators, policymakers, and educators at all levels of learning and teaching.” —From the Foreword by Sonia Nieto, professor emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and bestselling author

Tap into everyday courage for extraordinary results The Courageous Leader presents a much-needed reminder for leaders everywhere: it takes courage. Courage is not just about heroic acts in grandiose situations—it's about everyday, solid-as-a-rock support and leadership that motivates, inspires, and delivers. It's about taking a risk on a great idea, and it's about seeing opportunities in the day-to-day. Courageous leaders aren't necessarily the bold "Navy SEALS" of the workplace; they're the everyday people who lead steadily through rough waters. They don't seek out discomfort, but accept it as part of the process when it occurs, and still deliver exceptional results. This book shows you how to tap into your courage reserves and build your steel. Real stories of everyday leaders show you how it's done, and provide a new lens for seeing real strength in adversity—and practicing it yourself. Tough situations do arise, but great leaders show courage every day. Keeping your strength in reserve for the big problems leaves you operating at less-than-full capacity the rest of the time—and your people deserve better. This book shows you how to exercise courage every day in small situations to build the unshakeable foundation of a great leader. Move beyond your comfort zone Develop your ability to focus through tough times Tap into your natural courage and hone your leadership ability Leverage your strength in situations large and small The more you exercise courage, the stronger it gets; this book shows you how to use it every day to more effectively navigate small challenges—when the big problems arise, you'll face them with The Courageous Leader.

Excellence Through Equity is an inspiring look at how real-world educators are creating schools where all students are able to thrive. In these schools, educators understand that equity is not about treating all children the same. They are deeply committed to ensuring that each student receives what he or she individually needs to develop their full potential and succeed. To help educators with what can at times be a difficult and challenging journey, Blankstein and Noguera frame the book with five guiding principles of Courageous Leadership: Getting to your core Making organizational meaning Ensuring constancy and consistency of purpose Facing the facts and your fears Building sustainable relationships. They further emphasize that the practices are grounded in three important areas of research that are too often disregarded: (1) child development, (2) neuroscience, and (3) environmental influences on child development and learning. You'll hear from Carol Corbett Burris, Michael Fullan, Marcus J. Newsome, Paul Reville, Susan Szachowicz, and other bold practitioners and visionary thinkers who share compelling and actionable ideas, strategies, and experiences for closing the achievement gap in your classrooms and school. Ensuring that all students receive an education that cultivates their talents and potential is in all our common interest. As Andy Hargreaves writes in the coda: "The opportunity for all Americans is to articulate and believe in an inspiring vision of educational change that is about what the next generation of America and Americans should become, not about a target or ranking that the nation should attain." From the Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu: "Letting go of a system of winners and losers in favor of what is proposed in this book is a courageous leap forward that we all must take together. Let this bold, practical book be a guide; and may you travel into this new exciting vista, in which every child can succeed."

The book you hold resonates with this conviction: that leaders such as you have the potential to be the most influential forces on planet Earth. Yours is the staggering responsibility and the matchless privilege of rallying believers and mobilizing their spiritual gifts in order to help people who are far from God become fully devoted followers of Christ. Life transformation and the eternal destinies of real people depend on the redemptive message entrusted to the local church. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to lead your church effectively so God’s message of hope can change the world? Then this book is for you. Courageous Leadership is Bill Hybels’ magnum opus, a book far too important to be written before its time. Only now, after nearly thirty years leading his own church from a handful of people with a burning vision into a globe-spanning kingdom force—only after almost three decades of victories and setbacks, of praying hard and risking big—is Hybels ready at last to share the lessons he has learned, and continues to learn, about Christian leadership. Too much is at stake for you not to maximize your spiritual gift of leadership, insists Hybels. In this passionate, powerful book, he unpacks the tools, tasks, and challenges of your calling. You’ll discover the power of vision and how to turn it into action. You’ll gain frontline insights for developing a kingdom dream team, discovering your leadership style, developing other leaders, making decisions, walking with God, embracing change, staying your God-given course, and much, much more. Drawing on his own richly varied life experiences, Hybels fleshes out vital principles with riveting firsthand stories. This is far more than another book on leadership strategies and techniques. You’ll find those topics in here, to be sure. But beyond them, you’ll find the very essence of one of today’s foremost Christian leaders—his fervent commitment to evangelism and discipleship and his zeal to inspire fellow church leaders even as he seeks to keep growing as a leader himself. If unchurched people matter to you . . . if you love seeing believers serve passionately with their spiritual gifts . . . if God’s heartbeat for the church is your heartbeat as well . . . then this book is a must. Courageous Leadership will convince you to lead with all your might, all your skill, and all your faith. And it will give you the tools to do just that.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.” Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.

In this inspiring collection, 13 early childhood leaders take action to challenge and change inequitable educational practices in preschools and elementary schools. For them, educating for social justice is not an empty platitude. Steadfast and resolute, they turn rhetoric into reality as they guide early childhood teachers to teach for social justice innovatively and strategically. Through the voices of families, teachers, and the administrators themselves, each chapter shares ways that these leaders use the power entrusted in them to question and disrupt discriminatory and marginalizing practices that deny opportunities for some students while privleging others. The book includes insights, strategies, and resources that administrators can use to build confidence, knowledge, and skills as they invest in more equitable and just pre/schools.

A decade after publication of his best-selling book, Barth returns to the schoolhouse. Drawing from a career committed to building schools rich in community, learning, and leadership, he shows how to accomplish the most difficult task of school reform-transforming a school's culture so that it will be hospitable to human learning. In an engaging conversational style, he suggests how school people can become the architects, engineers, and designers of their own schools-and of their own destinies.