What does it take to have fearless schools? It starts with psychological safety-students, teachers, and leaders who know that mistakes are the source of learning, not shame or embarrassment. In order for great learning to take place, we first must build the trust and resilience needed to produce fearless students, teachers, and leaders-and ultimately create fearless schools. "If we are truly going to make schools inviting places for all students to come to and flourish, then the status quo, the 'normal, ' is not good enough. To build the trust, the collegiality, the aspirational expectations among educators for this to happen-we need to be fearless. Doug Reeves outlines the conditions for such fearlessness: not tolerating mediocrity, confronting reality over wishful thinking, listening and candor, and resilience and learning together from errors. Written with passion, this book invites you to develop the courage to create schools that are fearless such that all (educators and students) are improving, aspiring, and are part of a learning organization." -John Hattie, Emeritus Laureate Professor, Melbourne Graduate School of Education; Chair, Board of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership "In Fearless Schools, Dr. Reeves tackles an urgent issue facing our children and the staff members who work with them. Fear of the virus, fear of change, and even fear of interacting with others will create a critical need to address these fears, reduce anxiety, and generally tend to the social and emotional health of children and staff." -Chris Lee Nicastro, PhD, former Commissioner of Education, State of Missouri

Many urban educators live in fear: of their schools being labeled failures, of increasingly punitive sanctions, of loss of respect and livelihood. This fear pervades the entire school community, affecting the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of its members. The authors of this guide to transformation in urban schools are convinced that the key ingredient for school renewal is fearless leadership. Fearless leaders work in schools under-resourced and overburdened and serve disproportionately large numbers of children who live in poverty and face racism daily. They are ordinary educators committed to proving that demographics need not be destiny. This inspirational yet practical book will help you bridge the divide that separates urban students from their birthright of a high-quality education. You will learn how to * Adopt a leadership approach, consisting of affirmation, inspiration, and mediation (AIM), that will transform your school into a flourishing learning community. * Build a leadership team of important stakeholders--including students--that is committed to improvement. * Tap into the resources that already exist in your school and jettison institutional arrangements that prevent your school from becoming an enriching and creative community. * Create supports that enable teachers to nurture their students' potential to meet high standards and become self-actualized learners. Each chapter closes with reflections and activities that will help your leadership team produce its own roadmap for change. Succeeding in the tough landscape of urban schools requires more than just passion and a sense of urgency; it requires real skills. Aim High, Achieve More provides insights gleaned from real-world experiences that will enable you to create a successful, vibrant learning environment.

Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent—but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of “fitting in” and “going along” spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing. This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation. Explore the link between psychological safety and high performance Create a culture where it’s “safe” to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes Nurture the level of engagement and candor required in today’s knowledge economy Follow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization Shed the “yes-men” approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. The Fearless Organization helps you bring about this most critical transformation.

Students learn better when they aren’t afraid to take risks and make mistakes. In this book, teacher and popular blogger Joli Barker shows you how to make K-8 students fearless in the classroom so they can engage in deeper learning. You’ll discover how to abandon the notion of the teacher as the primary source of information, and instead create a classroom environment in which students can explore problems, test theories, and play games through curiosity, imagination, adaptability, and a passion for learning. Find out how to... Create fearless learning environments; Engage in fearless planning and lesson design; Use fearless grading and assessments; Teach fearless gamification; Develop fearless parent relations; and Get students to ask fearless questions. Throughout the book, you’ll find suggested activities for science, social studies, language arts, and math, as well as tools such as rubrics to assist you on your journey.

Schools need psychological safety, resilience, and trust now more than ever. These are the essential prerequisites of learning for both students and staff. If we are truly going to make schools inviting places where all students can flourish, then educators must be fearless as they build trust and set high expectations. In this book, Douglas Reeves outlines the conditions for such fearlessness, which include refusing to tolerate mediocrity, confronting reality, listening, being candid, and learning from mistakes. He also answers questions such as: • Why is trust so essential to learning? • What are some examples of fearless organizations characterized by high levels of trust? • How can schools support the emotional and mental health of students? Whether you’re an educator, administrator, school leader, policymaker, parent, or student, this book will help you move forward as a fearless school in a fearful environment.

Step out of Your Comfort Zone and Really Help Kids To meet the needs of today's learners, fearless leadership is required to support and empower the adults who work with these learners. Written to help leaders build a culture of learning and improve academic achievement for all students, this guide to recognizing and using strategies will encourage staff to work at their full potential, build trust, and strengthen collegiality. Readers will find - interviews and case studies to illustrate effective practice - strategies to help them move from traditional methodologies toward stronger transformational leadership - examples to ignite additional thinking to facilitate achievement for all students

"We can't do that in our school district." "I don't have time to add that to my curriculum." "We're fighting against impossible odds with these students." Sound familiar? School improvement can often feel like a losing battle, but it doesn't have to be. In this fully revised and updated second edition of The Learning Leader, Douglas B. Reeves helps leadership teams go beyond excuses to capitalize on their strengths, reduce their weaknesses, and reset their mindset and priorities to achieve unprecedented success. A critical key is recognizing student achievement as more than just a set of test scores. Reeves asserts that when leaders focus exclusively on results, they fail to measure and understand the importance of their own actions. He offers an alternative—the Leadership for Learning Framework, which helps leaders identify and distinguish among four different types of educators and provide more effective, tailored support to - "Lucky" educators, who achieve high results but don't understand how their actions influence achievement. - "Losing" educators, who achieve low results yet keep doing the same thing, expecting different outcomes. - "Learning" educators, who have not yet achieved the desired results but are working their way toward excellence. - "Leading" educators, who achieve high results and understand how their actions influence their success. Reeves stresses that effective leadership is neither a unitary skill nor a solitary activity. The Learning Leader helps leaders reconceptualize their roles in the school improvement process and motivate themselves and their colleagues to keep working to better serve their students.