The work of educational leaders depends on relationships with people--faculty and staff members, students, other administrators, parents, and community members. This book presents a new way of viewing leadership: how to become person-centered leaders. Rather than relying on outdated ways of managing schools, principals and other leaders must take up the challenge of paying attention to the people issues of the school. Through many examples, the authors show how school leaders must * consciously seek the appropriate type of data to respond to; * increase their capacity for empathy; * develop healthy personal self-concepts; and * learn how to develop healthy self-concepts in others, both students and teachers. School leaders also should be committed to a broad purpose for schooling, should be informed about how their beliefs and behavior influence the organization of the school, and should be able to participate in interactions with authenticity. They also must be able to help create authenticity in their school organizations. In these ways, school leaders will create schools that are learning organizations for everyone. Universities that prepare future school leaders should spend more time developing leaders who are person centered in their approach to leading schools. This new way of thinking will require leader preparation programs to change their priorities for curriculum, academic activities, and field experiences.

The work of educational leaders depends on relationships with people--faculty and staff members, students, other administrators, parents, and community members. This book presents a new way of viewing leadership: how to become person-centered leaders. Rather than relying on outdated ways of managing schools, principals and other leaders must take up the challenge of paying attention to the people issues of the school. Through many examples, the authors show how school leaders must * consciously seek the appropriate type of data to respond to; * increase their capacity for empathy; * develop healthy personal self-concepts; and * learn how to develop healthy self-concepts in others, both students and teachers. School leaders also should be committed to a broad purpose for schooling, should be informed about how their beliefs and behavior influence the organization of the school, and should be able to participate in interactions with authenticity. They also must be able to help create authenticity in their school organizations. In these ways, school leaders will create schools that are learning organizations for everyone. Universities that prepare future school leaders should spend more time developing leaders who are person centered in their approach to leading schools. This new way of thinking will require leader preparation programs to change their priorities for curriculum, academic activities, and field experiences. Note: This product listing is for the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of the book.

The principal’s role is increasingly understood as a critical lever for school improvement. Yet the job can be a solitary one, offering few opportunities to reflect with colleagues. What does it take to manage the work of continuous improvement—to push staff members constantly to operate outside their comfort zones? What dilemmas and challenges must principals confront? How can school leaders learn from their mistakes and move forward? In Becoming a School Principal, Sarah E. Fiarman describes her first few years as a school principal committed to enacting a powerful vision of leading and learning. Drawing thoughtfully on the literature of school reform and change leadership, Fiarman discusses a wide range of topics, including empowering teachers, building trust, addressing racial and economic inequities, and supporting a culture of continuous learning, as well as thornier issues such as learning to use authority skillfully, dealing with resistance, and managing supervision and evaluation. The book addresses common challenges and highlights missteps as well as successes. A contributing author to several leading books on school reform and instructional improvement, Fiarman engages readers in a lively, frank, and revealing conversation about building the vision and capacity to provide effective instruction for all students and the intensely personal process of learning to lead.

This guide to the 21 leadership responsibilities that influence student achievement will help school leaders focus on changes that really make a difference.

Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.

Schools today face a crisis of relevance. Issues that people everywhere face—climate change, disease, hunger—require interdisciplinary solutions. Yet schools are still predominately organized by single-subject courses and narrowly focused high-stakes tests. By contrast, our students need to develop a range of academic, social, and emotional competencies to solve issues that transcend national borders; live peacefully among neighbors in a culturally, politically, racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse society; and thrive in a global, knowledge-based economy. Youth and adults alike know this; it's time for schools to catch up. Global competence—the set of dispositions, knowledge, and skills needed to live and work in a diverse, global society—helps educators balance social-emotional and academic learning goals. To that end, school leaders play a critical role in designing and scaling relevant global learning experiences for both students and teachers. Becoming a Globally Competent School Leader details how school leaders can implement change by aligning aspirational initiatives to existing ones, generating will across school stakeholders, wrangling resources, and creating capacity. This book offers a holistic approach to school leadership, one that grounds education in the complexities of the real world and aims to prepare all students to understand, engage with, and influence what happens in that interconnected world.

A practical guide for school leaders and managers seeking concrete strategies for professional improvement Leading a learning community is a challenging endeavor that rewards those who build social-emotional and adaptive leadership competencies. In The Noble School Leader, veteran school leader and leadership coach Matthew Taylor delivers an inspiring and enlightening exploration of the mindsets that support leaders to thrive, as well as those that just get in the way. It is a field guide to creating learning conditions that make transformative growth happen in schools. In this book, readers will: Uncover the most common internal obstacles that hold all school leaders back, from teacher leaders to superintendents Apply the core domains of emotional intelligence and create personal growth plans using the invaluable 5 Square tool Surface core values and drivers that shift mindsets and behaviors Set goals and plans for challenging leadership moments Written for school leaders and managers seeking concrete techniques for building social-emotional and adaptive leadership competencies, The Noble School Leader is also an indispensable resource for any K-12 teacher, administrator, or professor with an interest in education and emotional intelligence.