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term two 2010
eDscapes professional conference 2011
eDscapes’ themes are leadership, engagement and professional activism. Join us in Wellington, 18-20 April, next year and hear keynotes from Ben Levin, Judyth Sachs and Christine Richmond.
Each term the PIU will preview one conference theme – this term it’s leadership for learning…
Preview of Ben Levin's thoughts on leadership for change in education
Ben Levin talks about the need for overarching strategy and for collaboration for the public good that is education. In this article “Reform without (much) rancor” Ben argues that effective change can be implemented within schools (as opposed to being enforced on them) and outlines the theory of change used successfully in Ontario.
Reform without (much) rancor [PDF 15 pages]
Ben Levin writes about “Building student voice for school improvement” here in a chapter describing work done in Manitoba to examine the role of student voice in leading change in schools.
Building student voice for school Improvement [MSWord 16 pages]
More of Ben Levin’s writing can be found at the University of Toronto website - Department of theory and policy studies in Education
Student voice and curriculum development in Aotearoa
Leadership for learning is about collaboration and inclusion, as well as direction-setting and vision.
NZCER offers new research findings from its FACE programme, about how curriculum planning can be enhanced through thoughtful utilisation of student voice – this is shared leadership for 21st century teaching and learning. The article is called “Better than a professional? Students as co-contributors to educational design”
What is shared leadership, anyway?
This summary piece examines the extent to which distributed (or shared) leadership impacts on teaching and learning outcomes in schools, and offers seven characteristics of effective leadership.
Seven strong claims about successful school leadership [PDF 20 pages]
The role of leaders in building professional learning communities
“Authoritative leadership, action learning and student accomplishment” by Stephen Dinham describes different types of leadership and the role of authoritative leadership in the development of professional learning communities in schools.
Authoritative leadership, action learning and student accomplishment [PDF 8 pages]
See also the NZ leadership BES: BES (Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis) Programme
Teaching, leadership and school culture
The Danish experience of moving towards collaborative cross-curricular teaching teams in senior secondary schools. This article makes some observations and poses some questions about the ways in which this new model is affecting teachers and school cultures.
Teaching, leadership and school culture ? from loose to tight couplings
Reflective questions for Professional Learning Groups (PLGs)…
Ben Levin argues that ‘students are the producers of school outcomes, so their involvement is fundamental to all improvement.’ How does that statement relate to: our school now/in the future; to my classroom teaching now/in the future?
Dinham argues that ‘authoritative leaders rely on… influence more than overt control… and… balance a high degree of responsiveness with a high degree of demandingness.’ What does that look like? Have people experienced examples of authoritative leadership in relation to Professional Learning & Development (PLD)? What are some positives and negatives around Dinham’s findings?
Is it necessary for people to change the way they think before they change the way they act? Is it sometimes easier to make people change the way they act and see if that changes the way they think? What are the implications for teacher PLD in your school?
One of the tensions identified in the FACE project research is that ‘authentic student participation should lead to action, but… this change is likely to be gradual… and sometimes nonexistent.’ They pose this question: ‘How do we ensure that there are good feedback processes… so that students can hear about any long-term changes that their work might have fed into?’
The Danish researchers found that moving teachers into cross-curricular teams led to increased conflict (p.9) and challenged teachers’ individual autonomy (p.10). Consider the risks and benefits that might arise from this type of structural change.
How does/might your school deal with the types of ‘internal and external pressures’ described in these change articles, particularly in relation to distributed leadership?
Roger Baldwin explores professional learning groups (PLGs) in secondary schools and asks – “what makes them effective?” – and offers a 12-point PLG development profile.
Professional learning groups in secondary schools: What makes them effective? [MSWord 14 pages]
The ministry also engage with this in their page called: “What is a professional learning community?”
“Final word strategy” can be used to encourage shared thinking & focused discussion:
- Number off 1, 2, 3 etc.
- Each person has a minute or two to write down their thoughts regarding the main ideas that stand out as interesting, important or in some way significant from the reading or activity.
- The first person then shares one of their ideas. The others do not comment or share their thinking about it at this stage.
- Each member then comments in round robin order about the item, with no cross talk.
- When all have commented, the original person who made the statement gets the final word. They paraphrase back the key ideas or trends heard, and then share their thinking about why they chose it.
- Repeat the process until all have had a turn.
- After each has had a turn, the group then agrees on a main idea, or common understanding (which can be reported back to a wider group if needed).
Follow current research, curriculum updates and education news at www.twitter.com @PPTAWeb, @edscapes, @NZCERPress, @NZCER, @nzcurriculum, @TeachersTV, @shiftingthinkng, @aeusa, @teachersupport, @NZEInfo, @eduint, @Te_Ara…
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