Creating A Culture Of Support For Teacher Leaders

Within the pages of this book you will meet six, K-12, practicing, public school administrators, and two university instructors who give concise study-and-practice guidance on two aims; 1) to build the awareness and capabilities to become a lead professional for democratic ways of living, and 2) to develop the school culture needed to support this teacher leadership. Teacher leadership is not in addition to the many initiatives administrators face each day. Rather, you will read stories about teacher leadership incorporated into the initiatives that already exist. By distributing leadership, administrators organically utilize the gifts and talents that individual teachers already possess defying prescripted roles and specific job descriptions. A key feature in this text is its problem-solving orientation, and the interplay among teaching/learning/leading research that raises critical questions for professionals ready to understand the nuances of educational growth in societies with democratic ideals. In spite of the political demands for efficiency and accountability, six administrators worked with teacher leaders in different contexts to develop and exercise the wisdom, which honors the democratic ideals upon which our society was built.

With five new case studies, this revised edition shows principals and staff developers how to collaborate with teachers in fostering, developing, and supporting teacher leadership.

Teacher leadership holds great promise for improving the quality of teaching and ensuring student success. But for co-performance of leadership to be effective, teachers and principals need to lead in sync.Leadership coach Jill Harrison Berg guides educators through the process of creating a shared vision for student success and effective teaching, developing a mutual understanding of each person's role in achieving that vision, establishing a schoolwide culture of teacher leadership, and building the trust needed to bring it all together. Leading In Sync: Teacher Leaders and Principals Working Together for Student Learning provides principals, assistant principals, coaches, department leaders, grade-level and content team leaders, mentors, professional development leaders, and in fact all teachers with the strategies and tools needed to: * Examine their own thinking about what constitutes quality teaching. * Tap faculty members who are already leading. * Identify who has the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for particular leadership roles. * Support leadership collaboration through efficient, effective communication. * Develop trust within the school community. Berg offers thought-provoking context and reflection questions so that educators can examine their own unique settings; real-world examples of teachers and principals co-performing leadership to improve student success; and dozens of strategies, tools, and templates to facilitate leading in sync.

Discover the secrets of successful teacher leadership! Whether you’re a teacher who’s ready to take on new roles or an administrator looking to develop strong leaders, this content-driven handbook is here to help you make distributed school leadership a reality. Inside you’ll find specific how-tos for the essential skills teacher leaders need most: running meetings, teaching colleagues, providing feedback, conducting needs assessments, delivering effective professional development, resolving conflicts, employing technology, and more. The book features: Well-tested content and activities Reflective writing prompts Scenarios for discussion Self-evaluations Two companion guides: one for teachers, and one for administrators

Here is the ideal handbook for current and aspiring elementary and secondary educators and leaders, teacher-leaders, and school leaders. In it, the authors have provided a wealth of ready-to-use information and suggestions on the roles of principals as leaders of leaders; the roles of teacher-leaders as they lead; the culture in which teacher-leaders emerge, develop, and are supported; and the function of building principals as catalysts for and champions of this supportive, constructive environment. Who are teacher-leaders, how does one become a teacher-leader, and what works to overcome the barriers along the way? How do educators share leadership and build collective efficacy? How does one make that teacher-leader paradigm shift? What do teacher-leaders need to learn about standards, development programs, and sustainability, and how do they go about learning it? These questions and many more are answered in this practical book that shows clearly how to break down the old “us” versus “the” mentality and build and sustain a school culture of distributive leadership, trust, and collective mindfulness.

Starr Sackstein's insight will help you make the best decisions for yourself and those you serve, whether you have already made the move into leadership or are wondering whether a role in administration is right for you . In this honest and practical guide, Sackstein prompts you to reflect as you stretch for personal and professional growth.

While most educators believe working in teams is valuable, not all team efforts lead to instructional improvement. Through richly detailed case studies The Power of Teacher Teams demonstrates how schools can transform their teams into more effective learning communities that foster teacher leadership. The benefits of successful teacher teams include: improved performance for both teachers and students; meaningful professional development; group adoption of a new curriculum; shared insights into student work; better classroom management; support for new teachers; new roles for teacher leaders; and opportuniteis for mentor support.School leaders will find guidelines, methods, and concrete steps for building and sustaining effective teacher teams. Also included is a DVD with video case studies and one CD with reproducibles. The most important reason for building teacher teams is to enhance student learning through improved instruction, and that story is at the heart of this book.

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.

This book explores how school leaders—both formal and informal—can create a supportive culture that leverages teamwork and empowers teachers to become leaders. By focusing on three foundational principles—empowerment, collegiality, and risk taking—schools can develop and enhance educators' capacity for success. With this practical resource, you will learn intentional and actionable strategies that empower participation in leadership at all levels through peer observation and team action planning. The book’s chapters explore how to create systems that support trusting relationships, inspire distributed leadership, provide a vehicle for teachers to learn from each other and take risks, and develop informal and formal teacher leaders. This book provides a positive and proactive approach to collaborative school leadership that will invigorate your school community to work together more effectively for improved student outcomes. Rich reflection questions in each chapter help readers conceptualize the information presented and take actionable steps toward improvement Additional tools are available online for easy download here: www.routledge.com/9781032040554.

This book shows how school leaders at all levels – from the most senior manager to the classroom teacher – can help to build learning communities through collaborating and negotiating with their colleagues, students and students’ parents and carers, as well as with external agencies and local communities, to sustain and develop the enjoyment of successful learning among the members of a school. It looks at how positive cultures can be constructed that support inclusive and exciting teaching, enthusiastic teachers and engaged students, parents and carers. Drawing on research, the book examines topics such as the nature of leadership, especially distributed and teacher leadership; the politics of education management; the construction of inclusive cultures in schools; school improvement; and the construction of collaborative and inclusive work groups. It uses a range of critical perspectives to examine processes of change and the relationships of people in school communities to each other and to their social, economic and policy contexts. The book argues that it is essential to develop inclusive education in order to promote student engagement, social justice and equity within formal education. Understanding Educational Leadership is key reading for teachers, headteachers, school leaders, policy makers, Education students and practitioners, and others who have an interest in improving schooling.