Describes how leadership is changing the world of education on a scale that can best be described as transformation. Such leadership differs in important ways from what has been expected in the past, it requires a change in role at all levels, and shiftsin the balance.
The Self-Transforming School combines an insightful meta-analysis of factors contributing to the success of schools, and an examination of powerful mega-trends that are shaping developments in education, to offer the first mega-analysis in education policy and practice. The book spans fifty years, beginning with Caldwell and Spinks’ ground-breaking work The Self-Managing School which advocated innovative approaches that are now accepted as preferred practice, before offering a prognosis and plan for the future. The book argues that all schools in all settings can secure success for all students in an era where society and the economy are changing constantly and dramatically. Although schools find some support in local and global networks, externally designed re-structuring, re-staffing, or command-and-control direction isn’t sufficient to achieve transformation. Instead of replicating particular approaches to achieve modest improvement, leadership of the highest quality needs to be deeply embedded in schools and their systems. Caldwell and Spinks propose three important points that need to be taken into consideration: -schools are often at different stages of self-transformation -self-transformation requires a high level of professionalism, and must include teacher education and on-going professional development -funding is critically important, and efforts to build a capacity for self-transformation are constrained by what is available. The book gives particular attention to developments in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Shanghai, Singapore and the United States. It will be of key interest to school leaders, policy makers, and academics and postgraduate students engaged in research on equity, student performance in highly disadvantaged settings and education policy.
This text provides an analysis of the efforts to establish systems of self-managing schools around the world. The core of this book is the description of the transformation of the education system in the state of Victoria, Australia, from dependence in a highly centralized and bureaucratized structure to one that values local decision making and the creation of a system of self-managing schools. The text goes on to show how these and similar programmes in other nations could lay the foundations for similar reform. The authors propose that there must be changes in the role of key stakeholders, including government, community and profession; traditional approaches must be challenged and new ways to fund schools to be canvassed.
The Autonomy Premium is a concise response to the popular and often loosely defined debate about whether higher levels of student achievement may flow from autonomy in school management and professional practice.
This timely book takes up the challenge of maintaining programs in the arts in the face of unrelenting pressure from two directions; the increasing focus on literacy and numeracy in schools, teamed with the cut-backs in public funding that often affect the arts most severely. Drawing on the wealth of evidence already available on the impact of the
Raising the Stakes provides an understanding of the breadth of resources that are needed in order to provide a quality education to all students so that every individual, organisation and institution can become a stakeholder in the enterprise. This comprehensive book draws on best practice in several countries to show how resources can be allocated to help achieve high expectations for all schools. The book demonstrates how schools can move from satisfaction with improvement to accepting the challenge to transform, identifying and exploring the need to align four kinds of resources: intellectual capital, that is, the knowledge and skill of talented professionals social capital, being support in the form of cash, expertise and advocacy drawn from a range of individuals, organisations, agencies and institutions in the broader community financial capital, which must be carefully targeted to ensure that these resources are aligned and focused on priorities for learning; and finally spiritual capital, which can be viewed in a religious sense or in terms of the culture and values that bring coherence and unity to these endeavours. The authors also outline a Student-Focused Planning Model with particular attention to the deployment of resources to support each student and embracing the notion of personalising learning. Practitioners and researchers reading this book will be inspired to work more closely in networking knowledge about how ‘high quality’ and ‘high equity’ can be achieved. Raising the Stakes is essential reading for those with the responsibility of ensuring that resources are acquired and allocated to achieve the best possible outcomes for students.
The broad approach of local management of schools or self-managing schools is now widely accepted. In Britain, there is even consensus between the three major political parties that the approach should be continued and extended. A key issue, though, is what comes next for self- managing schools? Drawing on their work and experience in research consultancy, Caldwell and Spinks examine the way in which education is changing, and outline what is desirable and workable for schools today, with clear guidelines for policy-makers and practitioners. The focus is specifically on the school, the classroom, the student, and the future of learning in society. Practitioners will find this book immediately accessible and useful.
Originally published in 1989. The pursuit of excellence is much discussed with reference to education, but the question remains, ’How can a school become excellent?’ This book demonstrates that excellence depends on good management which, in turn, depends not only on a clear understanding of good management theory, but on the ability to translate theory into practice. The authors offer profound insights into three crucial areas of leadership: culture, structure, and public accountability. Drawing on areas outside education, such as advertising and business, they discuss many innovations that are already current - flexitime, the vertical curriculum, mastery learning, community support - and depict ways in which these can be brought together into a total educational experience. More strikingly, however, they look ahead, examining the potential changes to our concept of schooling: for instance those brought about by the growth of information technology. This book emphasises that at the heart of outstanding schooling are visionary leadership, a clear sense of purpose, and creatively conceived and flexible support structures.
This work is a sequel to The Self-Managing Schooland deals with leadership responsibilities on two levels - as head of a school responsible for local management and as a director in a Local Education Authority responsible, in turn, for the.
It is time for a new narrative on schools in Australia. The Alignment Premium proposes its major features. Analysis of approaches in 13 countries, including most of the world's top-performers, provides 15 benchmarks against which Australia's performance is assessed. Findings include:
A book on the good practise of mentoring which considers the roles of the mentor-mentee in changing workplaces affected by external forces including technology, the economy and the dismantling of middle- management structures and offers guidelines for those who seek good practise.
Re-imagining Educational Leadership will challenge policymakers at all levels to re-imagine educational leadership. It will help reshape educational leadership in school systems around the world at a time when policymakers seem to be losing faith in what schools can accomplish.
First published in 1988. This book concerns one of today’s key educational issues: how schools can be encouraged to develop their own management skills. The present British government has introduced legislation for schools to manage their own budgets and to enable schools to opt out of LEA control and become independently run and financed by central government. In other countries such as Australia, Canada, the Scandinavian countries and also in some parts of the United States, the devolution of budgeting and management power to schools and the decentralisation of educational administration are being pursued with vigour.
Expectations have been raised in Australia and comparable countries for an 'education revolution' that will secure success for all students in all settings. Such a revolution must ensure the alignment of educational outcomes, the skills required for a strong economy, and the needs of a harmonious society. Why not the Best Schools?
It is time for a new narrative on schools in Australia. The Alignment Premium proposes its major features. Analysis of approaches in 13 countries, including most of the world's top-performers, provides 15 benchmarks against which Australia's performance is assessed. Findings include: - Alignment among different levels of government may be commendable in some respects but there is much that is coercive, contrived, dysfunctional or illusory; - While achieving a top-ten ranking will depend on what occurs in schools, attention should shift to how systems are adapting to support all schools to become as good as Australia's best; - Lack of trust and inertia are serious constraints on efforts to transform Australia's schools. Programs for professional learning of teachers and school leaders are impressive when assessed against international benchmarks. These should be the top priority. Building on findings in The Autonomy Premium, the focus should be on professional autonomy. The challenge is to design a system in which all those who work in or for schools are fully professional. This challenge extends to early childhood and innovative approaches to polytechnic education. The Alignment Premium is essential reading for policymakers, school leaders and researchers who wish to write the new narrative.
Much has been written about globalization and the challenge of preparing young people for the new world of work and life in times of complexity and continuous change. However, few works have examined how globalization has and will continue to shape education in the East. This volume discusses education within the context of globalization and examines what is occurring in schools and systems of education in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, and Australia. Closer examination of recent developments and current trends reveal the same turbulence and a range of common issues in areas such as assessment, curriculum, leadership, management of change, pedagogy, policy, professional capacity and technology. This volume demonstrates the commonalities and differences and offers tremendous insight into the way things are done in places where student achievement is high but there is also a sense of urgency in continuing an agenda of change.
Why not the best schools is drawn from a major research project undertaken by Brain Caldwell and Jessica Harris involving studies of successful schools in six countries (Finland, Wales, Australia, USA, China, England). It compares a total of 30 schools and examines the conditions necessary for schools anywhere to improve and attain high standard for students."--Publisher's website.
“Time stopped, I heard nothing, but felt the recoil, forcing my hand to jerk back. I watched the bullet and sensed it travel through her head and then the sound as it exited, made everything crystal clear. I must have closed my eyes, because I never saw any blood as her head didn't seem to budge. It was surreal. Then, being so close, the matter from her brain, head and skull splattered onto my face. I can recall, not thinking, taking my tongue licking the blood from my face and using the sleeve of my hoodie to wipe off the rest. At that moment I realized I crossed over to the dark side.” -Glaze suspected of killing of a rookie cop, that enraged the country and started police drug raids and investigations throughout America, tells the real facts behind the killing of Edward Byrnes. -Beyond Lucky is a story of extraordinary violence, brutality and redemption. Crack, money, murder and Brian “Glaze” Gibbs became synonymous to local and federal law enforcement agencies. Brian admits he was guided by a distorted logic and the peer pressure of the inner city and the desire to be Fly: shakin, money makin and stylin’. -From the bloody streets of New York to being singled out by Joe Biden’s 1996 senate subcommittee investigating the effectiveness of the Witness Protection Program. During that hearing the US Government admitted it had given him the deal, believing he was responsible for fifty murders, and was allowed to keep thirty-five million dollars from his trade as a drug lord. -"Glaze" describes in great detail how despite being raised by a loving mother and being a church going child he became a major drug lord. He started out as an enforcer for one of the most notorious drug lords and eventually became so bloodthirsty that his mentor and accomplices had to restrain him. -What makes Brian's story so special is that individuals such as Leslie Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General, who fought to get him into the Witness Protection program after Glaze confessed to multiple murders, attempted murders and drug trafficking. -Beyond Lucky! How does a man like Brian "Glaze" Gibbs roll the dice and escape a death sentence, or multiple life sentences, and survived the New York City drug wars that resulted in hundreds of people being killed – too many of them by him. He has been described as the murderer with a big heart and endless charisma. -After serving only eight years and eight months for his crimes, he was given a new identity and unbeknownst to his neighbors – he is now a murderer in their midst. -It's easy for Brian to say he has changed, been redeemed, but to have it confirmed by key individuals whom he is still in contact with such as: Joe Ponzi, Chief Investigator for the New York State District Attorney's Office and Leslie Caldwell, Assistant United State Attorney, FBI agents Richard Martinez and David Higgins who originally were Glaze's nemesis, fought to get him one more chance at life. Glaze, when asked why he was so fortunate, he responded, “Well, I wonder myself, but I'm not one to second guess God." -Brian "Glaze" Gibbs is the blueprint for every drug lord that that grew up in York City. A story any wannabe criminal, drug dealer should read before hitting "The Street" wanting to make $40,000 a day.
Offers a model for self-management based on research in effective schools. Guidelines and illustrations based on successful adoption are offered throughout. The aim is quality in education, with the beneficiary being the pupil.
“We are not worth more, they are not worth less.” This is the mantra of S. Brian Willson and the theme that runs throughout his compelling psycho-historical memoir. Willson’s story begins in small-town, rural America, where he grew up as a “Commie-hating, baseball-loving Baptist,” moves through life-changing experiences in Viet Nam, Nicaragua and elsewhere, and culminates with his commitment to a localized, sustainable lifestyle. In telling his story, Willson provides numerous examples of the types of personal, risk-taking, nonviolent actions he and others have taken in attempts to educate and effect political change: tax refusal—which requires simplification of one’s lifestyle; fasting—done publicly in strategic political and/or therapeutic spiritual contexts; and obstruction tactics—strategically placing one’s body in the way of “business as usual.” It was such actions that thrust Brian Willson into the public eye in the mid-’80s, first as a participant in a high-profile, water-only “Veterans Fast for Life” against the Contra war being waged by his government in Nicaragua. Then, on a fateful day in September 1987, the world watched in horror as Willson was run over by a U.S. government munitions train during a nonviolent blocking action in which he expected to be removed from the tracks and arrested. Losing his legs only strengthened Willson’s identity with millions of unnamed victims of U.S. policy around the world. He provides details of his travels to countries in Latin America and the Middle East and bears witness to the harm done to poor people as well as to the environment by the steamroller of U.S. imperialism. These heart-rending accounts are offered side by side with inspirational stories of nonviolent struggle and the survival of resilient communities Willson’s expanding consciousness also uncovers injustices within his own country, including insights gained through his study and service within the U.S. criminal justice system and personal experiences addressing racial injustices. He discusses coming to terms with his identity as a Viet Nam veteran and the subsequent service he provides to others as director of a veterans outreach center in New England. He draws much inspiration from friends he encounters along the way as he finds himself continually drawn to the path leading to a simpler life that seeks to “do no harm.&rdquo Throughout his personal journey Willson struggles with the question, “Why was it so easy for me, a ’good’ man, to follow orders to travel 9,000 miles from home to participate in killing people who clearly were not a threat to me or any of my fellow citizens?” He eventually comes to the realization that the “American Way of Life” is AWOL from humanity, and that the only way to recover our humanity is by changing our consciousness, one individual at a time, while striving for collective cultural changes toward “less and local.” Thus, Willson offers up his personal story as a metaphorical map for anyone who feels the need to be liberated from the American Way of Life—a guidebook for anyone called by conscience to question continued obedience to vertical power structures while longing to reconnect with the human archetypes of cooperation, equity, mutual respect and empathy.
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