The Nine Pillars of Great Schools

The Nine Pillars of Great Schools
Author: Damian McBeath
Publisher: John Catt
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2018-11-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1398383813

What makes a school great? Studies into good schools are numerous, but there has been much less written about great schools. The former are more common, but with success comes complacency; good is the enemy of great. In 2009 the London Leadership Strategy established the Going for Great programme, creating a forum for leaders of schools rated `outstanding' by Ofsted. This collaboration sought to identify and share best practice; based on their case studies, school-to-school visits, the research literature and through seminar, debates and discussions, a model of great schooling has emerged.This publication seeks to explore in depth the Nine Pillars of Greatness written by the course leaders of the Going for Great programme. It considers the range of characteristics that define great schooling, from a school's values and ethos, leadership and teaching to its curriculum, approach to professional development, learning community and ongoing self-evaluation.Supported by a wealth of academic pedagogical texts and written by three authors who have spent their lives in education, The Nine Pillars of Great Schools examines the commonalities between the most successful institutions and demonstrates how to transform a good school into a great school.

School Leadership and Education System Reform

School Leadership and Education System Reform
Author: Toby Greany
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2021-08-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1350173533

How can school leaders shape organisations that offer consistently high quality, rounded and equitable education in the context of rapid change? How can wider education systems support and encourage all schools to succeed in this way? What are the challenges and opportunities involved? What can we learn from existing evidence and research? School Leadership and Education System Reform considers the ways in which school leadership and its practice has changed and developed in response to a rapidly changing educational context over the last decade. This new edition is substantially revised and updated, with ten completely new chapters. It includes contributions from a range of leading thinkers and researchers in the field of educational leadership and management. Theoretically and conceptually informed, the contributors draw on recent empirical research studies into leadership, learning and system reform in England and more widely to explore the key issues for contemporary school leadership and management in high-autonomy-high-accountability systems. New chapters look at: · System governance and lateral accountability in 'self-improving' school systems · Leading curriculum development and accelerating progress for disadvantaged children in schools · Effective deployment of teaching assistants/leadership for inclusion · School collaboration, partnerships and 'system leadership' · Securing improvement at scale, across multiple schools and across localities · New conceptions of leadership, including ethical and invitational leadership School Leadership and Education System Reform provides accessible but research and theory-informed chapters, each of which includes summaries and suggestions for further reading.

Self-Improving Schools: The Journey to Excellence

Self-Improving Schools: The Journey to Excellence
Author: Roy Blatchford
Publisher: John Catt
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2016-03-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1398383333

* Can a school-led system truly become self-improving? * What is the difference between good and great schools? * Who should inspect and regulate? * How should local authorities change? * Is the landscape ahead one of all schools in partnerships? The English schools' system is at a crossroads. This landmark collection of essays brings together some of the country's leading education thinkers and practitioners. Their polemic is intended to help teachers, school leaders, governors, researchers and policy makers think deeply about future directions. 'As a Minister, I would ask which organisation was responsible for resolving a particular problem in education, only to be told: 'Don't worry, Minister - it's no longer the DFE. That is now a responsibility of the School-Led System. They will be delivering it.' Often, when you probed a little deeper, you discovered that the school-led system was nowhere near as well formed and ever present as some Ministers and senior civil servants liked to think.' David Laws 'This is a time of great possibility. Teachers are attempting to do extraordinary things. If we had more courage to shape our schools around what we believe to be a good education, then we could make life so much better not just for teachers but for the students we serve.' Peter Hyman 'For a self-improving system to be truly successful and to have a significant impact, it requires the highest performing schools to be outward reaching and to establish deep partnerships.' Rachel Macfarlane 'A self-improving school system must not become a self-regarding or, worse, a self-protecting school system. The role of external challenge is key to this.' Russell Hobby

The A-Z of Diversity & Inclusion

The A-Z of Diversity & Inclusion
Author: Rachel Macfarlane
Publisher: John Catt
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2024-05-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1036006158

The A-Z of Diversity and Inclusion is a powerful blend of advice, reflection and provocation on these vital topics, organised around the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Great educators recognise how diversity enriches their organisation. They have an ambition for every learner (adult and child) to be seen, represented and included, for their needs to be met and any barriers they are experiencing to be understood, tackled and overcome. To achieve this requires dogged determination, relentless and forensic focus and unwavering optimism and energy. Inclusive educators quite literally change lives.

What Works in School Leadership?

What Works in School Leadership?
Author: Linet Arthur
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2024-10-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0429522746

The key purpose of school leadership is to improve learning. What Works in School Leadership? examines research evidence and leadership models that focus on learning and provides resources that will help readers to understand their school’s culture and develop strategies to change and improve their schools. It introduces and explains contemporary research, leadership theories and real-world examples to identify what works (and doesn’t work) in school leadership. Recognising that leadership occurs at all levels in schools, this book addresses factors that underpin successful distributed, middle and team leadership. Chapters identify how leaders can effectively recruit, retain and motivate their staff, as well as the ways in which professional development can be supported. Key aspects of inclusive leadership that address diversity and equity are also considered in depth. Each school is unique and there is no magic formula that will guarantee instant results in every school; with this in mind, What Works in School Leadership? provides readers with a range of research evidence and resources to enable them to select strategies that will create a positive learning environment for staff and pupils at their own school. This is essential reading for school leaders, those aspiring to leadership and anyone studying or researching school leadership.

Obstetrics for Schools

Obstetrics for Schools
Author: Rachel Macfarlane
Publisher: Crown House Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-04-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1785835653

In Obstetrics for Schools: A guide to eliminating failure and ensuring the safe delivery of all learners, Rachel Macfarlane presents a powerful manifesto for school leaders and teachers on how they can bridge the advantage gap and deliver positive outcomes for all pupils. In most parts of the world, the death of a baby in childbirth is now a rare tragedy rather than a common occurrence - and it would be considered shocking for medical staff to accept a significant infant fatality rate. It's also inconceivable that a hospital would have a successful delivery target much below 100%. How could anything else be acceptable in this day and age? Yet there is an expectation, and acceptance, of 'baked in' educational failure for around a third of 16-year-olds in UK schools each year. Such outcomes need addressing, and this book does just that. In Obstetrics for Schools, Rachel Macfarlane draws on her experience as a head teacher and system leader to share a multitude of practical strategies for overcoming potential barriers to success, presenting case studies and examples of effective practice from schools across the country. The book illustrates an up-to-date and research-informed picture of the current state of the education system and offers sage guidance on how schools can do more for each and every student. In doing so, Rachel provides a range of fresh approaches to school provision which have been proven to have an impact in a variety of challenging contexts. Each chapter focuses on a key potential barrier to success and offers school leaders and practitioners a range of strategies to help dismantle them. The book also provides guidance on strategic planning, as well as a variety of ideas and inspiration for staff training. Suitable for school leaders and teachers in all phases, from early years to sixth form, and in both mainstream and special education.

Leverage Leadership

Leverage Leadership
Author: Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2012-06-06
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1118238923

Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Managing Director of Uncommon Schools) shows leaders how they can raise their schools to greatness by following a core set of principles. These seven principles, or "levers," allow for consistent, transformational, and replicable growth. With intentional focus on these areas, leaders will leverage much more learning from the same amount of time investment. Fundamentally, each of these seven levers answers the core questions of school leadership: What should an effective leader do, and how and when should they do it. Aimed at all levels of school leadership, the book is for any principal, superintendent, or educator who wants to be a transformational leader. The book includes 30 video clips of top-tier leaders in action. These videos bring great schools to you, and support a deeper understanding of both the components of success and how it looks as a whole. There are also many helpful rubrics, extensive professional development tools, calendars, and templates. Explores the core principles of effective leadership Author's charter school, North Star Academy in Newark, New Jersey, received the highest possible award given by the U.S. Department of Education; the National Blue Ribbon Print version includes an instructive DVD with 30 video clips to show how it looks in real life. E-book customers: please note that details on how to access the content from the DVD may be found in the e-book Table of Contents. Please see the section: "How to Access DVD Contents" Bambrick-Santoyo has trained more than 1,800 school leaders nationwide in his work at Uncommon Schools and is a recognized expert on transforming schools to achieve extraordinary results.

Sustaining Depth and Meaning in School Leadership

Sustaining Depth and Meaning in School Leadership
Author: Emil Jackson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2020-07-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000070042

Sustaining Depth and Meaning in School Leadership: Keeping Your Head concerns the emotional and psychological experience of school leadership—in particular, the felt experience of life as a headteacher. It describes the pressures and rewards of the role, together with some of the ways that school leaders successfully sustain and develop themselves and their teams in what has become an increasingly complex, challenging, and highly accountable role. This book explores the personal experience of leading schools. Part I provides an overview and analysis of current and historical trends in school leadership and offers some theoretical frameworks for making sense of these. Part II then offers psychodynamic approaches to supporting and developing school leaders and the impact that trends in executive education continue to have on this. Part III looks at approaches to school leadership development more generally, including team development; influences from the business world; the growth of mentoring and coaching as a leadership intervention; the design and evaluation of leadership development programmes; and a case study on whole-system development. The final word is given to ten serving headteachers and deputies and their leadership journeys. This range of chapters, concepts, and perspectives will support school leaders to maintain an emotional equilibrium while navigating the multilayered tightrope of intrapsychic, interpersonal, and organizational dynamics inherent in school life. Rooted in Jackson and Berkeley’s belief that school leaders are likely to be at their best when they find their own unique and authentic way of taking up their leadership role, this book is an accessible, supportive, and developmental contribution for all those involved in education leadership.

Pillars of the Republic

Pillars of the Republic
Author: Carl F. Kaestle
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2011-04-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 142993171X

Pillars of the Republic is a pioneering study of common-school development in the years before the Civil War. Public acceptance of state school systems, Kaestle argues, was encouraged by the people's commitment to republican government, by their trust in Protestant values, and by the development of capitalism. The author also examines the opposition to the Founding Fathers' educational ideas and shows what effects these had on our school system.