Developing emerging leaders using professional learning conversations

Leadership in learning and teaching is a strategic priority for Australian universities, in that it is critical for improving the quality of higher education. Opportunities for academic staff to prepare for such leadership, especially during the early phases of their career, are not well embedded. This article reports on the implementation of a leadership development program for emerging leaders of learning and teaching in higher education that developed and utilised a professional learning conversation protocol. The results demonstrate that participating in the conversations had a range of positive outcomes for participants and the organisation in which the program was offered.     

The intersection of school context and teachers’ data use practice: Implications for an integrated approach to capacity building

The current emphasis on data is a powerful force behind educational reform strategies. Administrators and teachers are inundated with data and increased expectations for data-driven practices in an effort to drive school reform. This mixed method study examined teachers’ experiences in a pilot professional development program to enhance data literacy and data use practices among nine grade-level elementary and middle school teacher teams in a single school district. Pre, post and follow-up surveys of the 28 teacher participants revealed promising outcomes of the professional development program. Significant increases in teachers’ reported data literacy, efficacy, and collaboration were evident. The study also examined school-level factors that supported data use practices and data cultures. Interviews with 15 school principals revealed how structural features such as district requirements, school expectations, and established policies and routines influenced teachers’ data use practice. Structural factors facilitating collaboration were associated with instructional goals and improvement cultures.     

论校长美德

对校长而言,只有具备各种美德,才能实施道德领导,方可有效地建设一所道德学校。博爱、贵生的美德可以促使校长确立以人为本的管理价值理念;谦虚、奉献的美德可以力促校长更好地实现为师生服务的管理宗旨;节制、审慎的美德可以令校长不断地反思与调控学校管理过程;公正、诚信的美德可以保证校长在管理方式上讲究民主、注重合作;慷慨、宽容的美德可以敦促校长在管理评价时保持弹性、避免极端。     

学校改进中的校长领导力提升:一种分布式领导的研究视角

学校改进中的校长领导力提升是当前学校变革与发展的诉求。要落实"教育规划纲要"成功实现学校改进,就要在校长领导力开发过程中,主动寻求新的领导理论支撑,架构一种分布式领导模式,将校长培养成一名分布式领导者,这可为解决教育管理实践中存在的问题开拓一个新视角。     

The psychological environment and teachers’ collective-efficacy beliefs

The psychological environment of schools is a powerful determinant of staff well-being and educational outcomes for children. The work reported here explored teachers’ Collective-Efficacy (CE) and well-being. Staff in a sample of schools completed a survey of their CE. A sub-sample of teachers was interviewed to elicit views about the relationship between CE and leadership practices. Overall staff CE was correlated with key indicators of pupils’ attainments. Four themes in the interviews indicated attributions for staff well-being and motivation: Communication, Learning, Supporting Roles, and Stress Management. Enhancing CE is critical for staff well-being. At a time when staff recruitment, retention and well-being may be jeopardised, the findings here indicate the critical importance of professional relationships for the ethos and effectiveness of schools.     

Making America’s schools great now: reclaiming democracy and activist leadership under Trump

Trump’s vow to ‘make America great again’ seeks to usher in a policy agenda reminiscent of an era that served as a boon to the rich while devastating poor, working-class, Americans, particularly people of color. His education policy and budget blueprint prove no exception, signalling troubling priorities for those who value strong public institutions, civil rights, and investments in public schools. In this essay, I argue that the current political moment requires an educational leadership committed to making America’s schools great now by reclaiming public schools as pillars of democracy through resistance, taking a stand on issues, and actively leading change. I conclude with calls to (a) resist efforts to dismantle education as a public good, (b) reclaim a vision of education grounded in equality, liberation, and justice, and (c) revolutionise how education leadership is conceptualized, practiced, and sustained.     

变革型领导对员工创新行为的影响：心理授权与情感承诺的作用

以高科技企业配对样本为对象,通过问卷调查探讨变革型领导对员工创新行为的影响机制,着力考察心理授权在二者间的中介作用和情感承诺的调节作用。结果表明：变革型领导与员工创新行为有正向关系;变革型领导与员工心理授权有正向关系;员工的心理授权与创新行为有正向关系;情感承诺在变革型领导与员工创新行为之间具有调节效应;心理授权各维度在变革型领导与员工创新行为之间均发挥部分中介作用。     

Complexities of Vietnamese femininities: a resource for rethinking women's university leadership practices

This paper develops a dialogical encounter between northern-inspired theorisations of gender and Vietnam's historical and cultural differentiation identified through the presence of matriarchy in ancient societies and its popularity in folklore and contemporary politics. The article draws on interviews with 12 senior women from 8 universities in Northern and Southern Vietnam. Three main themes are explored: (1) the Vietnamese woman as ‘general of the interior’; (2) the ‘woman behind the throne’; and (3) ‘behind a woman is another woman’. These themes illustrate the distinctiveness of a historically produced Vietnamese gender order as reflected in current university women's experience. By providing insights into the complex dynamics of Vietnamese women's ‘informal power’, as evident in both spheres of home and university, the paper presents a discussion of forms of Vietnamese femininity that contributes to re-theorising Connell's concepts of ‘hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity’.     

The children's centre teacher role: developing practice in the private,voluntary and independent sector

This study assessed the impact of the role of the teacher in two children's centres in England and identified some of the supporting and limiting factors that influenced outcomes. The teachers worked across several settings in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector, with the aim of enhancing early years practice and practitioner confidence. A conceptual framework was devised to model the impact of the teacher role based on Leithwood and Levin (2005 Leithwood K, Levin B. 2005. Assessing school leader and leadership programme effects on pupil learning. DfES Research Report 662. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR662.pdf (accessed December 2006) [Google Scholar]). Teachers were found to bring vital professional knowledge and experience to the role and delivered their methods through a range of leadership styles as identified in the literature. Teachers were successful in developing practice and staff confidence in settings; this also impacted positively on outcomes for children. However, success was dependent on a number of moderating factors, including sector‐related factors such as the qualifications of staff. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

课改背景下教师的课程领导力及提升策略

在课程改革与教师专业发展背景下,教师课程领导的关键在于"专业引领",通过自身的专业素养引领学生开展高品质的课程学习活动。教师的课程领导力主要体现在"课程信念力、课程开发力、课程执行力、课程协调力、课程反思力"五个方面的专业发展诉求。教师课程领导力提升需要实现"五力共举",并在"内生"与"外发"两个方面谋求有针对性的策略举措。