Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                

BPT Lesson 3 Notes

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 35

In Unit 2, we explored various concepts relating to professional teachers and discussed the attributes

and challenges teachers face in the classroom. In this unit, we look at the different teaching
philosophies and understand how this impacts on our teaching. In your exploration of this journey,
you will then learn to understand the components that make up the learning community in which
teachers work. You will also learn to understand how community life impacts on the teacher and
learning of a child. This journey will help you understand the impact of membership of a learning
community, developing your own teaching and learning philosophy from multiple perspectives.

THE STRUCTURE OF LESSON 3

Before you learn more about the philosophies of teaching and learning, it is important to understand
what makes up the teaching and learning community.

3.2 COMPONENTS THAT MAKE UP THE TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMUNITY

BACK NEXT

Main page content


No member of the learning community should work in isolation and be separated from the larger
context. You will recall the seven roles we discussed in the previous unit. Not all teachers are equally
strong in each of these roles but working together, we can perform each role equally well. All
members of the learning community should function and work as a collective, share and exchange
knowledge and wisdom about their profession. These members of the community must always be
aware of the larger context, within which the group operates. For members of the learning
community to function effectively, they need to engage with each other and discuss how the
broader organisation of which they are a part really function, how they function and their
composition as well.

As the members of this community have been trained, continue to develop and acquire skills and are
required to perform their work, they are regarded as a professional learning community (PLC).
Although there are many definitions provided, DuFour, DuFour, Eaker and Many (2006) stress that
PLCs are educators committed to working together using processes of inquiry, problem-solving and
reflection upon their practice. The crucial element to a teaching and learning community is to work
together and continue learning.

In the teaching and learning environment called a school, the principal and the school leadership
team play a crucial role. They are expected to provide leadership, manage the school efficiently, and
guide and support the teaching and learning community in many areas of the work they do. They
also need to promote positive working relationships between staff members and encourage them to
learn and develop together for the benefit of their learners.

It is not only the responsibility of the head of the school and their team to provide leadership but
also members of the teaching staff must be encouraged to work together. They need to interact with
each other, share ideas about their classroom practice as well as the work they do with learners. In
addition, they must plan the year schedule as a team of professional learners. They may, for
example, plan to design and develop the grade and/or phase curriculum as a team, thus creating a
coherent programme or a curriculum for the school. This collaboration component is necessary to
build collegiality through learning from each other and contributing to the improvement of the
school.

The ongoing assessment of learners, the curriculum and other initiatives in the school play a
significant role in the teaching and learning understanding. Ongoing formative evaluation is
important for learning and improvement. When sharing on the performance of learners, for
example, the PLC should focus on the positive performance and encourage those experiencing
challenges to ask for advice and learn from their colleagues. The school leadership should provide
help and support those members of staff in this initiative.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 3.1 - NOT FOR SUBMISSION

LEARNING ACTIVITY 3.1 - NOT FOR SUBMISSION

BACK

Main page content

In order to understand the context and background of your learners, as teachers, you need to
explore the components that make your teaching and learning effective. In your exploration, you
first need to do the following:

STAGE 1: Pre-Reading

Spend 5 minutes brainstorming what you think are the different components that make up the
teaching and learning community.

Secondly, think about the different roles and responsibilities of each component. Write some notes
you will need to use later.

On the basis of your brainstorm, formulate some questions that you hope the Readings below will
help to answer.

STAGE 2: Reading Stage

1. Click on the links below and read through the documents to help you understand more about the
components of the community of teaching and learning.

2. If the document does not open, go to the additional resources and find the related documents for
reading. Highlight important points, make notes and keep for later use when working on your
assignment

Components of Teaching and Learning:


https://www.k12blueprint.com/sites/default/files/Components-of-a-Successful-PLC.pdf

Teacher and Teaching: http://www.cde.org.za/wpcontent/uploads/2014/10/Teachers%20teaching


%20and%20learner%20performance%20in%20mathematics.pdf

STAGE 3: Post Reading


3.3 FACTORS THAT IMPACT ON THE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SCHOOL COMMUNITIES

BACK NEXT

Main page content

Many schools in South Africa, both urban and rural schools, are beset by a whole host of challenges
and dilemmas. On many occasions, you will be called upon and requested to help solve societal
problems. At the same time, you have to deal with your own issues. You also need to cope with the
constant changes in your professional environment. This may pose a huge challenge to you and the
community of your profession. In essence, you have a responsibility to deal with the various issues
that may have an impact on you, the school community and learners in particular. As you look at the
pictures below, you are forced to ask yourself a number of questions. Teachers and school managers
are forced to deal with a variety of challenges on a daily basis. As a teacher, you will have to learn to
address the complex issues and the dilemmas you will be experiencing daily.

3.1 Organize what you have learned in the readings in the form of a mind map or table and write one
(1) or two (2) statements about the readings. Keep your notes to help you form the basis of your
discussion and/or assignment. Remember to provide complete references for any direct quotations.

The picture below is meant to help you to search for more ideas about learning communities
collaborating, sharing ideas and learning from each other.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/teacher-education/
quality-teacher-training-in-afric

LEARNING ACTIVITY 3.2 - NOT FOR SUBMISSION

BACK
Main page content

Before you get on with your readings, you first need to do the activity below. This activity is divided
into three stages:

STAGE 1: Pre-Reading

Spend 5 minutes brainstorming what you think are the factors that impact on teaching and learning
in your community. Secondly, think about what you might want to do to help your community of
professionals to resolve the challenges they might encounter in their teaching career. Write some
notes you will need to use later.

Based on your brainstorm, formulate some questions that you hope the video below will help to
answer.

STAGE 2: Watching the Video Stage

1. Click on the links given below and watch the videos to help you understand more about the issues
that impacts on teaching and learning.

Lack of sleep: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-22209818

Socio-economic status: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmkXE2CK-rM

Poverty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UslZmqLSJwE

If the given link does not open, highlight the link and paste it in a search engine like Google to open.
Write important points while watching the video and keep for later use when working on your
assignment.

STAGE 3: Post Reading


3.1 Organize what you have learned from the pictures and the video in the form of a mind map or
table and write five (5) statements about the factors that affect teaching and learning. Keep your
notes to help you form the basis of your assignment. Remember to provide complete references for
any direct quotations.

3.4 DIVERSE TEACHING AND LEARNING PHILOSOPHIES

BACK NEXT

Main page content

A variety of educational philosophies have developed over the years. These are beliefs or point of
views helping us to understand and develop best ways in which we should facilitate learning. You
need to understand that our focus is on teaching and learning in order to accommodate all learners
in the classroom. Some of these philosophies are teacher-centered and some are student-centered.
But, they all have the same goal, which is to provide learners with the best education possible.

It is important to understand where we come from and where we going. As you are on your way to
become a professional teacher, you will be required to ensure that the learners you teach do
actually learn and benefit. For example, teaching learners in their mother tongue or rather the
language they understand is beneficial to the entire system. Ngug’i wa Thiongo and Eski’a Mphahlele
advocate for the use of indigenous languages in the curriculum and the classroom as well. They
assert that learning and understanding your African language for example, will help you understand
your culture better and forms the basis of understanding other languages. You therefore have an
important task of making sure that learners understand the message you will be required to deliver.

You have to teach in such a way that learners are focused, develop their understanding and
therefore guide them towards understanding. This requires you, the prospective classroom teacher,
to understand the diverse philosophies of teaching and learning. The following are examples of
educational philosophies that provide the basic ideas you need to understand, to help you apply
them in your teaching.

Perennialism

Progressivism

Reconstructionism

Positivism

Constructivism

Behaviorism

Humanism

Essentialism.

Although all of these philosophies differ in many ways, they all focus on effective ways of teaching.
These philosophies are beneficial to all learners and should be applied in your classroom. Kindly
refer to your ADDITIONAL RESOURCES on the left-hand side of your MENU and retrieve THEORIES OF
LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHIES DOCUMENT to learn more about philosophies.

Teaching Processes | Imparting knowledge and values through Indian

Beliefs and Philosophies

http://www.plato-philosophy.org/teaching-elementary-school-philosophy/

Teaching Elementary School Philosophy | PLATO - Philosophy ...Philosophy Learning and Teaching

https://constructivismandexistentialism.wordpress.com/

Constructivist and Existentialist Education | Just another WordPress.com site

constructivismandexistentialism.wordpress.com526 × 356 Search by image

Peer interaction and cooperation are essential in constructivist education.

https://www.google.co.za/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYuKrz1rbUAhWDQBoK
HQecDxoQjRwIBw&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Education_in_Madagascar&psig=AFQjCNEolDK5gyL_od0fnPcLQk4nJYAedg&ust=1497300360724557
A rural public primary school classroom outside Antsiranana, Madagascar (2008)

ACTIVITY 3.3 - NOT FOR SUBMISSION


BACK

Main page content

STAGE 1: Pre-Reading

Spend 5 to 10 minutes selecting three to four different pictures of the different members of the
community you have just watched. Analyse each of their roles in the family or in the community.
Looking at the pictures you have selected share your views on whether everybody shares the same
philosophical beliefs about the purpose of education as you understand it. Write some notes you will
need to use later.

Based on the notes you made formulate some questions that you hope the Readings below will help
to answer.

STAGE 2: Reading Stage

1. Search for information on the internet that relates to the philosophy of teaching and learning you
selected and read. Highlight important points and make notes and keep for later use.

2. In your own view, write some notes on what constitutes effective teaching and learning?

STAGE 3: Post Reading

1. Organize what you have learned in the readings in the form of a mind map or table and write five
(5) statements about the readings.

2. Answer this question “How can this diversity of opinions be used to strengthen quality instead of
resulting in chaos”?

3. Keep all your notes to help you form the basis of your discussion.
4. Remember to provide complete references for any direct quotations.

OER Images

OER Images

STAGE 4: REVIEWING THE PICTURES

4.1 Look at the above pictures and identify a philosophy of teaching that you think is being used in
each of the above classes

4.2 Use a blog (allocated on the left side of your myUnisa screen) to share your ideas.

3.5 MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMUNITIES

BACK

Main page content

As much as you belong to the community in which you live, you also need to belong to the
community of your profession. Belonging to a community of your teaching and learning profession
has its own merit if your focus is also based on your growth and development. The advantage is that
engaging with members of your professional group and the community of your profession at large,
affords you the opportunity to learn from other group members. This is another way of encouraging
you to want to improve yourself and this spills down to benefit your learners. Literature supports
the assumption that the performance of learners increases when teachers participate in PLCs
(DuFour, 2006). In addition, belonging to a professional community reduces the isolation that
teachers sometimes experience and enhances creativity and support from other members of the
profession.

The teaching profession consists of a variety of professional groups. You need to read more to
understand the role they play in your profession and how this can help you develop and grow within
your teaching professionally.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/modern-professional-learning-plc-pln-vicki-davis

A group of educators are sitting in a room, listening to a speaker.

http://www.schoolnet.org.za/uncategorized/ict4red-modules-78-training-in-cofimvaba-uses-two-
great-teaching-strategies/
Teachers in the Cofimvaba ICT4RED project schools have been methodically working through
modules of their professional development course since July 2013

ACTIVITY 3.4 - NOT FOR SUBMISSION

BACK

Main page content

Before you get on with your readings, you first need to do the activity below. This activity is divided
into three stages:

STAGE 1: Pre-Reading

1. Spend 5 minutes brainstorming what you know about the professional teaching and learning
communities in which you hope to become future member (for example The Association of
Mathematics Education of South Africa http://www.amesa.org.za/). Secondly, think about how you
will benefit from such communities. Write some notes you will need to use later.

2. Based on your brainstorm, formulate some questions that you will be sourcing readings from the
internet to help to answer.

STAGE 2: Reading

1. Search for various information and documents on the internet that relate to the various
professional teaching and learning communities. (Check to see if there is an Association that links to
your subject area. You might also find an appropriate community of practice through the BRIDGE
Knowledge Hub http://www.bridge.org.za/knowledge-hub/).

2. Read and compare their differences and select one or two PLCs that resonate with your
philosophy.

3. Read and highlight important points and make notes and keep for later use.
STAGE 3: Post-Reading

1. Organize what you have learned in the readings in the form of a mind map or table and write one
(1) or two (2) statements about the readings. Keep your notes to help you form the basis of your
assignment. Remember to provide complete references for any direct quotations.

ACTIVITY 3.5 DISCUSSION FORUM - NOT FOR SUBMISSION

BACK

Main page content

In preparation for your next assignment, give a brief description and your understanding of
Professional Learning Communities (PLC), particularly the context of the community in which you
work and/or reside. This should be an ongoing discussion but not for submission. Discuss with your
group members and explain how each category of the PLC may have an influence on your teaching
and the learning of the learners you teach.

OR

As a new teacher in your class, it is important to understand the background of the learners in your
class to be able to give proper support to each learner. How would you go about improving yourself
in order to provide appropriate support? Elaborate on your strategies and give examples.

Barton, R and Stepanek, J. (2012).The Impact of Professional Learning Communities. Principals’


Research Review, 7(4)

Bielaczyc, K and Collins, A. Learning Communities in Classrooms: A Reconceptualization of


Educational Practice.
Blue Print – K - 12. 2014. Components of a Successful PLC. Retrieved on June 2017 from:
frhttps://www.k12blueprint.com/sites/default/files/Components-of-a-Successful-PLC.pdf

Curtin, M. 2001. The Effects of Membership in Residential Learning Communities. Journal of College
and Character 2(11)

DuFour, R. (2006). Schools as Learning Communities. Educational Leadership, 61(8), 6-11 What is a
Professional Learning Community?

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R. and Many, T. (2006). Learning by doing. Bloomington, IN: Solution
Tree.

Fullan M (2007). The six secrets of change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hiatt-Michael, D.B. Schools as Learning Communities: A Vision for Organic School Reform. The School
Community Journal. P

Kienstra N, Karskens M, Imants J (2014a). Three approaches to doing philosophy: A proposal for
grouping philosophical exercises in classroom teaching. Metaphilosopy 45, 2:288–319.

Kienstra N, Imants J, Karskens M, van der Heijden PGM. (2015) Doing Philosophy Effectively:
Student Learning in Classroom Teaching. PLoS ONE 10(9):

Otto, S; Evins, M.A; Boyer‐Pennington, M and Brinthaupt, T.M. (2015). Learning Communities in
Higher Education: Best Practices. Journal of Student Success and Retention, 2(1)

Squire, J.R. (2010). Teacher Learning Communities. National Council of Teachers of English

Wilson, S.M and Peterson, P.L. (2006). Theories of Learning and Teaching What Do They Mean for
Educators? National Education Association

Contents

The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning

The Principal as Leader: An Overview

Five Key Responsibilities

Shaping a vision of academic success for all students

Creating a climate hospitable to education

Cultivating leadership in others

A Profile in Leadership: Dewey Hensley

Managing people, data and processes

Improving School Leadership

Additional Readings

Click here to download the full report:

The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning

Shaping a vision of academic success for all students


Although they say it in different ways, researchers who have examined education leadership agree
that effective principals are responsible for establishing a schoolwide vision of commitment to high
standards and the success of all students.

Newcomers to the education discussion might find this puzzling: Hasn't concern with the academic
achievement of every student always topped principals' agendas? The short answer is, no.
Historically, public school principals were seen as school managers,5 and as recently as two decades
ago, high standards were thought to be the province of the college bound. "Success" could be
defined as entry-level manufacturing work for students who had followed a "general track," and low-
skilled employment for dropouts. Only in the last few decades has the emphasis shifted to academic
expectations for all.

"Having high expectations for all is one key to closing the achievement gap between advantaged and
less advantaged students."

This change comes in part as a response to twin realizations: Career success in a global economy
depends on a strong education; for all segments of U.S. society to be able to compete fairly, the
yawning gap in academic achievement between disadvantaged and advantaged students needs to
narrow. In a school, that begins with a principal's spelling out "high standards and rigorous learning
goals," Vanderbilt University researchers assert with underlined emphasis. Specifically, they say,
"The research literature over the last quarter century has consistently supported the notion that
having high expectations for all, including clear and public standards, is one key to closing the
achievement gap between advantaged and less advantaged students and for raising the overall
achievement of all students."6

An effective principal also makes sure that notion of academic success for all gets picked up by the
faculty and underpins what researchers at the University of Washington describe as a schoolwide
learning improvement agenda that focuses on goals for student progress.7 One middle school
teacher described what adopting the vision meant for her. "My expectations have increased every
year," she told the researchers. "I've learned that as long as you support them, there is really
nothing [the students] can't do."8

"Seek Out the Best Preparation You Can Find"

Advice to Teachers Interested in Becoming a Principal

"There's a tradition of teachers who are really excellent exemplars in the classroom of saying, 'I don't
want to be a principal because it has nothing to do with instruction,'" says Linda Darling-Hammond,
a leading authority on education policy and the teaching profession. [See Q&A with her.] "But one of
the things we found in our study was that as some of those people were reached out to and got the
message that being a principal could be about... building the quality of instruction, they said, 'Oh,
well I might actually want to do that.' They've become spectacular school principals, and we've seen
them in action.So number one, do it if that's what you're passionate about.
"Number two, seek out the best preparation you can find for instructional management, for
organizational development, for change management - for these things that we know matter
because [being a principal] is a different use of your skills and talents. There is a broader knowledge
base to capture, and not every place you may look to build your skills will have those pieces in place.
Be aggressive about finding the right support and training for yourself.

"Third, collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. Go into this with the idea that, 'I'm going to build a
team. It's not going to just have to be me. My job is to really find the expertise and the skills and the
abilities of the people that I work with, cultivate those, glue them together.' You will be both a more
successful principal and you will be a saner principal who has at least a little bit of a life beyond all of
the effort that you put into the work in the schools."

So, developing a shared vision around standards and success for all students is an essential element
of school leadership. As the Cheshire cat pointed out to Alice, if you don't know where you're going,
any road will lead you there.

Creating a climate hospitable to education

Effective principals ensure that their schools allow both adults and children to put learning at the
center of their daily activities. Such "a healthy school environment," as Vanderbilt researchers call it,
is characterized by basics like safety and orderliness, as well as less tangible qualities such as a
"supportive, responsive" attitude toward the children and a sense by teachers that they are part of a
community of professionals focused on good instruction.9

Is it a surprise, then, that principals at schools with high teacher ratings for "instructional climate"
outrank other principals in developing an atmosphere of caring and trust? Or that their teachers are
more likely than faculty members elsewhere to find the principals' motives and intentions are good?
10

One former principal, in reflecting on his experiences, recalled a typical staff meeting years ago at an
urban school where "morale never seemed to get out of the basement." Discussion centered on
"field trips, war stories about troubled students, and other management issues" rather than matters
like "using student work and data to fine-tune teaching." Almost inevitably, teacher pessimism was a
significant barrier, with teachers regarding themselves as "hardworking martyrs in a hopeless
cause."11

To change this kind of climate - and begin to combat teacher isolation, closed doors, negativism,
defeatism and teacher resistance - the most effective principals focus on building a sense of school
community, with the attendant characteristics. These include respect for every member of the
school community; "an upbeat, welcoming, solution-oriented, no-blame, professional environment;"
and efforts to involve staff and students in a variety of activities, many of them schoolwide.12

Engaging parents and the community: continued interest, uncertain evidence

Many principals work to engage parents and others outside the immediate school community, such
as local business people. But what does it take to make sure these efforts are worth the time and toil
required? While there is considerable interest in this question, the evidence on how to answer it is
relatively weak. For example, the Minnesota-Toronto study found that in schools with higher
achievement on math tests, teachers tended to share in leadership and believed that parents were
involved with the school. The researchers noted, however, that "the relationships here are
correlational, not causal," and the finding could be at odds with another finding from the study.13
Separately, the VAL-ED principal performance assessment (developed with support from The
Wallace Foundation) measures principals on community and parent engagement.14 Vanderbilt
researchers who developed the assessment are undertaking further study on how important this
practice is in affecting students, achievement. In short, the principal's role in engaging the external
community is little understood.

Principals play a major role in developing a "professional community" of teachers who guide one
another in improving instruction.

Cultivating leadership in others

A broad and longstanding consensus in leadership theory holds that leaders in all walks of life and all
kinds of organizations, public and private, need to depend on others to accomplish the group's
purpose and need to encourage the development of leadership across the organization.15 Schools
are no different. Principals who get high marks from teachers for creating a strong climate for
instruction in their schools also receive higher marks than other principals for spurring leadership in
the faculty, according to the research from the universities of Minnesota and Toronto.16

In fact if test scores are any indication, the more willing principals are to spread leadership around,
the better for the students. One of the most striking findings of the universities of Minnesota and
Toronto report is that effective leadership from all sources - principals, influential teachers, staff
teams and others - is associated with better student performance on math and reading tests.

The relationship is strong albeit indirect: Good leadership, the study suggests, improves both teacher
motivation and work settings. This, in turn, can fortify classroom instruction. "Compared with lower-
achieving schools, higher-achieving schools provided all stakeholders with greater influence on
decisions," the researchers write.17 Why the better result? Perhaps this is a case of two heads - or
more - being better than one: "The higher performance of these schools might be explained as a
consequence of the greater access they have to collective knowledge and wisdom embedded within
their communities," the study concludes.18
Principals may be relieved to find out, moreover, that their authority does not wane as others'
waxes. Clearly, school leadership is not a zero-sum game. "Principals and district leaders have the
most influence on decisions in all schools; however, they do not lose influence as others gain
influence," the authors write.19 Indeed, although "higher-performing schools awarded greater
influence to most stakeholders...little changed in these schools' overall hierarchical structure."20

University of Washington research on leadership in urban school systems emphasizes the need for a
leadership team (led by the principal and including assistant principals and teacher leaders) and
shared responsibility for student progress, a responsibility "reflected in a set of agreements as well
as unspoken norms among school staff."21

Effective principals studied by the University of Washington urged teachers to work with one
another and with the administration on a variety of activities, including "developing and aligning
curriculum, instructional practices, and assessments; problem solving; and participating in peer
observations."22 These leaders also looked for ways to encourage collaboration, paying special
attention to how school time was allocated. They might replace some administrative meeting time
with teacher planning time, for example.23 The importance of collaboration gets backing from the
Minnesota-Toronto researchers, too. They found that principals rated highly for the strength of their
actions to improve instruction were also more apt to encourage the staff to work collaboratively.24

More specifically, the study suggests that principals play a major role in developing a "professional
community" of teachers who guide one another in improving instruction. This is important because
the research found a link between professional community and higher student scores on
standardized math tests.25 In short, the researchers say, "When principals and teachers share
leadership, teachers' working relationships with one another are stronger and student achievement
is higher."26

What does "professional community" look like? Its components include things like consistent and
well-defined learning expectations for children, frequent conversations among teachers about
pedagogy, and an atmosphere in which it's common for teachers to visit one another's classrooms to
observe and critique instruction.27

A central part of being a great leader is cultivating leadership in others.

Most principals would welcome hearing what one urban school administrator had to say about how
team-based school transformation works at its best: "like a well-oiled machine," with results that
could be seen in "student behavior, student conduct, and student achievement."28

Improving instruction
Effective principals work relentlessly to improve achievement by focusing on the quality of
instruction. They help define and promote high expectations; they attack teacher isolation and
fragmented effort; and they connect directly with teachers and the classroom, University of
Washington researchers found. 29

Effective principals also encourage continual professional learning. They emphasize research-based
strategies to improve teaching and learning and initiate discussions about instructional approaches,
both in teams and with individual teachers. They pursue these strategies despite the preference of
many teachers to be left alone.30

In practice this all means that leaders must become intimately familiar with the "technical core" of
schooling - what is required to improve the quality of teaching and learning.31

A PROFILE IN LEADERSHIP: DEWEY HENSLEY

Nearly all 390 students at Louisville's J. B. Atkinson Academy for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
live in poverty. But from 2006 to 2011, principal Dewey Hensley showed this needn't stand in the
way of their succeeding in school. Under Hensley's watch, students at Atkinson, once one of the
lowest performing elementary schools in Kentucky, doubled their proficiency rates in reading, math
and writing. Most recently, the school was one of only 17 percent in the school district that met all
of its "adequate yearly progress" goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Hensley's is not a tale of lonely-at-the-top heroics, however. Rather, it is a story about leadership
that combines a firm belief in each child's potential with an unrelenting focus on improving
instruction - and a conviction that principals can't go it alone. "Building a school is not about bricks,"
Hensley says. "It's about teachers. From inside out, you have to build the strengths. I'm not the
leader. I'm a leader. I've tried to build strong leaders across the board."

Today Hensley is chief academic officer of Jefferson County, Ky., Public Schools. Principals there and
elsewhere could learn a lot from how he led Atkinson with a style that mirrors in many ways the
characteristics of effective school leadership identified in research.

Shaping a vision of academic success for all students

His first week on the job, Hensley drew a picture of a school on poster board and asked the faculty to
annotate it. "Let's create a vision of a school that's perfect," he recalls telling them, adding: "When
we get there, then we'll rest." Hensley, the first person in his extended family to graduate from high
school and then college, sought to instill in his staff the idea that all children could learn, with
appropriate support. "I understand the power of a school to make a difference in a child's life," he
says. "They [all] have to have someone who will give them dreams they may not have."
Creating a climate hospitable to education

School suspensions at Atkinson were among the highest in the state when Hensley took over.
Determined to create a more suitable climate for learning, Hensley visited the homes of the 25 most
frequent student offenders, telling the families that their children would be protected, but other
children would be protected from them, too, if necessary. Hensley brought in teams to diagnose
each child's academic and emotional needs and develop individual "prescriptions" that might include
anything from home visits to intensive tutoring to eyeglasses. Chess club, a special program for
truant students and ballroom dancing lessons culminating in a formal candlelit dinner that included
students' parents were other tone-changers, along with school corridors with names like Teamwork
Trail and street signs directing students 982 miles to Harvard or 2,352 miles to Stanford.

Cultivating leadership in others

Hensley set up a leadership structure with two notable characteristics. First, it was simple,
comprising only three committees: culture, climate, and community; instructional leadership; and
student support. Second, it made leadership a shared enterprise. The committees were populated
and headed by teachers, with every faculty member assigned to one. "I relinquished leadership in
order to get control," Hensley says. "I asked people to be about leadership."

He also encouraged his teachers to learn from one another. Science teacher Heather Lynd recalls the
day Hensley visited her classroom and then asked her to lead a faculty meeting on anchor charts,
annotated diagrams that can be used to explain everything from the water cycle to punctuation tips.
"He's built on teachers' strengths to share them with others," says reading specialist Lori Atherton.
"That creates leadership."

Improving instruction

Hensley did a lot of first-hand observation in classrooms, leaving behind detailed notes for teachers,
sharing "gold nuggets" of exemplary practices, things to think about and next steps for
improvement. He also introduced cutting-edge professional development, obtaining a grant to set
up the ideal classroom in the building, full of technology and instructional resources. And he formed
a collaboration with the University of Louisville. In one project, professors observed how Atkinson's
teachers kept students engaged and shared the collected data with the faculty in addition to using it
for a research study.

Hensley also encouraged teachers to do skill building on their own. As a result, Atkinson teachers
began attaining certification at a feverish pace from the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards, a private group that offers teachers an advanced credential based on rigorous standards.
Finally, Hensley focused on getting students the instruction that tests and observations showed they
needed. For example, Hensley paired struggling 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders with National Board-
certified teachers who gave them intensive help in reading and writing until they reached grade
level.
Managing people, data and processes

Data use figured prominently in Hensley's turnaround efforts. "We test them once, we see where
they are," science teacher Lynd says of the students. "If they're not proficient, we re-teach and test
again." To track progress across the school, Atkinson used a data board that lined one wall in the
school's curriculum center. Under photos of each teacher, staff members could view the color-coded
trajectory of students' achievement measured on three levels: grade level, below grade level and
significantly below. The display was part of what Hensley calls the faculty's "tolerance for truth,"
honestly examining results and "taking ownership of each student's performance."

Such methods did not win plaudits from everyone; half the faculty transferred after his first year. But
as time went by, the number of teachers seeking to leave the school declined to a trickle and the list
of those seeking to transfer in ballooned. Moreover, if winning over skeptics is any indication of
success, Hensley points with pride to a comment years later from a veteran teacher who had initially
opposed his changes at Atkinson: "She said, ‘They sent a lot of people here to fix this school. You're
the only one who taught us how.'"

Principals themselves agree almost unanimously on the importance of several specific practices,
according to one survey, including keeping track of teachers' professional development needs and
monitoring teachers' work in the classroom (83 percent).32 Whether they call it formal evaluation,
classroom visits or learning walks, principals intent on promoting growth in both students and adults
spend time in classrooms (or ensure that someone who's qualified does), observing and commenting
on what's working well and what is not. Moreover, they shift the pattern of the annual evaluation
cycle to one of ongoing and informal interactions with teachers.

The Minnesota-Toronto study paints a picture of strong and weak instructional leadership. "Both
high- and low-scoring principals said that they frequently visit classrooms and are ‘very visible,'" the
researchers write. "However, differences between principals in the two groups come into sharp
focus as they describe their reasons for making classroom visits. High-scoring principals frequently
observed classroom instruction for short periods of time, making 20 to 60 observations a week, and
most of the observations were spontaneous. Their visits enabled them to make formative
observations that were clearly about learning and professional growth, coupled with direct and
immediate feedback. High-scoring principals believed that every teacher, whether a first-year
teacher or a veteran, can learn and grow.

Effective leaders view data as a means not only to pinpoint problems but to understand their nature
and causes.

"... In contrast, low-scoring principals described a very different approach to observations. Their
informal visits or observations in classrooms were usually not for instructional purposes. Even
informal observations were often planned in advance so that teachers knew when the principal
would be stopping by. The most damaging finding became clear in reports from teachers in buildings
with low-scoring principals who said they received little or no feedback after informal
observations."33

It is important to note that instructional leadership tends to be much weaker in middle and high
schools than in elementary schools.34 Unlike their elementary school counterparts, secondary
school principals cannot be expected to have expertise in all the subject areas their schools cover, so
their ability to offer guidance on instruction is more limited. The problem is that those who are in a
position to offer instructional leadership - department chairs - often are not called on to do so. One
suggestion is that the department head's job "should be radically redefined" so whoever holds the
post is "regarded, institutionally, as a central resource for improving instruction in middle and high
schools."35

As noted above, a central part of being a great leader is cultivating leadership in others. The
learning-focused principal is intent on helping teachers improve their practice either directly or with
the aid of school leaders like department chairs and other teaching experts.

Managing people, data and processes

"In the great scheme of things," noted one research report, "...schools may be relatively small
organizations. But their leadership challenges are far from small, or simple."36 To get the job done,
effective leaders need to make good use of the resources at hand. In other words, they have to be
good managers.

Effective leaders studied by University of Washington researchers nurtured and supported their
staffs, while facing the reality that sometimes teachers don't work out. They hired carefully, but -
adhering to union and district personnel policies - they also engaged in "aggressively weeding out
individuals who did not show the capacity to grow."37

When it comes to data, effective principals try to draw the most from statistics and evidence, having
"learned to ask useful questions" of the information, to display it in ways that tell "compelling
stories" and to use it to promote "collaborative inquiry among teachers."38 They view data as a
means not only to pinpoint problems but to understand their nature and causes.39

Principals also need to approach their work in a way that will get the job done. Research behind VAL-
ED (the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education tool to assess principal performance,
developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University) suggests that there are six key steps - or
"processes" - that the effective principal takes when carrying out his or her most important
leadership responsibilities: planning, implementing, supporting, advocating, communicating and
monitoring.40 The school leader pressing for high academic standards would, for example, map out
rigorous targets for improvements in learning (planning), get the faculty on board to do what's
necessary to meet those targets (implementing), encourage students and teachers in meeting the
goals (supporting), challenge low expectations and low district funding for students with special
needs (advocating), make sure families are aware of the learning goals (communicating), and keep
on top of test results (monitoring).41

Principals - and the people who hire and replace them - need to be aware that school improvement
does not happen overnight. A rule of thumb is that a principal should be in place about five to seven
years in order to have a beneficial impact on a school. In fact, the average length of a principal's stay
in 80 schools studied by the Minnesota-Toronto researchers was 3.6 years. They further found that
higher turnover was associated with lower student performance on reading and math achievement
tests, apparently because turnover takes a toll on the overall climate of the school.42 "It is far from a
trivial problem," the researchers say. "Schools experiencing exceptionally rapid principal turnover,
for example, are often reported to suffer from lack of shared purpose, cynicism among staff about
principal commitment, and an inability to maintain a school-improvement focus long enough to
actually accomplish any meaningful change."43 The lesson? Effective principals stay put.

IMPROVING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

The simple fact is that without effective leaders most of the goals of educational improvement will
be very difficult to achieve. Absent attention to that reality, we are in danger of undermining the
very standards and goals we have set for ourselves. Fortunately, we have a decade of experience
and new research demonstrating the critical importance of leadership for school principals and
documenting an empirical link between school leadership and student growth. And we have the
benefit of the professional standards developed by ISLLC and principal evaluation tools like VAL-ED.

Still, the lives of too many principals, especially new principals, are characterized by "churn and
burn," as the turnover findings bear out. So what can be done to lessen turnover and provide all
teachers and students with the highly skilled school leadership they need and deserve? In other
words, how do we create a pipeline of leaders who can make a real difference for the better,
especially in troubled schools?

A pipeline for effective leadership

Wallace's work over the last decade suggests such a pipeline would have four necessary and
interlocking parts:

Defining the job of the principal and assistant principal. Districts create clear, rigorous job
requirements that detail what principals and assistant principals must know and do, and that emerge
from what research tells us are the knowledge, skills and behaviors principals need to improve
teaching and learning.

Providing high-quality training for aspiring school leaders. Principal training programs, whether run
by universities, nonprofits or districts, recruit and select only the people with the potential and
desire to become effective principals in the districts the programs feed into. The programs provide
the future leaders with high-quality training and internships that reflect the realities education
leaders face in the field.
Hiring selectively. Districts hire only well-trained candidates for principal and assistant principal jobs.

Evaluating principals and giving them the on-the-job support they need. Districts regularly evaluate
principals, assessing the behaviors that research tells us are most closely tied to improving teaching
and student achievement. Districts then provide professional develop- ment, including mentoring,
that responds to what the evaluations find for each individual.

Coordination of state and district efforts

Effective school leadership depends on support from district and state officials. Except for the most
entrepreneurial, principals are unlikely to proceed with a leadership style focused on learning if the
district and state are unsupportive, disinterested or pursuing other agendas.

As one of the major Wallace-funded studies reports, central offices need to be transformed so that
the work of teaching and learning improvement can proceed.44 That is to say central offices need to
"re-culture" themselves so they focus less on administration and more on supporting principals to
improve instruction. As for states: Through policy, accreditation and funding for principal training
programs, and other levers, they have a major role to play in getting schools the leadership they
need. If the states and districts can do the difficult work of coordinating their various efforts, so
much the better.45

Leadership and the transformation of failing schools

Armed with what we've learned about the potential for leadership over the last decade, we have
cause for optimism that the education community's long neglect of leadership is at last coming to an
end. We still have a lot to learn, but we have already learned a great deal. In the face of this growing
body of knowledge and experience, it is clear that now is the time to step up efforts to strengthen
school leadership. Without effective principals, the national goal we've set of transforming failing
schools will be next to impossible to achieve.

But with an effective principal in every school comes promise.

THE PRINCIPAL-TEACHER CONNECTION: A SCHOLAR'S VIEW

Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University.


One of the nation's leading authorities on education policy as well as teachers and the teaching
profession, Darling-Hammond has served on The Wallace Foundation's board of directors since
2009. She was interviewed in April 2012 by Lucas Held, Wallace's communications director. These
are edited excerpts of the interview.
Lucas Held: What do we know about the link between effective teaching and good principals? You
note in your 2010 book, The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will
Determine Our Future, that good principals are the number one reason why teachers stay in school.

Linda Darling-Hammond: That comes up in survey after survey. If you ask teachers, "What kept you
in a school that you're in?" or "What caused you to leave?" administrative leadership and support is
one of the most critical elements because everything the teacher does is framed by the way the
leadership operates. It is possible to be an effective teacher in a poorly led school but it's not easy.
That takes a toll. And it is possible to become an ever more effective and successful teacher in a well-
led school. Teachers go into the profession to be successful with kids. If they are working with a
leadership team led by a principal who understands what it takes to be successful with kids, how the
organization should be organized, what kind of supports need to be there, how learning for teachers
can be encouraged as well as learning for students, how to get the community and the parental
supports in place, that lets the teacher do her or his job effectively and achieve the most important
intrinsic motivation: success with kids.

LH: Is that connection generally known?

LDH: You would think it would be obvious. But in schools where there has not been much cultivation
of leaders, there is often a hunkering down and just saying, "Well, there's leadership over [t]here
and there's teaching over here." That misses the boat in terms of creating effective learning
organizations.

LH: How do principals and teachers work together to create a collaborative focus on learning?

LDH: In thriving schools you have a professional learning community. If there isn't one, it's
something that teachers and leaders have to build together, getting past the closed-door culture
which is often inherited in schools: "We're all doing our own thing in our own classroom."

Leaders who are effective often have a distributed leadership approach. The principal functions as a
principal teacher who is really focusing on instruction along with [and] by the side of teachers - not
top down mandates and edicts. When principals are trying to help create such a culture, [they] begin
to open the doors and say, "Let's talk about our practice. Let's show our student work. Let's go look
at each other's classrooms and see what we're doing." Obviously the teachers who will benefit from
that can facilitate [matters] by opening their doors and working with each other and bringing ideas
to the table. One of the best practices that I've seen when new cultures are being planted is holding
the faculty meeting in a different room every time and allowing teachers to talk about strategies
they're using that are proving successful. Being willing to open your door and say, "Here's what's
going on in my little kingdom here" is the beginning of planting seeds to create a collaborative
culture where learning is always building on what teachers and leaders are doing together.
LH: Is it your sense that most schools are operating this way or does this remain the exception?

LDH: More and more teachers are willing and eager to collaborate with one another. More and more
leaders are becoming aware of how important that is. But it is certainly not everywhere. There [was]
an interesting survey not long ago, The Schools and Staffing Survey, which the federal government
does. It asked teachers, "How many of you have the opportunity to collaborate with each other?"
Something like 80 or more percent said, "Yes, I have that opportunity." But [when the survey] asked
how many would strongly agree or would agree that there is a collaborative culture in their schools
where people collaborate frequently, only 15 percent said that. What it says to me is that we have a
little bit of collaboration going around everywhere, but we have a lot of collaboration going on in
very few places.

One reason for that is that we design our schools in most cases still in the United States based on the
factory model of 100 years ago, where the idea was that teachers are only working when they're in
classrooms instructing children. If you look at schools in many countries in Europe and Asia, teachers
have about 15 hours a week or more where they collaborate with each other on planning, to do
action research, to do lesson study, to go into each other's classrooms and look at what they're
doing, to meet with parents and students about issues that have come up or that they're trying to
address. That differential use of time allows teachers to continually get better at what they're doing.
We need to restructure schools to be able to do that.

LH: What you're saying, in a sense, is that a collaborative learning environment is so important that
time needs to be carved out to focus on building that work.

LDH: That's right - and being sure that whenever somebody is doing something right, it's getting
shared, and whenever somebody has a problem, they have people to go to to help them solve their
problem. [There are] very interesting studies about gains in student achievement that have gone on
in recent years, and a couple of them are particularly important. They find that there's much greater
gain in student achievement in a school when people work collaboratively in teams and when teams
of teachers stay together over a period of time and build their collective know ledge and collective
capacity. The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. That's one of the major jobs of good
leadership.

LH: Do teachers need to understand what effective principals do?

LGH: I think so for many reasons. One is so that [they] know what to expect. [Another] is that there's
increasing use of 360-evaluations, where everyone is inputting to perceptions about the
effectiveness of their leaders. [It's important] also [to understand] how to work as a team, how to be
supportive of one another.
A lot of a principal's work can be invisible to teachers when they‘re in the classroom. I often use the
metaphor of the conductor of the orchestra. We watch the conductor, we're in the audience and we
say, "I could do that. Piece of cake. Right?" That's true of teachers' skill in the classroom; it's also
true of principals' skill in orchestrating the collective, harmonious work of teachers. [The principal's
work] includes organizational design and development. It includes instructional leadership and the
development of learning opportunities for kids and teachers. It includes change management,
moving an organization from where it is to where it needs to be. It includes outreach with various
publics and communities that maintain support for the school - the school board, the parent
community, others in the community who are resources to the work of the school.... It's important
to understand those things, both to be able to expect and support them, and to also provide good
feedback and evaluation.

LH: What advice would you give teachers to become part of the process of making their schools
better places?

LDH: Obviously everyone works in their own vineyard, in their own classroom. Beyond that, it's
important for teachers to learn from the beginning of their careers - and throughout their careers -
how to be good collaborators and community members, how to reach out to others (both to offer to
share ideas and thoughts, and to ask and learn from others), how to propose ways that collaboration
may be able to take root, to sometimes reach out to the principal and say, "Can I help with this? Is
there a way that I can facilitate some of this work getting done or enable you to be able to facilitate
it?" There is still quite often this idea that each teacher is a lone agent and the principal is a lone
agent, just like the superwoman or superman image, with the cape. And in fact, sometimes school
leaders are alone and isolated and may not even realize that they can get help from the faculty to
move an agenda forward.

LH: Sounds like a two-way street.

LDH: Absolutely. There actually is a lot to learn about how to be a good collaborator, how to manage
differences of opinion, how to talk to each other in ways that will be productive and then get to a
place where the conversations can be better and richer. In our efforts to develop the profession, we
have to make sure that kind of learning is available to everyone.

LH: Let's talk about some of the features that distinguish high-performing schools from low-
performing schools.

LDH: One of the features that we've talked about is lots of collaboration around good practice. That's
built on a strong foundation of trust. Some really important research [has] looked at the relational
elements of effective schools. It's not just focusing on data about the test scores and so on. It's also
building trust between and among the professionals, seeing teachers as respected professionals,
that is, people not to be mandated to or barked at but as colleagues who have expertise to be
orchestrated and shared - and as professionals who want to continue to grow. Finding ways for the
perspectives of teachers and other members of the school community to be shared - as a basis for
problem solving, as a basis for school improvement planning - is really important.

In highly successful environments, efforts have been made to make it possible for teachers to be
successful. That means making sure that they have the instructional resources they need - textbooks
and other tools of learning (computers, good curriculum). [It means] that they are asked to work in
ways that will allow them to be successful. For example, we know that when a teacher can either
loop with the same students or stay in the same or similar grade level for a period of time, they
become more skilled than if you say, "Oh, this year you're teaching kindergarten and next year
you're going to teach fifth grade, and then I'm going to put you in the fourth and then maybe the
seventh." That is, in a way, very disrespectful to teachers, but it also makes them less effective. We
know that from research. Respecting the opportunities for teachers to be efficacious in their
teaching by giving them the opportunities, the tools and the relationship time with students to be
able to be successful [is very important]. That sometimes means reorganizing the school
organization so that it supports the work in a more productive way.

A TEACHER REFLECTS ON LEADERSHIP: "PRINCIPALS HAVE FOUND TALENTS IN ME THAT I DIDN'T


KNOW I HAD"

Sara Kay Bonti describes one of her early principals as the "lawn-mowed/books-ordered/supplies-
filled" kind of manager. Looking back over 23 years as a high school English teacher in Florida, she
remembers him as particularly demoralizing.

"He kept spreadsheets on who attended - or missed - every meeting," Bonti said. "He couldn't tell
you what you were teaching or how you were teaching, but he could tell you what time you arrived
at school every morning. Students told me the first time they ever saw him was when he handed
them their diplomas at graduation. The turnover rate for teachers was very high."

Luckily for Bonti, this principal was not the only one she has encountered over the years. Indeed,
other school principals - the kinds who instinctively champion instruction over paperwork - have
been a source of inspiration for her. She has felt their efforts directly as a teacher, first in Pasco
County, Fla., and now in Hillsborough County, which encompasses Tampa. And she has felt their
work indirectly through a recent assignment that has sent her into about half the schools in
Hillborough County, which, with almost 200,000 students, ranks among the country's 10 largest
districts.

"What I've seen is that the common denominator in schools where students and teachers are
successful is strong leadership," Bonti said.
Seeing the five practices at work

The five practices associated with effective leadership are on full display at these schools, in Bonti's
experience. Take, for example, the first practice, knowing how to implant the notion that all students
can learn and achieve. "I can tell by how I'm greeted at the school office how well a vision of student
success has been communicated," Bonti said. "I will see a Student of the Month poster, or student
art, or maybe in a high school there will be pennants around the walls of all the colleges where the
students have been accepted. The students get the message."

Bonti has also seen how a principal can create a learning-friendly atmosphere that breeds
enthusiasm among teachers and students. She cited as an example a principal who takes steps to
boost student morale during the important Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). He
makes sure breakfast is available. He can be seen walking the halls, quizzing students - "What does
‘inference' mean?" he might ask - and a correct answer wins an ice cream coupon. He even
organizes an FCAT pep rally.

She has also experienced firsthand how effective principals cultivate leadership in others. Bonti
recalls being recruited to organize a Parents Night at the school where she taught most recently,
Freedom High School. She also spent one summer working with middle school English teachers to
help ensure that middle-school lessons flowed well into the senior high school courses. "Principals
have found talents in me that I didn't know I had," Bonti said. "You can feel enriched beyond the
classroom, and it's great to feel you are a part of helping the whole school succeed."

In addition, Bonti has seen how a skillful principal can use data to bring teachers into efforts to
improve schools. After one statewide "Florida Writes!" assessment, Bonti's principal showed the
school's English teachers that 10th grade students had unusually low scores for persuasive essays.
The teachers determined that students were reluctant to take a strong stand on an issue - a
requirement for making a credible argument - so the changes they instituted included providing
more examples of strong persuasive essays in the lesson plans.

"The principal was good at pulling together all the pieces, not leaving us to feel we were working in
isolation."

Bonti felt the principal had managed to balance leadership with a bow to the faculty's expertise. "We
knew the curriculum. He didn't. So, he depended on us for the answer," she said. But he didn't stop
there. He took the finding to other departments, so they knew to incorporate the results in their
writing assignments. "He was good at pulling together all the pieces, not leaving us to feel we were
working in isolation," Bonti said.

The power to improve instruction: spur to a career move?


Finally, there is the effective leader's fierce focus on improving instruction. That was Bonti's
inspiration for taking on a three-year assignment as a full-time "peer evaluator" in the district's
recently introduced teacher evaluation program. As part of the program, every teacher is observed
at least three times a year by the school principal and a peer evaluator. Then, within one to three
days, the teachers receive their assessments, with praise for their strengths and steps for
overcoming weaknesses. "You can see why if a principal gives a physics teacher a ‘requires action,'
that teacher is going to want to know why, and then a principal has to explain not only why but
specifically how to improve," Bonti said. "Teachers want that specificity, and they have a right to it."

That means principals have to be current on academic research. It means they need to be skillful at
delegating some of their old management duties to make time for their instructional tasks. And it
means they spend much of their time in classrooms, not in the seclusion of their offices.

Bonti finds the value in the new ways both self-evident and inspiring. That's why, when her gig as a
peer evaluator ends, she is considering pursuing a new goal: becoming a principal herself.

Additional Readings

The Knowledge Center at www.wallacefoundation.org contains more than 70 publications about


school leadership. Here's a sampling:

Central Office Transformation for District-wide Teaching and Learning Improvement, Meredith I.
Honig, Michael A. Copland, Lydia Rainey, Juli Anna Lorton and Morena Newton, University of
Washington, 2010.

Educational Leadership Policy Standards: ISLLC 2008, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2008.

How Leaders Invest Staffing Resources for Learning Improvement, Margaret L. Plecki, Michael S.
Knapp, Tino Castaneda, Tom Halverson, Robin LaSota and Chad Lochmiller, University of
Washington, 2009.

Improving School Leadership: The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems, Catherine H. Augustine,
Gabriella Gonzalez, Gina Schuyler Ikemoto, Jennifer Russell, Gail L. Zellman, Louay Constant, Jane
Armstrong and Jacob W. Dembosky, RAND Corporation, 2009.

Leadership for Learning Improvement in Urban Schools, Bradley S. Portin, Michael S. Knapp, Scott
Dareff, Sue Feldman, Felice A. Russell, Catherine Samuelson and Theresa Ling Yeh, University of
Washington, 2009.
Learning-Focused Leadership and Leadership Support: Meaning and Practice in Urban Systems,
Michael S. Knapp, Michael A. Copland, Meredith I. Honig, Margaret L. Plecki and Bradley S. Portin,
University of Washington, 2010.

Learning From Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning: Final Report of
Research Findings, Karen Seashore Louis, Kenneth Leithwood, Kyla L. Wahlstrom and Stephen E.
Anderson, University of Minnesota and University of Toronto, 2010.

Making Sense of Leading Schools: A Study of the School Principalship, Bradley S. Portin, Paul
Schneider, Michael DeArmond and Lauren Gundlach, University of Washington, 2003.

Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons From Exemplary Leadership Development
Programs - Final Report, Linda Darling-Hammond, Michelle LaPointe, Debra Meyerson, Margaret
Terry Orr and Carol Cohen. Stanford University, 2007.

Review of Research: How Leadership Influences Student Learning, Kenneth Leithwood, Karen
Seashore Louis, Stephen E. Anderson and Kyla L. Wahlstrom, University of Minnesota and University
of Toronto, 2004.

Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education: Technical Manual, Andrew C. Porter, Joseph


Murphy, Ellen Goldring, Stephen N. Elliott, Morgan S. Polikoff and Henry May, Vanderbilt University,
2008.

« Previous |

References

5. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 78.

6. Andrew C. Porter, Joseph Murphy, Ellen Goldring, Stephen N. Elliott, Morgan S. Polikoff and Henry
May, Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education: Technical Manual, Version 1.0, Vanderbilt
University, 2008, 13.

7. Michael S. Knapp, Michael A. Copland, Meredith I. Honig, Margaret L. Plecki, and Bradley S. Portin,
Learning-focused Leadership and Leadership Support: Meaning and Practice in Urban Systems,
University of Washington, 2010 , 2.
8. Bradley S. Portin, Michael S. Knapp, Scott Dareff, Sue Feldman, Felice A. Russell, Catherine
Samuelson and Theresa Ling Yeh, Leadership for Learning Improvement in Urban Schools, University
of Washington, 2009, 55.

9. Ellen Goldring, Andrew C. Porter, Joseph Muprhy, Stephen N. Elliott, Xiu Cravens, Assessing
Learning-Centered Leadership: Connections to Research, Professional Standards and Current
Practices, Vanderbilt University, 2007, 7-8.

10. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 81.

11. Knapp et al., 1, citing Kim Marshall from "A Principal Looks Back: Standards Matter," Phi Delta
Kappan, October 2003, 104-113, and noting Marshall is also cited in Charles M. Payne's So Much
Reform, So Little Change: The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools, 2008, 33-34.

12. Portin, Knapp et al., p. 59.

13. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 116-118.

14. Andrew C. Porter, Joseph Murphy, et al., Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education, 15.

15. See for example, J.W. Gardner, On Leadership, The Free Press, 1993; J. Kouzes, J. and B. Posner,
The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, Jossey-
Bass Publishers, 2008; and G. Yukl, Leadership in Organizations, Prentice-Hall, 2009.

16. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 81-82

17. Seashore Louis, Leithwood, 35.

18. Seashore Louis, Leithwood, 35.

19. Seashore Louis, Leithwood, 19.

20. Seashore Louis, Leithwood, 35.


21. Knapp, Copland et al., 3

22. Portin, Knapp et al., 56.

23. Portin, Knapp et al., 59.

24. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 82.

25. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 48.

26. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 282.

27. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 45.

28. Portin, Knapp et al., 56.

29. Portin, Knapp et al., v.

30. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 77, 91.

31. Kenneth Leithwood, Karen Seashore Louis, Stephen Anderson, Kyla Wahlstrom, Review of
Research: How Leadership Influences Student Learning, University of Minnesota and University of
Toronto, 2004, 24.

32. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 71.

33. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 86.

34. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 87-90.

35. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 92.


36. Portin, Schneider et al., 14.

37. Portin, Knapp et al., 52.

38. Portin, Knapp et al., v.

39. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 195.

40. Andrew C. Porter, Joseph Murphy, et al. Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education, 16-19

41. Porter, Murphy, et al., 141-142.

42. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 168-171.

43. Seashore Louis, Leithwood et al., 165-166.

44. Meredith I. Honig, Michael A. Copland, Lydia Rainey, Juli Anna Lorton and Morena Newton,
Central Office Transformation for District-Wide Teaching and Learning Improvement, University of
Washington, 2010.

45. Catherine H. Augustine, Gabriella Gonzalez, Gina Schuyler Ikemotoa, Jennifer Russell, Gail
L.Zellman, Louay Constant, Jane Armstrong, and Jacob W. Dembosky, Improving School Leadership:
The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems, RAND Corporation, 2009; and Linda Darling-
Hammond, Michelle LaPointe, Debra Meyerson, Margaret Terry Orr, Carol Cohen, Preparing School
Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Exemplary Leadership Development Programs - Final
Report, Stanford University, 2007, 127-129, 139-140.

DOWNLOAD REPORT

Email This PagePrint This Page

GET THE LATEST NEWS AND IDEAS FROM WALLACE

SUBSCRIBE

FOLLOW THE WALLACE FOUNDATION

Wallace Foundation
Our mission is to foster equity and improvements in learning and enrichment for young people, and
in the arts for everyone.

140 Broadway, 49th Fl, New York, NY 10005

Tel (212) 251-9700

Fax (212) 679-6990

CONTACT US

© 2021 Wallace Foundation

Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

Abstract

In many countries, corporal punishment of school children continues to be an officially or unofficially


sanctioned form of institutional child abuse. Continuing support for the use of corporal punishment
is related to the following factors: (1) widely held beliefs regarding the effectiveness of corporal
punishment, (2) an unawareness of problems resulting from the use of physical punishment, and (3)
a lack of knowledge about effective disciplinary alternatives. The purpose of this paper is threefold:
One is to show that many of the beliefs are myths, e.g., corporal punishment is not needed to build
character. The second purpose is to show that physical punishment can lead to more problems than
it appears to solve, e.g., the punitive teacher is avoided, and thus, is not a positive factor in the
child's education and development. The third purpose is to discuss two types of alternatives to
punishment, the social learning approach and communication skills training. These positive methods
of discipline not only enhance classroom behavior, but also facilitate learning. In an atmosphere free
of abusing and demeaning acts and in a classroom characterized by positive mutual regard, teachers
can maximize their effectiveness as teachers and students can maximize their effectiveness as
learners.

Résumé

Dans beaucoup de pays, on continue à pratiquer officiellement ou non les châtiments corporels sur
la personne des enfants, à l'école. Les facteurs suivants expliquent cette persistance de popularité de
la méthode: (1) On croit que les châtiments corporels sont particulièrement efficaces. (2) On ignore
les problèmes qui résultent des châtiments corporels. (3) On ignore également les méthodes
disciplinaires autres que les châtiments corporels et leur efficacité. Les auteurs de l'article avaient 3
buts: (1) Démontrer que beaucoup des croyances au sujet des châtiments corporels sont fausses,
c'est-à-dire que ce n'est pas une bonne méthode pour fortifier le caractère. (2) Démontrer que les
châtiments corporels créent plus de problèmes qu'ils n'en résolvent, c'est-à-dire que l'enseignant qui
exerce ce genre de punition est ensuite évité par élève et ainsi, il ne projette pas une image positive
dans l'éducation et le développment de l'enfant. Le troisième but était de présenter des méthodes
alternatives, c'est-à-dire l'apprentissage social (modification du comportement) et l'entraînement à
la maîtrise des communications. Ces méthodes sont positives et non seulement renforcent un bon
comportement en classe, mais aussi augmentent la faculté d'apprendre. Dans une atmosphère sans
violence et sans drame, dans une classe où règne le respect mutuel, les enseignants peuvent
augmenter au maximum leur efficacité et les écoliers peuvent augmenter également au maximum
leur rendement en tant qu'étudiants.

Previous article in issueNext article in issue

Keywords

Corporal punishmentInstitutional abusePhysical punishmentSchool discipline

Presented at the Fourth International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, Paris, September 1982.

View full text

Copyright © 1983 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

You might also like