LEADING FOR LEARNING

INTRODUCTION A sense of urgency pervades public education these days as students struggle to meet the high standards set by their state and the nation. Teachers are pressed as never before to improve education quality and equity. Achievement gaps persist, and parents of students who attend low-performing schools increasingly seek an escape from public education. The call for strong leadership in education is unmistakableleadership that brings about significant improvement in learning and a narrowing of achievement gaps. Yet many school and district administrators report their time is consumed by matters unrelated to learning improvement. ven with enough time to focus, the leaders! task is comple", and it is not always clear to them what they should be doing to contribute to that goal. #n each one of these areas, and in many other areas, teachers serve in a leadership capacity. $ow, there is training for teachers to become better leaders in their classrooms, in their interactions with their students, parents, and in working with other teachers and administrators to improve their school. To imagine leading for learning, it is essential to grasp a set of foundational concepts about leadership, learning, and their potential connections. %ith these concepts in mind, one could then e"plore their practical meaning in school and district settings, while understanding the challenges encountered in the process of reali&ing these ideas.

'($' )T *nderstanding the fundamentals of leading for learning can begin with images of effective learning and teaching as it occurs in the classroom. Time is also devoted to teaching the skills needed to engage in successful peer review and collaborative group work. Teachers and learners bring prior knowledge, cultural backgrounds, and assumptions about schooling and each other. Teacher and students are assigned to work together, and in that conte"t develop perceptions of each other and relationships over time. #n this instance, the teacher and students have developed a comfortable working relationship in a small school setting that makes it easier for the participants to know each other well. The structure of classroom time and other time in the building gives the teacher many different ways of interacting with students +e.g., individual writing conferences, group guidance, direct whole group teaching, small group advisory sessions,. -arious forces define what is to be taught +state standards, district frameworks, te"tbook choices, but ultimately teachers! own grasp of the sub.ect matterand conceptions of knowledge itselfset boundaries around what will be taught and learned. #n operational form, the teachers! knowledge of content and of how young learners connect with it shapes the nature of academic tasks. #n this instance, the teacher has a well-developed set of ideas about the humanities +history, literature, and social studies,, and her knowledge base complements that of her colleagues. Together, they are able to bring a rich base of knowledge to bear on both their curriculum design and teaching itself.

/ow students engage in academic tasks and how teachers guide and support that engagement defines the opportunity for learning to take place. #n particular, students! engagement indicates degrees of ownership of the task at hand. 0iven demanding and motivating academic tasks and considerable support for engaging in this kind of work, students, in this instance, choose to engage and are helped to stay engaged by a combination of teacher and peer support. #t is not easy for these students, but by now, they have begun to get comfortable with this kind of work and to develop some proficiency at it. %hat takes place in the classroom ultimately reflects the participants! notions of learning itself and how learning can be demonstrated. #n this instance, the teachers have devised various ways of demonstrating learning in the humanities and have defined what good student work looks like. '($' )T*A1 23A4 %(35 $-#3($4 $T6
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STUDENT LEARNER LEARNING

%hat is taking place in this +or any, teaching situation can be represented TEACHER schematically, as shown in the framework. As the framework and the e"ample imply, each aspect of teaching and learning may bear the stamp of leaders at various levels of the system. 7ut before e"ploring how leaders can have such impacts, it is helpful to

clarify several things about leadership and also about the multiple levels of learning that take place in this situation. )ut most simply, leadership can be thought of as the act of imparting purpose to an organi&ation as well as motivating and sustaining effort in pursuit of that purpose.8 #n schools and districts that means many thingsfrom articulating broad visions of how the schools serve students in a pluralistic, democratic society, to guiding the way operational details in the daily life of schools are addressed. %ith an eye to improving student learning, leadership theories and activities have long focused on the immediate support and supervision of instruction.9 This 6ourcebook, however, is about more than what is generally referred to as :instructional leadership.; Traditionally that concept has concerned the role of the principal and other school-level leaders +staff developers, district coordinators, mentor teachers, in supervising, guiding, and monitoring instruction and instructional practice. %hile clearly part of the story, that notion of instructional leadership misses a more inclusive picture of leadership that embraces work carried out simultaneously by individuals at different levels of the system, and with different purviews over and pro"imity to instruction.< #n this sense, leading for learning implies, at the school level, the .oint work of principals, assistant principals, department heads, school-based mentors and coaches, teacher leaders, and others. At the district level, it implies superintendents, assistant or deputy superintendents, school board members, directors and coordinators, and district supported staff with crosscutting assignments, not to mention leaders in the community who play a role in guiding and supporting the district!s work. 2urthermore, a more

inclusive view of educational leadership treats leadership as an attribute of the organi&ation as a whole, embedded not only in formal positions of authority. #n these formulations, leadership also includes leaders! thinking, feelings, and the meanings they and others attach to events in the organi&ation. 2inally, a broader view of leadership highlights a broad array of leadership tools, not only the conventional toolkit of positional leaders +resources, requirements and sanctions, e"hortations, symbols,, but also modeling, relationship building, and systematic inquiry into organi&ational performance, not to mention the creation of policies, structures, and incentives of many kinds. '($'1*6#($ 2or the many districts and schools that have not yet developed the kinds of leadership, this framework of ideas and reflective tools offers perspectives and tools to move forward. #t can help educators visuali&e powerful, equitable student learning, and the professional and system learning that is necessary to get there. #t clarifies the core values that bolster these efforts, and emphasi&es the need for professional communities that share those values. #t prompts a hard and careful look at internal conditions and e"ternal environments, and points to places where leaders might search for solutions appropriate to their local settings. *ltimately, however, it is the work of motivated leaders that will advance educational systems toward powerful and equitable education. #n their struggle to lead for learning effectively, educators will need courage, humility, and a little help from their friends. They will encounter problems for which there are no

known or apparent solutionwhat have been referred to as :adaptive; challenges rather than :technical; ones. These challenges arise in the value tensions inherent in public schooling and in the comple" politics that surround education, especially in large urban school districts. The challenges also reflect the intricacy and variety of human thinking, feeling, and motivation, not to mention the rich cultural diversity that learners bring to public schooling. And the challenges are intensified by large social forces that, for the most part, are beyond educators! control. #n the face of these challenges, educational leaders will only know the full e"tent of their influence on young people!s learning if they develop a rich repertoire of possibilities, e"periment with ways to e"ert constructive influence, and learn from their efforts. 2ew leaders are already there. 4ost are in the process of getting there or else are wondering how in the world to get started. 2or all, the 6ourcebook should help them on their .ourney. 3 2 3 $' 6 3esnick, 1. 7. +=>>?,. 2rom aptitude to effort@ A new foundation for our schools. Aaedalus, =BC, ??-8B. 3esnick, 1. D 0lennan, T. +BEEB,. 1eadership for learning@ A theory of action for urban school districts. #n /ightower, A. 4., 5napp, 4. 6., 4arsh, F. A., 4c1aughlin, 4. %. + ds.,, 6chool districts and instructionalrenewal, =8E-=9B. $ew York@ Teachers 'ollege )ress.

6hepard, 1. +=>>?,. *sing assessment to improve learning. ducational 1eadership, ?C+?,, G<-CG. 6hulman, 1. +=><8,. Those who understand, teach@ 5nowledge growth in teaching. ducational 3esearcher, =?, C-=C.