Leadership for

Learning

Jane Clark, Curtis Taylor, Omar Zavalza

The Nature of Successful Leadership
Practices
Leithwood, et al., 2006 - Five
Core Practices
Setting Directions

Developing People

Redesigning the Organization

Core Leadership Practices

Managing the Teaching Program

Distribution of Successful Leadership

Distributed Leadership is gaining

prominence.

Barriers can make Distributed

Leadership difficult to implement
Structural

Cultural

Micropolitical

Distributed Practice - positive

Roots of Successful Leadership
Practice

Cognitive Characteristics
Intelligence

Problem Solving

Knowledge

Affective Characteristics
Personality

Motivation
From Successful Leadership Practices
to Pupil Learning
Influence

Perspectives
Followers

Leaders

Teachers/Students
Classroom Conditions

Curriculum
 Four Key Leadership Practices

Direction Setting - individual efficacy

and organizational commitment

Develop People - collective efficacy

Redesign the Organization - be

flexible and open

Manage the Teaching and Learning

Program - commit to excellence and
model it
 Learning in Context

Pursuing powerful, equitable opportunities, leaders focus on these

three learning agendas:

Student Learning

Professional Learning

System Learning
 Establishing a Focus on Learning

Persistently and publicly

focusing attention on learning
and teaching.
Working with others to set
goals for learning
improvement and then
reviewing progress.
Building Professional Communities
Leaders nurture work cultures that
value and support their members
learning.
Facilitating participation in
professional communities that value
learning.
Promoting a focus on learning and
core values
 Engage External Environments

Leaders build relationships

outside of the school
environment and seek out
resources to help with
improvement of student
learning and teacher learning.
Building relationships
Anticipating and
confronting resistance
Generating resources
Sharing Leadership
Distribute leadership across
levels,e.g., principals to
teacher leaders to students.
Pathways of Learning
 Creating Coherence

Leaders bring the three learning

contexts (student, professional,
and system) learning together
focused on specific learning
goals.
Resources

Knapp, M.S.Copland, M.A., & Talbert, J.E. (2003). Leading for learning: reflective tools for school and district leaders.
Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, 5-33.

Knapp, M.S., Copland, M.A., Ford, B., Markholt, A., McLaughlin, M.W., Milliken, & M., Talbert, J.E., (2003). Leading for
learning sourcebook: concepts and examples. Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy. 1 - 113.

Leithwood, K., Day, C., Sammons, P., Harris, A., Hopkins, D. (2006). Successful School Leadership What It Is and How It
Influences Pupil Learning.

Leithwood, K., Louis, K. S., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). Executive summary: How leadership influences
student learning. The Wallace Foundation, 2-15.

Waters, T., Marzano, R. J., McNulty, B. (2003). Balanced Leadership: What 30 years of research tells us about the effect of
leadership on student achievement. McREL, 1-19.