Helping Teachers Learn: Principal Leadership for Adult Growth and Development

"Drago-Severson has created an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to learn how to be a school′s ′principal adult educator.′" —Robert Kegan, Meehan Professor of Adult Learning and Professional Development Harvard University Graduate School of Education "Helping Teachers Learn is a remarkably ambitious and comprehensive work that describes how principals may effectively exercise leadership in support of teacher learning within schools. The book is an extraordinary treasure chest of real-world examples, insights, and uncommon sense." —Richard H. Ackerman Author, The Wounded Leader A new learning-oriented leadership model to help principals support teacher development and growth! How can you, as a principal, create opportunities for teacher learning that really work to support teachers with different needs and preferences? There is wide agreement that the best teacher development is informal, diverse, democratic, school-based, and continuous. The best programs ignite and sustain teachers′ excitement in learning, growing, and changing their classroom practices. Drago-Severson presents case studies from 25 diverse schools across the U.S. and examines strategies that help shape a school climate of teacher support, growth, and learning. In addition, she suggests many creative solutions to secure any resources needed to implement this learning-oriented professional growth model. Concepts covered in Helping Teachers Learn include: A new model of learning-oriented leadership that can be tailored to particular settings or individuals Adult learning principles that inform teacher growth and development, and why they are essential to effective teacher development programs The Four Pillars: teaming, providing leadership roles, engaging in collegial inquiry, and mentoring Real-world examples of principals sharing leadership, building community, and managing change Enhance your professional development model to better support teacher growth and development, as well as your own self-development as a principal.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Susan Moore Johnson Preface About Professional Development School Leadership Organization of the Book Acknowledgments About the Author 1. Developing A New Model of School Leadership For Teacher Learning The Study Origins of This Work Methods A New Model of Learning-Oriented School Leadership Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 2. Constructive-Developmental Theory and Adult Development About Transformational Learning Kegan′s Constructive-Developmental Theory Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 3. Principals as Climate Shapers Lessons From Current Research The Core Principles That Ground Leadership Approaches Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 4. The Impact of Financial Resources on Support for Teacher Learning Challenges Posed by Limited Financial Resources Creative Strategies for Coping with Limited Financial Resources Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 5. Teaming: Learning Opportunities for Individuals and Organizations About Teaming Why Principals Support Teaming Examples of Principals′ Use of Teaming A Contextualized Case: A Cross-Functional Team of Teachers, Administrators, and Staff Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 6. Providing Leadership Roles: Opportunities for Leadership and Learning About Leadership Roles Why Principals Want to Provide Teachers With Leadership Roles Examples of Providing Leadership Roles A Case Study: Shared Leadership - Peter′s Story Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 7. Collegial Inquiry: A Practice for Talking and Thinking About Practice About Collegial Inquiry and Reflective Practice What Principals Like About Collegial Inquiry Examples of Principals′ Use of Collegial Inquiry Developmental Benefits of Collegial Inquiry A Case: Using Collegial Inquiry in Collaborative Goal Setting and Evaluation Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 8. Mentoring: A Powerful Means of Facilitating Learning About Mentoring What Principals Like About Mentoring Examples of Mentoring A Case Study: An Exemplary Mentoring Program Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 9. Bringing It All Together: A Case of Learning-Oriented Leadership in Action The Self-Study Evaluation Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 10. Leadership for Learning′s Well-Spring: Self-Renewal through Reflective Practice Principal Renewal: Rejuvenation Through Reflective Practice Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 11. Leading in the 21st Century: New Opportunities for Learning Review of Challenges to a Climate Suppportive of Teacher Learning Implications of the New Learning-Oriented Model of Leadership Frequently Asked Questions Stepping Forward: New Beginnings for Leaders of Transformational Learning Epilogue Glossary References Index

About the Author :
Ellie Drago-Severson is Professor of Education Leadership and Adult Learning and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University.  A developmental psychologist, Ellie teaches, conducts research, and serves as a consultant to school and district leaders, systems leaders, and teacher leaders in public, charter and private schools and systems—on professional and personal growth and learning; leadership that supports principal, teacher, school, and leadership development; and coaching and mentoring in K–12 schools, university settings, and other adult education contexts domestically and internationally.  She is also an internationally certified developmental coach who works with leaders to build internal capacity, lead on behalf of social justice, and grow systemwide capacity.    For more than three decades, Ellie’s research, teaching, and partnerships in the field have sought—synergistically—to explore, and extend the possibilities of adult development and developmental leadership as levers for internal capacity building at the individual, team, organizational, and societal levels. Her work explores interconnected streams that focus on: the connection between internal capacities and educational leaders’ practice on behalf of social justice, a developmental approach to feedback for growth, pressing challenges national and international educational leaders are facing and helping them to manage them, leadership preparation and development, a new, learning-oriented model for leadership development, supporting adult development in individuals and teams across and within systems, supporting diverse adult English Language Learners and those who serve them, and growing teacher leadership.  Consonant with the urgent conversations about transforming schools, systems, and society as more learning- and equity-oriented contexts, her work foregrounds how we can support leaders’ internal capacity building in schools, organizations, and leadership preparation programs, and how these capacities inform the gifts leaders are able to give to those in their care, each other, and the world as they lead for social justice. Ellie loves opportunities to accompany school leaders in their vital work—and never takes it for granted. Instead, she considers it a gift.   At Teachers College, Ellie is director of the PhD Program in Educational Leadership, teaches aspiring and practicing principals in the Summer Principals Academy, aspiring superintendents in the Urban Educators Leaders Program, leaders from a variety of different sectors in the Accelerated Educational Guided Inquiry Studies (AEGIS) Program, and also coaches leaders in the Cahn Fellows Program for Distinguished Leaders and in her private coaching practice to help leaders grow their practice and themselves. She also serves as faculty director and co-facilitator of the Leadership Institute for School Change at Teachers College. Ellie is author of the best-selling books Helping Teachers Learn (Corwin, 2004) and Leading Adult Learning (Corwin/The National Staff Development Council, 2009)—as well as Becoming Adult Learners (Teachers College Press, 2004) and Helping Educators Grow (Harvard Education Press, 2012).  She is also a co-author of Learning for Leadership (Corwin, 2013), Learning Designs (Learning Forward & Corwin, 2014), Tell Me So I Can Hear You (Harvard Education Press, 2016), and Leading change together (ASCD, 2018).   Ellie’s work has earned awards from the Spencer Foundation, the Klingenstein Foundation, and Harvard, where she served on faculty for 8 years and was awarded the Morningstar Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Dean’s award for Excellent in Teaching. Most recently, Ellie received three outstanding teaching awards from Columbia University. She has earned degrees from Long Island University (BA) and Harvard University (EdM, EdD and Post-Doctoral Fellowship). Ellie grew up in the Bronx and is very grateful for the way in which it and that community has shaped her life.

Review :
"Drago-Severson has created an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to learn how to be a school’s ‘principal adult educator.’" "Helping Teachers Learn is a remarkably ambitious and comprehensive work that describes how principals may effectively exercise leadership in support of teacher learning within schools. The book is an extraordinary treasure chest of real world examples, insights, and uncommon sense." "Helping Teachers Learn addresses an extremely important theme--the developmental aspects of teacher learning and how principals can support them. The framework is new and generative." "Teaching can be a very isolating profession. In the midst of the many constraints and pressures inherent in education today, there exist some distinctive messages of hope. Helping Teachers Learn focuses on some of the best practices found in a broad spectrum of schools--public, independent and parochial. Drago-Severson′s important research points the way to greater reflective practice, personal growth and professional satisfaction." "Drago-Severson masterfully weaves voices of experience with practical strategies and theoretical underpinnings to illustrate the viability and necessity of adult learning in schools. As a novice principal in a low resource urban charter school, I have a renewed hope that this work is indeed possible." "Strategies and case studies combine to provide principals with a leadership model to help enhance teacher development."