Big Wins, Small Steps: How to Lead For and With Creativity

Don’t sink your school’s creativity—encourage it to set sail! Do today’s schools stifle creativity? Some think so. Whether or not that assessment is fair, educational leaders need to innovate, implement creative leadership and cultivate possibility thinking. This book is the definitive resource for making creativity a schoolwide core value. Introducing the groundbreaking Small Steps Approach to Instructional Leadership (SAIL) framework, Ronald A. Beghetto shows how big wins come from small, completely doable steps, and all creativity needs is a little nudge from you, the instructional leader. Content includes: "Creative leader checklists" summarizing actionable points in each chapter. The keys to removing the most difficult creative barriers How to sit with uncertainty instead of letting it derail innovation efforts When to "flow like water", and when to "stand like a mountain" as you re-focus your school towards creativity  Implementing these principles will produce positive effects that resonate in every aspect of your school.  "Ron Beghetto′s engaging work on creativity has profound implications for schools, and for the staff and students within them."  Larry Rosenstock, CEO High Tech High "Creativity has become the holy-grail in education. Beghetto presents an authoritative, accessible, and unpretentious pathway toward creative leadership. Insightful, practical, and based on solid research, not popular myth." Yong Zhao, Author of World Class Learners "Creativity is needed to negotiate a complex world. Big Wins, Small Steps invites educators to teach creativity by first practicing deliberate creativity one small step at a time." Beth Miller, Executive Director Creative Education Foundation

Table of Contents:
Preface Chapter 1. Respond Creatively: A Small-Steps Approach Rethinking Creative Leadership Responding to Uncertainty Introducing the SAIL Framework Chapter 2. Sit With Uncertainty The Creative Potential of Uncertainty Sit With Uncertainty: Principles of Practice Putting the Principles in Practice Chapter 3. Engage in Possibility Thinking Possibility Thinking: A Different Way of Reasoning Engage in Possibility Thinking: Principles of Practice Putting the Principles in Practice Chapter 4. Prune Possibilities The Power of Pruning Possibilities Creativity and Criticism Prune Possibilities: Principles of Practice Putting the Principles in Practice Chapter 5. Take Measured Action The Power of Small Data The Progress Principle Take Measured Action: Principles of Practice Putting the Principles in Practice Chapter 6. Reclaiming Your Creativity as an Instructional Leader A Dozen Action Items for Instructional Leaders Creativity Resources Appendix A: Creative Leader Checklists Appendix B: Ground Rules Appendix C: Heuristics for Possibility Thinking Appendix D: Action Items for Instructional Leaders

About the Author :
Dr. Ronald A. Beghetto is an international expert on creativity in educational settings. He serves as Professor of Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. He is also Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Creative Behavior and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts (Div. 10, APA).   Dr. Beghetto has published numerous books, articles, and scholarly book chapters on creative and innovative approaches to teaching, learning, and leadership in schools and classrooms. He speaks around the world on issues related to helping teachers and instructional leaders develop new and transformative possibilities for classroom teaching, learning, and leadership in K-12 and higher education settings.    Prior to joining the faculty at UConn, Dr. Beghetto served as the College of Education′s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Education Studies at the University of Oregon. Dr. Beghetto earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Indiana University (with an emphasis in Learning, Cognition and Instruction).  

Review :
"In a world in which change comes at alarmingly faster rates each year (or so it would seem), it is refreshing to have a source that encourages us to take small steps within the context of our current efforts in instructional leadership which will lead to greater gains. This book is a great companion for any educational leader who wishes to model creative leadership within their building." "Big Wins, Small Steps gives Principals, Teachers, & Instructional Leaders a framework to reference when looking out how to increase the creative spirit in our schools, and what steps we can do to support our students." "I suggest that all school leaders consider this book as Ron Beghetto′s engaging work on creativity has profound implications for schools, and for the staff and students within them."  "At a time when creativity has become the holy-grail in education, Beghetto presents an authoritative, accessible, and unpretentious pathway toward creative leadership and leadership for creativity. Insightful, practical, and based on solid research, not popular myth." "Creativity is a process. It is an intrinsic skill -- the key skill needed to negotiate a complex world. Big Wins, Small Steps invites educators to teach creativity by first practicing deliberate creativity. This practical guide will cultivate your creativity one small step at a time."