1st Edition

Leading Learners, Leading Schools

By Robin Brooke-Smith Copyright 2003
    144 Pages
    by Routledge

    144 Pages
    by Routledge

    In this book, Robin Brooke-Smith explores the dynamics of schools as complex organisations. He presents a radical departure from established school improvement and effectiveness orthodoxies, offering a refreshing new approach to managing change and enhancing collective learning.
    Based on the author's own experience of managing and leading schools, this book explores such questions as:
    * How can schools learn as a generative process?
    * How can schools become adaptive and co-evolve with their internal and external environments?
    * How can education leaders 'navigate' their institutions out of the comfort zone and into the creative state?
    The book concludes with a series of practical lessons for leading schools in complex conditions and will be of great value to reflective, action-orientated heads, principals and deputies, as well as academics and researchers in education management.

    List of Figures, List of Tables, Foreword, Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, Introduction, 1. A tale of two schools, 2. Old paradigm, new paradigm, 3. Dynamical Systems Theory: a new approach to school improvement, 4. Micro-politics: understanding the shadow system, 5. Deep Learning and Professional Development in the learning organization, 6. Lessons and principles for schools from Dynamical Systems Theory, Bibliography, Index

    Biography

    Robin Brooke-Smith (Author)

    'It's stimulating stuff: more of a guide to reflection, perhaps, than to action, but encouraging none the less as a counterblast to the control-and-command mentality that characterises most education policy and practice today.' - Michael Duffy, TES

    'This book is a valuable addition to the professional libraries of school administrators, both aspiring and seated, as well as for faculty engaged in rethinking the preparation of new leaders for new schools.' - Kristina A. Hesbol, Teachers College Record

    'Brooke-Smith indicates that we cannot overlook the anxiety involved in the change process, and instead suggests ways ro actively address it...The book would make a good addition to many Educational Administration preparation courses, but is an especially good fit for an Organizational Dynamics course. It is also a good book to spur seasoned administrators to consider fresh ways of reviewing their environments prior to instituting any type of change efforts.' - Susan M. Perlis, www.lib.msu.edu