Excellent leadership matters
Without excellent leadership, school improvement is impossible, or at least impossible to sustain. But what are the characteristics of an excellent leader? Is general leadership experience and knowledge enough? And how do you practically grow and develop leadership in yourself and others so you can all have a bigger impact on student outcomes?
This integrated, holistic resource explores the virtues that are integral to achieving excellence in educational leadership, while offering practical guidance on how to do the right work in the right way—no matter what challenges you face or student inequities you’re trying to overcome. Features include:
- Practical, research-based applications of virtue theory
- Examples of school leaders’ thinking and actions
- In-depth yet accessible theoretical analysis
- Detailed analysis showing theoretical concepts in practice
- Summaries and reflection questions
The success of your students and teachers is directly linked to your influence, your knowledge and ideas, your personal character, and your ability to focus on the proper purposes of education.
Table of Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Part A: Identifying the Proper Purpose of Leadership Work
Chapter 1: Three Proper Purposes of Education
The Proper Purposes of Educational Institutions
Less Satisfactory Approaches to Identifying the Right Work
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 2: Linking the Purposes to the Science of Learning and Teaching
How Students Learn
Implications for Classroom Teaching
Summary
Reflection and Action
Part B: Doing the Right Leadership Work
Chapter 3: Implications of the Science of Learning and Teaching for Leadership
Dimension 1: Setting Goals and Expectations for Deep Learning
Dimension 2: Resourcing Strategically for Deep Learning
Dimension 3: Ensuring Quality Teaching for Deep Learning
Dimension 4: Leading Teacher Professional Learning for Deep Learning
Dimension 5: Ensuring a Safe and Orderly Environment for Deep Learning
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 4: Taking Context Seriously
Traditional Concepts of Context
Proposed Concept of Context
Summary
Reflection and Action
Part C: Doing the Right Work the Right Way
Chapter 5: Virtues for Doing the Right Work the Right Way
Virtues Explained
Virtues as Inclusive of Motives, Knowledge, and Skills
The Place of Virtues in Leadership Frameworks
A Taxonomy of Virtues for Doing the Right Work the Right Way
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 6: Leadership Virtues
Sources of Leadership Influence
Virtuous Leadership Motivations
Identifying and Nurturing a Virtuous Disposition to Lead
Recruiting and Retaining Virtuous Leaders
Reluctance to Lead
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 7: Problem-Solving Virtues: Strategic
The Role of Knowledge and Skill in Virtuous Strategic Leadership
The Role of Motivation in Virtuous Strategic Leadership
Connecting the Details With the Big Picture
Finding the Strategic Focus
Enacting the Strategic Focus
Maintaining the Strategic Focus
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 8: Problem-Solving Virtues: Analytic
Analytic Virtues and Theories of Action
Analytic Virtues and Truth-Seeking
Motivational Aspects of Analytic Virtues
The Ladder of Inference: A Tool for Truth-Seeking Leaders
Strategic and Analytic Virtues in Action
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 9: Problem-Solving Virtues: Imaginative
Imaginative Virtues and the Integration of Solution Requirements
Imaginative Virtues, Creativity, and Problem-Solving
Strategic, Analytic, and Imaginative Virtues in Action
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 10: Interpersonal Virtues
Relational Trust: A Guide for Deriving Interpersonal Virtues
Four Interpersonal Virtues
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 11: Integrating Leadership, Problem-Solving, and Interpersonal Virtues
The Task-Relationship Dilemma
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 12: Being Virtuous in Tough Spots
Fostering Accurate Reporting
Building Collegial Accountability
Providing Critical Evaluation
Summary
Reflection and Action
Chapter 13: Virtuous Leadership of Educational Improvement: A Case Study
The Problem: Attendance at Vauxhall Secondary College
The Leaders: Roles and Contributions
The Method: Using CCPS to Improve Attendance
The New Challenge: Addressing an Unanticipated Obstacle
Reflections on the Success of CCPS at Vauxhall Secondary College
Reflections on the Contributions of Leaders’ Virtues to the Success of CCPS at VSC
Summary
Reflection and Action
Conclusion
Chapter 14: Conclusion
References
Index
About the author
Viviane is a Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and Academic Director of its Centre for Educational Leadership. Her research identifying the impact of different types of leadership on student outcomes (Student- Centered Leadership) has been used to shape leadership policy and practice in Scandinavia, England, Singapore, Chile, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. She has received numerous awards from national and international professional and academic organisations including the Australian Council for Educational Leaders, the New Zealand Secondary Principals Association and the US-based University Council on Educational Administration. In 2011, she was made a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association for sustained excellence in educational research. In 2016 the Royal Society of New Zealand awarded her the Mason Durie Medal for her international contributions to educational leadership research and practice. She currently leads a research and development programme on the leadership knowledge and skills involved in school improvement. To learn more visit her website at www.education.auckland.ac.nz/vmj-robinson
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