Leading and Learning Together

Leadership, coupled with learning, is an ongoing process in which everyone has a participatory role in school or district change efforts. Providing a useful antidote to the plethora of packaged curriculum and external professional development providers, this book focuses on reclaiming agency, advocacy, and inquiry for leaders and teachers in the places they know best—their schools and districts. Doing so requires imagination, cooperation, and transparency. As such, the authors provide evidence from multiple school and district educators who are cultivating change from within by disrupting and dismantling systems and drawing on internal assets to address equity-driven challenges. As a result, educators can and should become researchers of their own practices. This resource offers a set of evidence-based principles, processes, and protocols that increase equitable access and support educators to breathe joy and justice into schools and communities.

Book Features:

• Educational change reimagined as reinvesting in the collective power of the people closest to the issues.
• Guidance based on evidence from multiple school and district change efforts documented and described by the authors.
• Use of evidence to organize more productive informal and formal professional learning driven by practitioner agency and inquiry.
• Text boxes called “Voices From the Field” provide stories of practices from practitioner-researchers.
• Access to equitable processes and protocols, including downloadable forms and tools for teacher professional learning.
• Evidence from school and district leaders underscores the complex work of leading and learning from within, and how to do it.

Lynda Tredway is a program coordinator at East Carolina University. Matthew Militello is the Wells Fargo Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership at East Carolina University. Joseph Flessa is an associate dean and a professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

“The authors do not promise easy solutions. They do promise that by following the practices shared here—from the inside out—we can all lead and learn in ways that help us reclaim who we are and who we are becoming.”
—From the Foreword by Mónica Byrne-Jiménez, executive director, University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA)

“Any experienced teacher, principal, and superintendent knows in their heart of hearts that changes externally foisted upon educators might get media attention, but such reforms too often have a short shelf life. Yet changing schools from within is hardly a stroll in the park. The authors of Leading and Learning Together understand fully the challenges of changing schools from within. They offer both practitioners and researchers a conceptual guide anchored deeply in both research and intimate knowledge of how U.S. schools work. Leading and Learning Together will help those educators committed to improving their schools from within negotiate these complexities. And that is a gift to educators.”
—Larry Cuban, professor emeritus, Stanford University

"This book validates the deep knowledge and expertise of teachers, leaders, and all those connected to our schools. The heart of this work lies in leading and learning together—a collaborative spirit that unlocks the power of community to design schools centered on equity, belonging, and the boundless possibilities that lie within all learners."
—LaShawn Routé Chatmon, executive director, National Equity Project

Contents

Foreword  ix

Appreciations  xi

Introduction  1
Our Stories  3
Leading and Learning Together  4
Structure of the Book  6

Part I: The Capacity We Need to Cultivate Change

1.  The Leadership Pivot: From Single to Many  11
Disciplinary Approaches to Leadership  11
Circular Leadership  13
Leadership for Social Justice  16
Conclusion  17
Resources and Tools for Chapter 1  17

2.  The Pedagogy of Trust: Setting the Necessary Conditions  18
Gracious Space  19
Dynamic Mindfulness  22
Arts Integration  23
Personal Narratives  23
Addressing Conflict  27
Organizational Meetings: In-Person and Virtual Learning Exchanges  29
Conclusion  30
Resources and Tools for Chapter 2  31

3.  Community as Text: Harnessing the Assets of People and Place  32
Community Learning Exchange Axioms  33
Ecologies of Knowing  34
Our Communities as Text  36
The Role of Storytelling: Pláticas and Testimonios  38
Conclusion  41
Resources and Tools for Chapter 3  42

Part II: Changes in Practice

4.  Practitioner-Research in Action  45
Leaders and Teachers as Practitioner-Researchers  45
Community Learning Exchange Pedagogy and Protocols  47
Liberatory Design: Modes, Mindsets, and Actions  56
Conclusion  61
Resources and Tools for Chapter 4  61

5.  Evidence-Based Observations  62
Equitable Access and Rigor  64
Instructional Antidotes: Tried-and-True Practices  67
Useful Observation Processes  68
Conclusion  78
Resources and Tools for Chapter 5  78

6.  Effective Conversations, Not Feedback  79
Shifting to Post-Observation Conversations  81
Effective Conversation Guide  82
Results of Engaging in Effective Post-Observation Conversations  87
Analysis of Post-Observation Conversations  89
Resources and Tools for Chapter 6  91

7.  Authentic and Meaningful Professional Learning  92
Transfer to Classroom Practices: Temporary or Permanent?  94
Reimagining District and School Leadership  101
Conclusion  105
Resources and Tools for Chapter 7  105

8.  Leading and Learning With Joy and Justice  106

Glossary  112

Appendix A: Resources  115

Appendix B: EdD Dissertations of Practitioner-Researchers  117

Appendix C: General Resources for Leading and Learning Together: Cultivating School Change From Within Community Learning Exchange  122

References  123

Index  137

About the Authors  145