Contributors offer ideas, applications, and resources for helping leaders and educators tackle the challenges of building successful professional learning communities. This wide-ranging text will prove indispensable for any democratically accountable leader committed to organizational change through communities of practice.

The book investigates how Chinese professional learning communities (PLCs) shape the professional practice of teachers and their psychological well-being. Adopting a mixed research approach, the author explores the influence of PLCs on teachers’ self-efficacy, commitment and job satisfaction in a number of schools in Shanghai, China. The study contributes to our understanding of PLC outcomes from the Chinese perspective, enriches our knowledge of how PLCs promote teachers’ psychological well-being, and also sheds light on how the practices of PLCs can be influenced by various institutional and socio-cultural forces. The book will be of interest to academics and students studying professional learning communities, teacher professional learning and professional development, school effectiveness and school improvement, and Chinese schooling.

In a professional learning community (PLC), teachers are organized into teams, committed to meeting on a regular basis to study their teaching strategies and the effects of those strategies on the students in their classrooms. The teacher teams can be of varied form and composition. Whatever the organizational structure, the teams have one goal – that is to improve teaching so that student learning is improved. Policy developers, legislators, and educational leaders have encouraged the adoption of collaborative professional learning teams as a school reform model for improving schools. In this book we describe the results of studies of professional learning communities in real schools and the effects of the teams on student learning. Much of the time school innovations are not examined in depth. Instead authors and developers simply advocate that they be used. In this book, school principals and administrators describe how their teachers used the PLC teams to improve student learning in their schools. In other words, this book presents actual research on the effects of the use of PLCs rather than testimonials.

This book arises from research conducted through Singapore’s National Institute of Education on such topics as integrating knowledge building pedagogies into Singaporean classrooms, with both students and teachers across school levels, from primary schools to high schools. Additionally, international scholars contribute research on theories of knowledge creation, methodological foundations of research on knowledge creation, knowledge creation pedagogies in classrooms and knowledge creation work involving educators. The book is organized in two sections. Section A focuses on theoretical, technological and methodological issues, where sources of justification for claims are predominantly theories and extant literature, although empirical evidence is used extensively in one chapter. Section B reports knowledge creation practices in schools, with teachers, students or both; the key sources of justification for claims are predominantly empirical evidence and narratives of experience The editor asserts that schools should focus on developing students’ capacity and disposition in knowledge creation work; at the same time, leaders and teachers alike should continue to develop their professional knowledge as a community. In the knowledge building vernacular, the chapters are knowledge artifacts – artifacts that not only document the findings of the editors and authors, but that also mediate future advancement in this area of research work. The ultimate aim of the book is to inspire new ideas, and to illuminate the path for researchers of similar interest in knowledge creation in education.

This bookextends the national discussion about the Professional Development School (PDS) movement of the past three decades. The volume highlights school/university partnerships’ focus on collaborative activities that endeavor to promote social justice in and across P-12 and university classrooms, educational institutions, and communities. Professional Development Schools and Social Justice: Schools and Universities Partnering to Make a Difference guides veteran teachers, undergraduate and graduate pre-service teachers, and university faculty to understand how the PDS model might be oriented toward social justice ideals. Co-authored by school- and university-based educators, each chapter details the social justice work of specific partnerships and provides concrete instructional and curricular methods for application within both teacher education and PK-12 settings. Readers are provided insight into a range of elements of Professional Development Schools, including the development of PK-12 and teacher education curricula, processes of program implementation, and research and data collection.

Schools and teachers are facing various challenges in a rapidly changing world. In such circumstances, discussing and sharing concerns of mutual interest regarding policy, practice and research is crucial to creating more sophisticated understandings of the various challenges as a first step in the improvement of education. While the future should not be imprisoned in the past, the past does provide valuable lessons that will undergo new iterations in constructing the future. The future will be multi-faceted and complex and the different chapters included in this book are intended to provide important contributions from which to build the future of education. The different chapters provide readers with international perspectives, frameworks and empirical evidence of legacies, continuities and changes in educational policy, practice and research in teaching, teacher education and learning. We hope that they inspire the readers to build the future and to change their own professional realities. —Cheryl J. Craig, Ph.D., Professor, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA, Secretary, ISATT This book metaphorically captures the looking backward to the past—pressing forward to the future that typically takes place on celebratory occasions. It causes us to pause and remember even as we race toward a time unknown to us. In a sense, the authors featured in this book serve as tour guides pointing out legacies, continuities and changes in teaching and teacher education. I strongly urge readers not only to peruse the chapters that follow, but to distill them to their essences and to glean what is of value to be learned from them. In conclusion, the ISATT Executive especially thanks the co-editors of this volume who have compiled a superb collection of chapters on a timely and relevant topic.

"This series allows school principals to integrate theory and practice themselves, resulting in highly insightful and practical strategies that will make a difference in schools. Practitioners: lead thyselves!" —Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto "Avoiding high-flown theory on the one hand and mere bullet points on the other, these books represent the best that highly expert leaders have to offer—intellectually informed ideas about how to deal with the compelling practical issues of principalship." —Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education Boston College "This series of little volumes provides a valuable resource for new principals who would become accomplished instructional leaders and seasoned principals looking to strengthen their leadership capacity." —Roland S. Barth, Founding Director Harvard Principals′ Center "Addresses some of the most important challenges facing school leaders today. The authors bring a remarkable combination of deep, practical experience and academic sophistication to these challenges." —Ken Leithwood, Professor Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto Create a collaborative culture for increased student achievement! Schools with professional learning communities (PLCs) benefit from significantly improved student achievement and a greater sense of shared purpose. This resource, part of the Leading Student Achievement series, provides principals with practical support to lead the development of PLCs in their schools. With step-by-step plans and hands-on strategies, this handbook guides principals through the process of building thriving PLCs by: Defining the key attributes of PLCs Explaining the principal′s role in the process Laying the foundation for shared mission, vision, values, and goals Showing how to create a steering team, introduce the concept to staff, and develop teacher learning teams Featuring professional development modules, case studies, and reproducibles that can be adapted to any school context, The Principal as Professional Learning Community Leader is an invaluable companion for school leaders at any level.

In On Leadership: An Interdisciplinary Approach editors Fowler and Raehll provide one of the most comprehensive books on interdisciplinary leadership approaches to date. Contributing authors from across the nation and around the globe include individuals from an array of sectors, including Education (PK-12 and Higher Education), Business, Public and Nonprofit Organizations, Government, Military, Law Enforcement, and the Healthcare Industry. With a focus on highlighting the best practices as it applies to effective leadership in any given organization, the book offers a much needed analysis of what it means to lead successfully in the 21st Century and beyond. Endorsements: "If you are looking for a cutting-edge resource regarding interdisciplinary leadership, I highly recommend On Leadership! Each chapter has a rich perspective, which contributes to the interplay between one’s context, value system, level of authenticity, perspectives, and unique experiences. I highly recommend On Leadership and look forward to using this in the leadership courses I teach." — David De Jong, Dakota State University "As both a scholar in school leadership and a former school leader, I thought I knew just about everything about leadership, but after reading this book, I was delightfully enlightened about the practical application of leadership in varying contexts around the world. Organized in three sections, this book clearly presents the practical application of leadership through an interdisciplinary approach. Fowler and Raehll provide a rich text with contributions of authors in both PK-12 Schools and Higher Education, and this text would be a welcome addition to any educational leadership program." — Sonya D. Hayes, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville "Effective leadership development and corresponding leadership skills are not unique to any one profession, or leadership position. Effective leadership transcends all professions and effective leadership is evident in all effective leaders and leadership positions. Therefore, On Leadership: An Interdisciplinary Approach, is a timely must read for current and aspiring leaders. Siloed leadership development must be a thing of the past." — Michael Schwanenberger, Northern Arizona University "Undoubtedly forward-thinking content that will serve as key fundamentals in the future training of leaders in and out of the educational landscape. Centered on ethics and authenticity, this text truly represents a wholesome approach to modeling effective leadership practices in the 21st century." — Alexandrea Horton, Former PreK-12 Educator

This book is intended for students, leaders and managers who wish to explore the personal relevance and conceptual bases of educational leadership and organizational management and to develop their expertise in this field. It is a book written for both scholars and practitioners. The general public will also appreciate the accessible language in the book. There are two goals in the experiential learning process. One is to learn the specifics of a particular subject matter, in this case, educational leadership and organizational management. The other is to learn about one’s own strengths and weaknesses as a learner. This book is focused on the analysis of prevalent theories and concepts and their application to the development of leadership and management skills, and the knowledge and attitudes required to solve real world problems in the workplace. For decades, students have focused their studies of educational leadership and organizational management theories in classroom settings without actual opportunities to apply these theories in the workplace. A profound and significant lesson learned in history is that we must follow the principle of integrating theory with practice (unity of theory with practice). Then, we can follow the policy of walking on two legs, an analogy made by the late Chinese chairman, Mao Ze Dong.

This up-to-date, candid examination of women's careers in education and leadership in education describes the pitfalls, triumphs, and future promise of female leaders in education. Overall, education is a field still dominated by women, yet women do not typically pursue or attain leadership positions at the administrative level. Research has revealed some of the reasons for this: women still experience gender discrimination in education careers, experience higher attrition rates, and have slower career mobility than do men. Additionally, women in education are apparently less valued, and their performance is more critically evaluated, as in other fields. This insightful text shows the gender-based inequities and discrimination women face when aiming for leadership positions in education, and lays out a plan to bring success to this level of the field that is still male-dominated. Women as Leaders in Education: Succeeding Despite Inequity, Discrimination, and Other Challenges is the result of a team of leading feminist educators and scholars. It delves into feminist women's leadership in education from kindergarten to graduate school. This two-volume work assesses the historical and current political landscape with regard to women hitting a "glass ceiling," issues of social justice, and the unique challenges women face in educational leadership as well as the new field of teacher leadership.