Lately, our nation's strategy for improving our schools is mostly limited to "getting tough" with teachers. Blaming teachers for poor outcomes, we spend almost all of our energy trying to control teachers' behavior and school operations. But what if all of this is exactly the opposite of what is needed? What if teachers are the answer and not the problem? What if trusting teachers, and not controlling them, is the key to school success? Examining the experiences of teachers who are already trusted to call the shots, this book answers: What would teachers do if they had the autonomy not just to make classroom decisions, but to collectively--with their colleagues--make the decisions influencing whole school success? Decisions such as school curriculum, how to allocate the school budget, and whom to hire. Teachers with decision-making authority create the schools that many of us profess to want. They individualize learning. Their students are active (not passive) learners who gain academic and life skills. The teachers create school cultures that are the same as those in high-performing organizations. They accept accountability and innovate, and make efficient use of resources. These promising results suggest: it's time to trust teachers.

Teaching the Next Generation of Teachers looks to serve the many teachers who teach or sponsor classes, clubs, or conferences for secondary school students who aspire to become teachers. Based on the author’s research with students in the Tomorrow’s Teachers program, the book’s development is rich with the voices of students and their reflections on how teachers sometimes inspired them to teach and sometimes impelled them to think of new ways to teach. Their personal stories as learners will validate all students’ experiences as it both invites and inspires aspiring teachers in secondary schools to fulfill their dreams by becoming teachers. Guided by the learning community concept, it presents research and practical activities that will assist teachers and their students in re-imagining and re-inventing what teachers and schools do. It does this as it presents important research on how professional learning communities have the most positive effects on student learning while also empowering teachers to greater job satisfaction. Most importantly, this book will serves as a practical, how-to guide so secondary school students can begin to experience working in a professional learning community as they strive to improve the schools they are in right now. In doing this, the book adheres to the idea that ‘student leadership now is the best preparation for teacher leadership later.’ It will help aspiring teachers move away from the many stale traditions in schooling as they re-conceive of the profession in ways that will make it more personally satisfying while acknowledging that the work of teachers in the 21st century must necessarily be different from what we have now, legacy practices of standardization left over from the industrial age.

Schools derived of learning community cultures consistently provide students better learning outcomes than traditional schools. The book argues that the current approach to preparing teachers as independent agents via on campus classes is not only ineffective, but deprives teachers of extensive development opportunities. The proper location of teacher induction and development is in local schools that are derived of a learning community culture where teachers have a full career of professional development.

This book critiques dominant discourses and debates pertaining to values education, cultural identity and teaching democracy, set against the backdrop of growing social stratification and unequal access to quality education. It addresses discourses concerning globalisation, ideologies and the state, as well as approaches to values education and teaching democracy in schools. The book explores the ambivalent and problematic connections between the state, globalisation, values education and teaching democracy. It also explores conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches applicable to research on values education, multiculturalism and identity politics. Drawing on diverse paradigms, ranging from critical theory to globalisation, and by focusing on globalisation, ideology and values education, the book critically examines research dealing with cultural diversity and its impact of identity politics. Given the need for a multiple perspective approach, the authors have diverse backgrounds and hail from different countries and regions, offer a wealth of insights, contributing to a more holistic understanding of the nexus between values education, multiculturalism and national identity. With contributions from key scholars worldwide, the book should be required reading for a broad spectrum of users, including policy-makers, academics, graduate students, education policy researchers, administrators and practitioners.

Seven key principles from Finland for building a culture of trust in schools around the world. In the spring of 2018, thousands of teachers across the United States—in states like Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Arizona—walked off their jobs while calling for higher wages and better working conditions. Ultimately, these American educators trumpeted a simple request: treat us like professionals. Teachers in many other countries feel the same way as their US counterparts. In Teachers We Trust presents a compelling vision, offering practical ideas for educators and school leaders wishing to develop teacher-powered education systems. It reveals why teachers in Finland hold high status, and shows what the country’s trust- based school system looks like in action. Pasi Sahlberg and Timothy D. Walker suggest seven key principles for building a culture of trust in schools, from offering clinical training for future teachers to encouraging student agency to fostering a collaborative professionalism among educators. In Teachers We Trust is essential reading for all teachers, administrators, and parents who entrust their children to American schools.

While socioeconomic status does affects students' success, both in academics and in future status in adult life, it does not have to be the only deciding factor. In his study, Alternate Route to School Effectiveness and Student Achievement, Dr. Patrick Chudi Okafor discusses the need to enhance school climate as an alternate to socioeconomic status in promoting students' success. He also investigates the climate in New York City public schools as the means of schools' survival, development, and growth, as it affects both school effectiveness and student academic achievement. He further considers schools, teachers, parents, communities, and governments with respect to their roles in students' academic development and growth.These considerations, among others, led Dr. Okafor to offer solutions to the issue of failure associated with low socioeconomic status at a time when more children are falling within this bracket and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. A quality learning environment presents a strong stimulus for societal change, development, and growth. By basing the overarching framework of his study on openness of the school and family systems, Dr. Okafor builds on the idea behind the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child". The academic relationship between the home and the school must be improved to guarantee sustainable student academic performance and "the home climate" is a major contributor to what children bring to school, just as "the school climate" is a major determinant to how it is transformed.

This volume highlights issues of power, inequality, and resistance for Asian, African American, and Latino/a students in distinct U.S. and international contexts. Through a collection of case studies it links universal issues relating to inequality in education, such as Asian, Latino, and African American males in the inner-city neighborhoods, Latina teachers and single mothers in California, undocumented youth from Mexico and El Salvador, immigrant Morrocan youth in Spain, and immigrant Afro-Caribbean and Indian teenagers in New York and in London. The volume explores the processes that keep students thriving academically and socially, and outlines the patterns that exist among individuals—students, teachers, parents—to resist the hegemony of the dominant class and school failure. With emphasis on racial formation theory, this volume fundamentally argues that education, despite inequality, remains the best hope of achieving the American dream.

Emergent Bilinguals, formerly known as English Language Learners, are one of the fastest growing subgroups in the United States. Their educational needs are not well met by the educational system. In this book, we report results of empirical, multiyear studies about their reading and mathematics performance, both at the elementary school and high school levels. Given that state education agencies collect enormous amounts of information that are typically not well analyzed, this book serves as an exemplar of secondary data analyses. Educational leaders, educational researchers, and legislators and policymakers, will find the chapters in this book useful. Findings from these statewide analyses can provide readers with baselines of the performance of Emergent Bilingual students, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, in reading and in mathematics. Changes in instructional practices and in educational programming could be made based upon the numerous statistical results present in this book.

This volume presents distinctive, innovative models of teacher education from Australia, discusses their successful elements and considers possibilities for successful teacher education in the twenty-first century. Each model is couched within the international teacher education concerns of the theory practice nexus, school-university partnerships, reflective practice, and the role of technology. The contributing authors, drawn from different contexts and locations around Australia, each offers research-based perspectives on successful teacher education. Responses to teacher education challenges in rural and regional contexts, metropolitan areas, among low socio-economic populations and Indigenous communities are considered. Ways in which technology, and in particular mobile technology, can be used to support learning across these diverse contexts are illustrated, as is the role of reflective practice to encourage critical reflection for improving teacher learning. Collectively, the authors present a range of directions that can guide the future of teacher education both nationally and internationally, demonstrating that context, partnerships, reflection and technology are critical elements in the provision of successful teacher education.