Monday, February 28, 2011

21st Century Learning and Leadership

The following is from Jonathan Martin's "7 Steps for 21st Century Learning." Jonathan is Head of School at St. Gregory College Prep in Tuscon, AZ. I thought so much of of his post, I decided I would comment on two of his points here:

"Leadership is, more than anything else, a project of managing change." I have always felt that leading is often managing, and in independent schools managing the talent is a huge part of the process of change. I find leaders in our schools don't need to push and prod faculty as much as facilitate and clear the path for them to innovate and grow.

"Celebrate Success; Showcase What’s Working. We should always be proud of our schools and excited about our school’s successes. Accentuate the positive and celebrate every event which exemplifies the learning we seek for our students." I could not agree more with Martin here. Our families need to hear what we are doing and it is easier than ever to communicate what is happening with email, video and text. There is no excuse for leaders not to showcase the great things teachers and students are doing each day.

For more on Leadership in the 21st Century go to:http://21k12blog.net/2011/02/20/7-steps-for-leading-in-21st-c-learning/

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm interested in this idea of 21st century learning, especially as it relates to helping students learn to design, prototype, collaborate and empathize with people in a rapidly-changing world.

How do you, as an educational leader in a leading school, feel that MPH is inculcating these values and intentions into both your faculty and your student body?

Just stumbled across your blog while doing research on Design Thinking in independent schools — not sure how you popped up, but looking forward to reading more in the future.