The Learner
New Learning
Learning Design & Leadership ProjectsJake Madden’s Shares
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Four Pillars to Building a Positive School Culture
This article examines the premise of the Outstanding School. In dealing with such a premise, the paper examines what such schools have in common by detailing four key 'pillars'. Implicated in these pillars is the concept of leadership and the development of an appropriate school staffing culture. Building on the theme of leading change the article provides an insight into how 'change' can be successfully implemented in a school when leadership is focused on what matters.
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Building the Future School
For the 21st century educator the delivery of learning is not solely centred on the attainment of knowledge and skills. They define the needs of the learner and focus on the pedagogies needed to foster 21st century learning and readiness for college and careers. Once defined, the choice of curricula, learning experiences, types of assessments and teaching strategies are planned. Al Yasat Private School in Abu Dhabi, is one example of a successful twenty-first century school. In this paper, the authors describe the elements of this exemplary K-8 school, outlining how a purpose built learning environment can activate twenty-first century student learning.
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DEVELOPING THE CONDITIONS FOR DATA DRIVEN CHANGE TO IMPACT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND BUILD TEACHER CAPACITY
Schools have been caught up in responding to the calls of external accountability. This has challenged school leaders to establish data gathering practices that ultimately lend themselves to creating school wide instructional systems to impact teaching and learning and offer a consistent instructional approach. This paper outlines how one school established a data driven approach to improve teacher performance by focusing on key elements using a literature focused approach as a catalyst for driving new innovation. The paper considers how a data driven focus (DDF) allows leaders to intentionally and systematically improve student learning. The paper begins by unpacking the new focus on instructional leadership. It unveils how leaders are required to create the foundation to develop a DDF as a vehicle to facilitate information about student achievement within the school. The second part of the paper reports on the change process used to implement DDF as guided by key elements. It entails a 6-step cycle involving 1) developing a desire for change, 2) reflection on data, 3) aligning school programs & curricula, 4) Understanding by Design instructional practices and professional development, 5) provision of feedback, and 6) nurturing teacher implementation. It reviews how one school, through the focus of improving instruction and intentionally using key literature-based concepts, developed a raised awareness for using curriculum and assessment data to guide decision making. This paper provides a rich example of how a school can facilitate and sustain a data-based decision-making culture in schools. The paper concludes that being a data-focused school is a possibility for each and every school.
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School Reform: Case Studies in Teaching Improvement
ducation Systems across the globe are focusing their attentions on the quality of teaching and learning that is occurring in their schools. The challenge for schools, their leaders and the teachers, ---‘the engine room’ so to speak of quality education provision--- is how to pragmatically and sustainably improve. While the published literature provides guidance and nominates effective leadership, opportunities for professional dialogue and collaborations and learning teaching content in context as potent strategies, Jake Madden argues that achievement in such agendas also requires the establishment in teachers, of what is termed, 'the teacher researcher capability'. Jake Madden, an education leader and researcher of note, has pioneered the concept of Teacher as Researchers in various educational settings across the globe. In this book Madden provides a set of teacher researcher based case studies which demonstrate, not only the development of new classroom knowledge, but a viable means through which such new knowledge is actioned for student learning impacts.
