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Schools adjusted to turn-of-the-20th Century changes by adapting curricula to keep pace with industrial and expansion needs. Science and mathematics were introduced on a greater scale and fused with the humanities (language and literature were the foundations of American curricula up until this point). Today's response to the onset of media and information technology has been assumed by the 21st Century curricula movement (see The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and others for the best examples of the way America's schools have begun to shape their programs) and is working hard to influence how we prepare children for this new age. Prepare students to embrace new technologies we might, but how have schools and school districts changed the way they govern so that they combat the challenges 21st Century citizens will confront as this paradigm shift consumes our lives on the scale the industrial age and westward expansion did for 19th-20th Century citizens?

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Learning communities that promote SEL
Instructional technology that transforms classrooms
Promoting shared ownership to promote healthy learning communities

My TED Story

My TED story is unwritten. I love all that the organization stands for and has done already for society. It is my hope that I will be able to contribute as much as I have learned from TED.

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• A comment on Conversation: Educational leadership

  16 hours ago: Spencer- I am so thankful for you sharing this! I can see the need for educational leaders to volley between leadership styles 2 and 3, depending on the circumstances and the culture of the school district.
  
  I like to think there has been a shift in leadership attitude over the years. I have noted the pessimism from posters on this threaded discussion and would surely like to see data that supports the notion that "most leaders in education are of the [first] variety." New Jersey has placed a cap on Superintendent's salaries and the result has been the retirement of many who belonged to the "old boys club." My hope (and theory) is that a new generation of educational leaders will (and is) rising up and recognizing the research on effective leadership (think Roland Barth, Sergiovanni, etc.).

• A reply on Conversation: Educational leadership

  1 day ago: Fair point LaMar, although I see no harm in "borrowing" bits and pieces of various leaders' failures and successes and applying these things (with adaptations of course) in the educational leadership setting.

• A reply on Conversation: Educational leadership

  1 day ago: Wouldn't you equate "control" with "insecurity?" My experiences tell me the leaders who work in a top-down manner are the least confident.

• A reply on Conversation: Educational leadership

  2 days ago: You and I are completely on the same page. I just had a direct and brutally honest discussion with one of my administrators about the need to harness the power of relationships in order to "get the vision done." Heck, Lyndon Johnson was a pro at realizing this:
  
  http://successfulschools.blogspot.com/2013/05/lyndon-johnsons-handshake-and-leading.html

• A reply on Conversation: Educational leadership

  2 days ago: I agree this is a problem Brett. So, what are YOU doing to solve this problem if others cannot solve it for you? Do you have an outlet after work? Do you have colleagues with whom you connect on a regular basis who, like you, need a recharge?

• A reply on Conversation: Educational leadership

  2 days ago: Ah...a pessimist! I am a hopeless optimist and work hard (like I believe man of my colleagues do) to stay visible. I blogged about this for Edutopia. Below is an excerpt I hope you will read:
  
  "Be a presence in schools each day. I make a point to start my morning in the hallways and then conduct my walks before the day gets ahead of me. Start the day in the office, and you're likely to end the day in the office (save for that weekly administration team meeting). An educational leader's work clock runs at least seven hours. How much time can one possibly spend in meetings and doing office paperwork? Just by cutting one to two hours out of my office day to spend a few minutes in each classroom and hallway of my small school district, I’ve learned more about the little (but often very important) things going on than I would have learned from email, phone calls or hearsay. Besides learning about the evolving culture of my schools, walking the hallways every day and being highly accessible has been key to showing everyone that I care about the school district at every level."

• A comment on Conversation: Educational leadership

  2 days ago: George- I think it's all in the delivery. I just got a promotion to Superintendent in my district that I think was largely based on my careful communication of the message that "we're all in this together." I pulled a Lyndon Johnson series of maneuvers (check out this blog post to understand my meaning- http://successfulschools.blogspot.com/2013/05/lyndon-johnsons-handshake-and-leading.html) and leveraged my relationships to communicate the power of shared ownership- http://successfulschools.blogspot.com/2013/05/four-suggestions-to-help-you-lead-by.html
  
  It's all (in my opinion) in the delivery!

• A comment on Conversation: Educational leadership

  3 days ago: I love your point and strongly agree with your concern about use of the term "product" to describe learning outcomes. Do you think parents can value process over product? I hope non-educators have the capacity (and guts) to look beyond policymaker rhetoric and recognize the extreme importance the evolution of knowledge acquisition is (as opposed to the focus on the end-"product").
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Educational leadership

  3 days ago: Of course an educational leader must get buy-in! I took a cue from Bill Gates on this topic. Check it out:
  
  “There's a basic philosophy here that by empowering...workers you'll make their jobs far more interesting, and they'll be able to work at a higher level.”
  
  The resources you shared below are wonderful! Stephanek's work in Maryland is truly inspiring!
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Which TEDTalks would you show to children and at what age?

  Mar 8 2011: My young children have also discovered media delivery in the Internet age. Shouldn't we be steering them to the "good stuff?" I'm on the cusp of showing my 11-year old Gever Tully's TED Talk about the Tinkering School. What a wonderful way for her to see the power of inquiry!