More Less New Whilst working with our staff on our school’s strategic plan evaluation about three years ago, I became stuck on how we would move ahead. Our staff had spent a lot of time across the previous six months, pulling apart our data in every conceivable way trying to effectively evaluate our impact. They…
Tag: professional reading
If you only read one educational leadership book in 2017 make it this one
Leading Teaching and Learning Stephen Dinham If you are only going to read one educational leadership book in 2017, then make it Leading Teaching and Learning by Stephen Dinham (and then get your priorities in order and read more books!). This book is an excellent summary of the broad range of educational research and evidence,…
You should read this if you want to be a Superboss
Superbosses – Sydney Finkelstein Superbosses is an amazing piece of research, summarised into outstanding lessons for leaders of organisations and schools, that ultimately works better as a short article than a book. I came across this book in an HBR article (HBR – January-February 2016), which summarised the main findings of author Sydney Finkelstein’s research….
You should read this if you want to understand everything wrong with leadership
Leadership B.S. – Fixing Worplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time by Jeffrey Pfeffer – Stanford Graduate School of Business I have written often about the great work of Bob Sutton from Stanford University, and now his faculty colleague and sometimes writing partner Jeffrey Pfeffer has given us Leadership B.S. – Fixing Workplaces and…
Closed loop classrooms – Tom’s Restaurant vs. Scotty’s Diner
Closed loop classrooms – Tom’s Restaurant vs. Scotty’s Diner A couple of questions have been tormenting me for a few weeks now, regarding teachers and leaders for whom things on the surface seem to be going well. We all know that there are teachers out there who seem to make things look easy. Their classes…
Three great books I haven’t blogged about yet – but that every educational leader should read!
Three great books I haven’t blogged about yet – but that every educational leader should read! We’ve recently started a new feature in our PLT’s, where each session a different member brings along an article, book or reading that has had an impact on them as a teacher. Last week a colleague brought along an…
Leadership Transitions
Earlier this week I co presented a workshop for aspiring leaders within my school and local school network. The workshop was the first of three for the year, and was designed to get participants to actively and honestly engage in self-reflection, as a foundation for leadership development. The workshops are designed to assist leaders at…
Leadership books you may have missed in 2014
Leadership books you might have missed in 2014 Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a sucker for a good list, and the New Year’s period always provides some worthy list fodder such as Top 5 Movies of 2014, Top social media fails of 2014 and other such nonsense. So I thought…
You should read this if you want to improve the organisational health of your school
The Advantage – How organisational health trumps everything Patrick Lencioni Staff opinion surveys are the bane of many a school leader. Many tend to see them more as an imposition, rather than a chance to really understand how their school is operating. Staff may realise the survey…
You should read this if you want to think better, teach better and understand people better
Think! Before it’s too late Edward De Bono It is not for this review to outline the decades of influence on education and thinking that has made Edward De Bono’s career. However, if you are looking to improve your students’ depth of thinking and creativity, enhance your own thought processes, and understand school, work and…
You should read this if you want to be a better boss
Good Boss, Bad Boss Robert L. Sutton Following on from his hugely successful, zeitgeist-grabbing book “The No Asshole Rule”, Robert Sutton delivers again with his book “Good Boss, Bad Boss”. The genesis of this book is in the hundreds and thousands of emails Sutton received after the publication of “The No Asshole Rule”. Startlingly many of…
You should read this is you want to sharpen your skills as a classroom teacher
Teach Like a Champion – 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College Doug Lemov Doug Lemov has fast become a leading name in educational practice. His instant classic ‘Teach Like a champion’ provides teachers and school leaders with over 40 simple, yet highly effective strategies that can be incorporated into any classroom,…
