Improve Learning By Building Community

This resource for new and experienced administrators offers a blueprint for building visionary learning communities that improve student outcomes not only by shaping the internal school communityfaculty and staffbut also by creating a partnership between the school and the external communitydistrict educators, families, and community organizations. Reflecting the authors' extensive work with principals, this book includes cases, abundant strategies for implementing collaborative initiatives, and guidance for

Create visionary learning communities that improve student outcomes by shaping the internal school community and partnering with families and organizations in the external community.

The book discusses the idea of the learning community as a vehicle for professional learning and school development. As the authors show, the learning community develops in response to building capacity in three domains: personal, interpersonal and organizational. In the personal domain, educators deconstruct and reconstruct their professional narratives to enhance student learning and professional practice. In the interpersonal domain, educators generate norms and values that foster experimentation and critical analysis of educational practice and that promote collective and individual learning. In the organizational domain, visible and invisible structures are constructed that enable community members to enact educational practices in support of profound improvement in teaching and learning. This revised and updated edition of Profound Improvement not only brings this important work up-to-date but also shows how the authors thinking has changed and developed since the book was originally written. The book focuses on the life of educators as it relates to professional learning and growth. It is concerned with human growth and development, human cognition and affect and human interactions and actions in the context of a school community. For the new edition the authors also: elaborate more fully the notion of learning communities based on living systems and ecological perspectives develop their capacity building model They show that building a learning community is a dynamic process that engages the individual, the group and the organization in embedded interdependencies and mutual influences. As the authors clearly demonstrate: education is a living system as opposed to a managed system.

"Sergiovanni documents cases of schools that have successfully reinvented themselves in order to establish a sense of 'community' as the foundation for all curriculum and instruction decisions. . . . Teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and communities seeking advice and motivation for restructuring schools for the 21st century would be well advised to consult this work." --Choice "Provides the practitioner with both a theoretical blueprint with which to build learning communities and a rich supply of benchmark illustrations to use as prototypes. . . . thought-provoking and challenging." --NASSP Bulletin Both in and out of schools, people are experiencing a loss of community. In this book, Thomas J. Sergiovanni explains why a sense of community is so vital to the success of any school and shows teachers, parents, and administrators what they can do to rebuild it. Filled with case studies and other school examples, Building Community in Schools provides the necessary intellectual framework for understanding the need to create communities that are inclusive, meaningful, and democratic.

Written for both new and experienced principals, this resource provides a blueprint for building visionary learning communities that improve student learning not only by shaping the internal school community—faculty and staff—but also by creating a partnership with the external community—district educators, families, community organizations, and service agencies. Administrators will find invaluable assistance from Practical Tips that offer strategies for implementation, Points for Practicethat highlight critical concepts and Points to Ponder that promote reader reflection. Each chapter encourages school leaders to consider what community building means for their own schools and provides guidance for: • Building a vision based on your personal and professional values • Shaping a school culture that supports teamwork • Honoring school staff members at all levels • Examining and understanding the external environment • Drawing effectively on community support services • Collaborating with district staff Improve Learning by Building Community helps principals bring together all stakeholders to create the kind of schools that can ensure success for every student.

Building on extensive evidence that school-based teacher learning communities improve student outcomes, this book lays out an agenda to develop and sustain collaborative professional cultures. McLaughlin and Talbert—foremost scholars of school change and teaching contexts—provide an inside look at the processes, resources, and system strategies that are necessary to build vibrant school-based teacher learning communities. Offering a compelling, straightforward blueprint for action, this book: Takes a comprehensive look at the problem of improving the quality of teaching across the United States, based on evidence and examples from the authors’ nearly two decades of research.Demonstrates how and why school-based teacher learning communities are bottom-line requirements for improved instruction. Outlines the resources and supports needed to build and sustain a long-term school-based teacher professional community. Discusses the nature of high-quality professional development to support learning and changes in teaching.Details the roles and responsibilities of policymakers at all levels of the school system. “This book offers vivid examples of how teacher learning communities are formed and sustained. A must-read for educators at all levels who are serious about enacting change.” —Amy M. Hightower, Assistant Director, American Federation of Teachers

This book situates learning communities in living systems and ecological perspectives. The fundamental premise is that all of human life and human activity is part of a deep planetary ecology of which mutuality and interdependence are cornerstone properties, learning and renewal are key processes, and emergent networks are foundational structures.

The purpose of this book is to increase understanding of the major theories, issues, challenges, and solutions related to online distance education. It balances practical advice with a description of the theoretical and research-based underpinnings for the culturally-responsive strategies presented. An important integrating theme is the impact of globalization and internationalization on all aspects of distance education. Consequently, the book examines the implications of global reach and cross-border education and promotes the integration of global learning in academic programs. Addresses the global reach of distance education and associated cultural, linguistic, and accreditation issues Describes the latest online learning technologies, e.g., blogs, wikis, podcasting, mobile learning, virtual worlds, etc. Addresses the culture of higher education and forces that are moving higher education in new directions, e.g., academic capitalism, consumerism, and competition among non-profit, for-profit, and corporate universities