Synopses & Reviews
The literature is replete with calls for schools to become learning communities. As leaders, we are charged with creating organizations that enhance adult as well as student growth. We are reminded often that learning communities offer us an opportunity to take the lead and reform our schools from within. This journal is written by members of a community of learners who are deeply involved in an ongoing struggle of close to two decades to create environments in which adult growth flourishes. The authors invite you into their community as they share their personal struggles and successes as school leaders, professors, and leaders of professional development centers. You hear about the genesis of their gatherings, the elements they have come to cherish in their relationships, and the impact the community has had on their own professional and personal learning. Throughout the journey of common searching, incessant questioning, and sharing of life's turns, they challenge their beliefs about teaching and learning and their ability to live by these beliefs in their respective settings. The authors share conversations that have proved to be at the heart of their gathering together to learn from one another. This is the 7th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for School Leadership. For more information on this series, please see the Journals and Periodicals page.
About the Author
REBECCA VAN DER BOGERT is superintAndent of schools in Winnetka, Illinois, and codirector of the International Network of Principals' Centers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Table of Contents
1. The Story(Roland S. Barth, Rebecca van der Bogert)
2. A Conversation on the Rocks(Richard H. Ackerman)
3. Sharing the Challenges: Critic-Colleague Teams and Leadership Development(Gordon A. Donaldson Jr.)
4. International Sharing as Reflective Images(Vivian Williams)
5. Relationships(Gayle Moller)
6. Harbor Lights Cafe(David Hagstrom)
7. Back to School(Joe A. Richardson)
8. Learning in the Schoolhouse(Rebecca van der Bogert)
9. From Puddle Dock to the Twenty-First Century(Roland S. Barth)