Collaborative Leadership: Empowering School Communities for Change

Description

Concept by Cristina Salvatori

School principals have the responsibility to lead teachers toward their best performance in promoting students’ results and well-being. This involves managing the school staff but also providing it with an attractive vision that motivates change and innovation.

How can this process be made easier?

The course will propose a collaborative setting for school principals to reflect on their school and plan innovation for it focusing on the power of the community.

The main idea is that school leaders cannot make their school change if they do not actively involve the whole school community. Hence, one of the most important skills for a school principal is the capacity to engage the community in change.

The course will help participants to identify their leadership style and practice a variety of leadership core skills such as planning, communication, problem-solving, and conflict management.

Participants will reflect on how to use Project-Based Learning (PBL) as a methodology not only for lesson planning but also for community involvement and action.

Moreover, they will learn how simple changes in the space layout (e.g., carefully selecting what to hang on walls in the hallways) can hugely impact the introduction of new practices in the school.

Participants will also reflect on how training the staff to implement shared routines in the entire school can create a school culture, and have a measurable and positive impact. This will contribute to making their school more efficient, well-being oriented, and comfortable in cooperation with the schoolteachers.

Finally, on the last day, they will create, share and discuss an action plan ready to bring back to their school to make sure that the vision they have developed during the course will become a reality!

By the end of the course, participants will feel confident in co-constructing a vision of their school with their community. They will be ready to use a variety of tools to bring a new vision to your school.

Learning outcomes

The course will help the participants to:  

• Share with their school communities a vision of an upgraded school, driving motivation and change;
• Encourage their school community to co-create a new set of shared practices;
• Get familiar with the main principles of 21st-century skills;
• Use Project-Based Learning (PBL) as a methodology for lesson planning among classes and for community involvement and action;
• Understand the linkage between the physical space and the teaching and learning that occurs in it;
• Chose and implement shared routines as a tool for classroom management and to facilitate the creation of a school community;
• Analyze the current learning environment of your classrooms and school;
• Design collaboratively the transformation of their learning and teaching environment.

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Course introduction

• Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools.

Let’s get started

• The culture in your school;
• Active steps to create or improve your school community;
• Leadership and co-creation;
• The role of communication (assertive and nonviolent communication).

Day 2 – 21^st-century skills in your space

• The paradigm shift of learning in the 21st century: Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered learning;
• Built pedagogy: how does space shape learning behaviors and support learning?
• Illustration of your current classroom setting;
• Evaluation of the linkage between your pedagogical approaches and the classroom settings.

Day 3 – Small changes, big impact

• Creating routines and transversal rules for your school;
• Different types of schedules;
• PBL: bring the projects to your school;
• Project, task, inquiry-based learning.

Day 4 – Implementing the change

• The importance to get the users involved in the design process;
• When and how to open up the conversation with students and fellow teachers to get them involved in designing the new setting?
• Potential challenges and obstacles to bring forth transformation in your context.

Day 5 – Make it happen

• Brainstorming and discussing school-wide changes that will work for your school;
• Completing and presenting your plan.

Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities

• Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
• Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
• Excursion and other external cultural activities.