A great deal of research has been conducted on what makes great schools great, or at least effective schools effective. Through my own research, I have identified seven primary factors that enable schools to see improvement over time.
Welcome (back) to the Profession of Teaching!
Professionalism is something that is “caught as well as taught,” in my opinion. Your school’s professional identity formation process, whether stated or hidden, is activated this time of year.
Celebrate and Imagine #10: Flourishing Together in Community – Dr. Lynn Swaner
Dr. Lynn Swaner has done unprecedented and comprehensive research on flourishing in Christian education. In this speech, she made strong connections between the “Big Story” and student flourishing. She discovered three aspects of spiritual formation happening in Christian schools that highly correlated with Christian school alumni continuing to walk with God: community engagement, Christ-like teachers, and responsiveness to special needs. She gave encouraging examples of how she has seen these aspects practiced in our schools.
Celebrate and Imagine #7: Interpreting, Fast and Slow: Faith, Love, and Hope for Christian Education – Dr. Justin Bailey
In this talk, Dr. Justin Bailey suggests that the greatest contribution Christian education can make is to prepare students to become skilled interpreters of our world. Our job in Christian schools is to help students recognize that, while they inhabit a world tainted by sin, they can lead others toward faith, love, and hope through postures of curiosity, discernment, and presence.
Rising Leaders’ Guide to Change and Innovation: Earning the Right to Be Heard
When it comes to ministering to faculty, staff, students, and parents, we can’t give what we don’t have. We cannot expect to encourage others, stay patient, answer calmly, and use wisdom appropriately without consistently spending time in God’s Word, being connected at a Bible-believing church, and praying regularly over the school, faculty, and students.
Rising Leaders’ Guide to Change and Innovation: Leadership for the Long-Haul
When it comes to ministering to faculty, staff, students, and parents, we can’t give what we don’t have. We cannot expect to encourage others, stay patient, answer calmly, and use wisdom appropriately without consistently spending time in God’s Word, being connected at a Bible-believing church, and praying regularly over the school, faculty, and students.
Rising Leaders’ Guide to Change and Innovation: Creating Value
Having permission to drive your own advancement gives a gentle nudge to think beyond the current circumstances or one’s current position and reflect on the skills and abilities that God has given you. Once an honest self-assessment is completed, a person can consider how to apply these abilities to the challenges facing the school.
The Power and Limitations of Executive Function In Schools
I noted in the first post on this topic—the presence and impact of professionalism in private schools—that two upheavals have altered the ways in which professional standards are defined in faith-based schools. The first is the erosion of the social standing of spiritually oriented vocations, including private school teachers. Not only is this trend driven by secularization, but the economics of private … Read More
School Safety & Building Culture with Mark Hamstra
School safety and security have been at the forefront of our minds because of the recent tragedy in Parkland, FL. It seems as if the conversation around safety and security have taken a different tone, and this is why I was glad to read the Chicago Sun-Times Op-Ed by my friend Mark Hamstra, Dedicated teachers — not gun-toting teachers — … Read More
Are Your Students Crew or Passengers?
We are Crew, not Passengers. This is the motto of the organization I worked with for 20 years, Expeditionary Learning, now called EL Education. It comes from Kurt Hahn, the fonder of Outward Bound (the taproot of EL Education), and refers to people gathered together for a long boat journey where everyone is needed to row. Crew is at the … Read More
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