What Does It Mean to Lead for Deeper Learning? Lessons From Principal Development Programs

• In Event: 31.021 - Creating Strong School Leadership: New Conceptions of Principal Preparation and Development

Abstract

This paper explores what it means to lead for “deeper learning”—how leaders create environments in which students can apply content knowledge to new contexts and develop 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, and creative problem-solving. As K-12 education shifts away from rote learning and standardization toward experiential, innovative, and deep learning, leaders need to develop and support environments in which educators can teach in ways that students learn best. This paper posits that leading for deeper learning requires a new conception of leadership and it explicates the domains of this new model.

This paper answers the following questions: What is the role of leaders in creating and sustaining deeper learning environments? To what extent is this role different than the traditional role of school leaders? What are the skills, knowledge, habits, mindsets required to lead for deeper learning?

Findings are based on in-depth case studies of exemplary leadership preparation and in-service programs. We used snowball sampling, and selected the final sample based on (1) effectiveness, as determined by extant data and (2) an explicit focus on deeper learning as determined by a review of program documents and curricula. The case studies included stakeholder interviews (program faculty, mentors, program participants, graduates, district leaders, and community organizations); surveys of program participants; observations of participants in their school or clinical placements; observations of coursework; and analyses of extant data on program effectiveness.

Through a cross-case analysis, we identified five domains for principal leadership for deeper learning. Specifically, principals who lead for deeper learning:

• Believe that leadership is a collaborative and social endeavor that must include administrators and teachers. They create the time and structures for collaboration and they distribute leadership responsibilities.
• Provide learning opportunities for staff members that are developmentally grounded, personalized, and prioritizes impact on student learning. They know the developmental needs of individual teachers, set up teacher accountability systems focused on continuous improvement, and encourage risk-taking.
• Have a vision for deeper learning and build systems, culture, and norms to enact that vision. They understand the theoretical grounding for deeper learning, and make hiring, budgetary, and scheduling decisions to support it.
• Take a systems perspective to school change. They know the levers for strategic, lasting change and think strategically about how to use them. They are diagnosticians and use a wide array of data to inform their decisions.
• Prioritize equity and social justice. They understand how race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other characteristics shape student learning and work to ensure all students have access to quality learning opportunities.

This paper will deepen the field’s knowledge of practices that leaders undertake to build systems and support teachers to deliver deeper learning outcomes for students, with an explicit focus on equity. Our goal is to offer practitioners and policymakers who are interested in improving leadership preparation and in-service programs an opportunity to learn from existing programs that are creating and evolving the ways in which they prepare future leaders for 21st century student learning.

Authors

• Marjorie E. Wechsler, Learning Policy Institute

• Madelyn Gardner, Learning Policy Institute

• Julie Adams, Learning Policy Institute

• Desiree Carver-Thomas, Learning Policy Institute

• Channa Mae Cook-Harvey, Learning Policy Institute

• Daniel Espinoza, Learning Policy Institute

• Maria E. Hyler, Learning Policy Institute