Core Practices of Leading Deeper Learning Schools

• In Event: Teacher Work, Leadership, and School Improvement

Abstract

We present findings from data collected through interviews of 30 leaders of self-proclaimed deeper learning schools and site visits to those schools. The findings of the study indicate how leaders of schools that engage in deeper learning tend to adhere to three core practices. First, the leaders of deeper learning schools in this study intently listened to the community to ascertain needs and desires; this drove the vision. Second, leaders of deeper learning schools created learning spaces that empowered students and gave them voice, agency, and choice. Third and finally, leaders of deeper learning schools sought to humanize the schooling experience. These leaders provide insights into specific actions and practices that they espoused to make the schooling experience markedly different.

Authors

• Jayson W. Richardson, College of William & Mary

• Justin M. Bathon, University of Kentucky

• Scott McLeod, University of Colorado - Denver