Critical Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Leadership


Book Description

This book addresses the significant problems that can arise for pre-service teachers, teachers and school leaders who are unprepared for the complexities of 21st century teaching. It focuses on major factors impacting teacher preparation during an era of significant change, including student learning, academic growth, classroom practice, and the efficacy of teachers. In turn, the book considers crucial aspects that can enhance educational outcomes and investigates questions including what impact the changing nature of teachers’ work has on teacher preparation; how educators can evaluate blended learning; and what impact teachers have on learners. This book provides evidence-based approaches that can be used to achieve a positive impact on education and narrow the gap in contemporary and emerging global topics in education.




Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Leadership in Higher Education


Book Description

Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Leadership in Higher Education has been designed to bring together case studies to facilitate the development of effective and well-equipped leaders within the higher education sector. With the growing global emphasis on higher education to improve the quality of the learning experience for increasingly diverse students, this book focuses on good leadership in teaching and learning by illustrating the lived experiences of academics and sharing case studies which highlight moments and instances that positively impacted their professional development as leaders. The globally relevant case studies included provide insights into the different ideas implemented by leaders for learning and teaching projects. Through these case studies, the decision-making processes of leaders are made visible to other aspiring leaders in similar positions. This resource will be invaluable in enhancing and enriching the learning experience of students, as this book demonstrates that academic leadership is intricately related to student learning. It will help leaders negotiate their own conflicts and challenges and will be essential reading for present and budding learning and teaching leaders in the educational sector.




The Practice of Leadership in Higher Education


Book Description

This practice-orientated book explores the nature of leadership in higher education during three key stages of the leadership cycle: becoming, being, and leaving leadership. Providing perspectives on leadership from a range of professional sectors, this book presents considered views on contemporary and future leadership practices in higher education from a global network of contributors. Included within each chapter are prominent questions designed to engage the reader to think about their own leadership experiences to date and leadership development needs. Key points covered include: the complexities of leadership in higher education in a changing world discussion of internally resourced leadership development frameworks and programmes currently used across the sector leading complex education systems perspectives on leadership from a range of professional sectors such as corporate, military, elite sport, and public, that can be used to improve the quality of higher education leadership case studies of academics’ leadership practices that provide readers with authentic personal insights into discipline-specific leadership experiences from around the world. Full of practical examples of personal leadership experiences which can be used to help inform readers’ leadership aspirations, development, and legacy planning, this is the ideal read for anyone interested in understanding their identity and practice as a leader in higher education.




Leading Learning and Teaching in Higher Education


Book Description

Leading Learning and Teaching in Higher Education brings together contemporary ideas on leadership, engagement and student learning into a practical solutions-based resource designed for those undertaking the challenge of leading a university-level teaching module, programme or suite of programmes, particularly through periods of transformation or change. It encourages both first time academic leaders and those who have held teaching leadership roles for some time to review and formalise their development in a systematic, simple way and acts as a framework for navigating the opportunities and challenges involved in inspiring shared purpose, strong commitment and innovation in higher education teaching. With a clear focus on the energy of leadership rather than the practice of management, and with a strong emphasis on collaborative engagement running throughout, this books offers: Insightful guidance which is not bound to subject-specific requirements, making it relevant across the spectrum of course offerings at any one institution. An enabling, people-focussed foundation for leadership. Tools and frameworks which can be readily applied or adapted for the reader. A focus on core elements of teaching leadership, such as design, delivery, assessment and building a programme team. A flexible and pragmatic approach to leadership which avoids a definitive approach, instead encouraging a dynamic method of engaging leadership. Values that assert that leadership and learning go hand-in-hand. A wide-ranging discussion of leadership theories, ideas and values related to the university context. This book puts forward a multifaceted model of programme leadership and links this to a scaffolding of key attributes, skills and qualities that fit the environment of leading learning and teaching in the university. Particularly interested readers will be those beginning to lead teaching in a university setting as well as those who have been leading programme teams and the wider provision of teaching for some time wanting to enhance their skills and perspective.




Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education


Book Description

Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education offers a combination of critical perspectives and practical advice that is ideally suited for individuals interested in enhancing their practice through analysis and critique. The aim is to promote a critical understanding of one’s own practices: to foster personal and professional formation through a reflexive engagement with one's environment and circumstances. At a practical level this means to continuously think about how to adjust practice rather than following a formulaic approach derived from any particular educational theory. Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education argues that academics can find space for their own agency in the midst of institutional policies and practices that serve to frame, as well as delimit and constrain, what counts as good academic work in teaching and research. This text bridges a gap between those books that provide a high-level analysis of contemporary higher education, the more practical texts on how to be a good teacher in higher education, and those texts which aim to improve teaching through better understanding of the learning process. Topical chapters include: Teacher-learner relationship, Learning groups, Practice-oriented learning, Teaching for diversity, e-learning, Assessment, Approaches to Staff Development, Quality assurance, Supervision and Research education, Doing research, and Teaching & Research. A must-have resource for higher education professions, academic developers, professionals, and anyone looking to improve their teaching and learning practices, Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education is also appropriate for continuing and professional development courses in the UK and teaching and learning courses in the US. Mark Tennant is Dean of the University Graduate School, University of Technology, Sydney. Cathi McMullen is Lecturer in the School of Marketing and Management at Charles Sturt University. Dan Kaczynski is Professor in the Educational Leadership department at Central Michigan University.




Re-Imagining Transformative Leadership in Teacher Education


Book Description

This is the third and final book in the series Transformative Pedagogies in Teacher Education. Like the first two books in the series it is geared towards practitioners in the field of teacher education. This third book focuses on transformative leadership in teacher education. In other words, the kind of leadership and practices that will be important and necessary to bring about the kind of changes that both teachers and students seek to improve educational outcomes for all students, but in particular Black, Indigenous and racialized students who have been traditionally underserved by the education system. Teacher leadership plays an important role in transformative educational change that challenges all forms of oppression and white supremacy. This book features chapters by a collection of scholars, teacher educators, researchers, teacher advocates and practitioners drawing on their research and experiences to explore critical issues in teacher education. The book will be useful to teacher educators working with teacher candidates in different contexts, experienced teachers and school leaders. Given demographic shifts and the need for educators to respond to growing diversity in schools, educators will find valuable strategies in Transformative Pedagogies in Teacher Education: Re-Imagining Transformative Leadership in Teacher Education they can employ in their own practice. In addition to valuable strategies, authors explore different approaches and perspectives critical in these changing and challenging times. Critical notions of education are posited from different perspectives and contexts. This book will be useful for teacher education programs, principal preparation programs, in-service teachers, school boards and districts engaging in ongoing professional development of teachers and school leaders.




Didactics, Learning and Leadership in Higher Education


Book Description

Didactics, Learning and Leadership in Higher Education presents a new model for understanding development strategies for learning and leadership. It describes a shift in perspectives on teaching practices and develops concepts which facilitate a new discourse, placing learning and teaching strategies on the agenda and ensuring the development of good leadership practices inherent to teaching. By applying Lacanian discourses to Klafki’s triangle in relation to learning strategies, this innovative new text aids discussion of the diff erences between terms such as ‘performance’ and ‘performativity’, ‘acting’ and ‘actorship’ to enable teaching staff to utilise practical applications and teach most eff ectively. It examines key points such as the likely outcomes of specifi c leadership strategies and how they can be adapted, thus creating an essential dialogue between students and teachers. Combining research in the fi elds of philosophy, psychology, economics, geography and sociology describing a change in relation to use of time, space and management of matter, Didactics, Learning and Leadership in Higher Education is a key text for all those involved in teaching within higher education.




Positive Academic Leadership


Book Description

In Positive Academic Leadership, Jeffrey Buller offers new insights and practical tools, as well as language and tactics, for fostering a more effective approach to leadership. With acumen and a dash of humor, he shows leaders how they can take the focus off the negative and change what they say, their perspectives, and their strategies. This more constructive leadership style plays to the strengths of leaders rather than to the weaknesses of their institutions. Offering time-tested and fresh ideas for becoming the type of leader who acts as a coach, counselor, and conductor for faculty, staff, and students, Buller demonstrates how positive leadership can become a day-to-day practice. With its down-to-earth style, the book draws on the most current research on positive leadership in neuroscience, psychology, management, organizational behavior, and other disciplines and translates their lessons into readable and accessible recommendations. It then makes these recommendations come to life by providing real-world examples that illustrate how to implement positive leadership strategies in all spheres of the leader’s activities and institution. Positive Academic Leadership is a wise guide for transforming any leader’s attitude about inevitable daily crises into manageable challenges that are based on a philosophy of accepting the environment and situation but working to make things better.




Transparent Design in Higher Education Teaching and Leadership


Book Description

This book offers a comprehensive guide to the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework that has convincingly demonstrated that implementation increases retention and improved outcomes for all students. Its premise is simple: to make learning processes explicit and equitably accessible for all students. Transparent instruction involves faculty/student discussion about several important aspects of academic work before students undertake that work, making explicit the purpose of the work, the knowledge that will be gained and its utility in students’ lives beyond college; explaining the tasks involved, the expected criteria, and providing multiple examples of real-world work applications of the specific academic discipline. The simple change of making objective and methods explicit – that faculty recognize as consistent with their teaching goals – creates substantial benefits for students and demonstrably increases such predictors of college students’ success as academic confidence, sense of belonging in college, self-awareness of skill development, and persistence. This guide presents a brief history of TILT, summarizes both past and current research on its impact on learning, and describes the three-part Transparency Framework (of purposes, tasks and criteria). The three sections of the book in turn demonstrate why and how transparent instruction works suggesting strategies for instructors who wish to adopt it; describing how educational developers and teaching centers have adopted the Framework; and concluding with examples of how several institutions have used the Framework to connect the daily work of faculty with the learning goals that departments, programs and institutions aim to demonstrate.




Women and Leadership in Higher Education


Book Description

Women and Leadership in Higher Education is the first volume in a new series of books (Women and Leadership: Research, Theory, and Practice) that will be published in upcoming years to inform leadership scholars and practitioners. This book links theory, research, and practice of women’s leadership in various higher education contexts and offers suggestions for future leadership development strategies. This volume focuses on the field of higher education, particularly within the context of the United States—a sector that serves a majority of students at all degree levels who are women, yet lacks parity by women in senior leadership roles. The book’s fifteen chapters present both hard facts regarding the current demographic realities within higher education and fresh thinking about how progress can and must be made in order for U.S. higher education to benefit from the perspectives of women at the senior leadership table. The book’s opening section provides data and analysis in addressing “The State of Women and Leadership in Higher Education”; the second section offers descriptions of three effective models for women’s leadership development at the national and institutional levels; the third section draws from recent research to present “Women’s Experiences and Contributions in Higher Education Leadership.” The book concludes with five shorter chapters written by current and former college and university presidents who offer “Lessons from the Trenches” for the benefit of those who follow. In short, the thesis of the book is that our world is changing; higher education collectively, as well as institutions of all types, must change. Bringing more women into leadership is critical to the goal of moving our society and world forward in healthier ways.