(Press-News.org) LAWRENCE — No one can do everything. Yet that is exactly what many school leaders feel like they must do. A new book from a pair of school leaders and scholars aims to help those who often feel overwhelmed focus on what they can and should do and how to help teachers and students lead schools to reaching their full potential.
“Focused: Understanding, Negotiating, and Maximizing Your Influence as a School Leader,” by Jim Watterston and Yong Zhao, aims to help educational administrators guide schools to success without getting weighed down by things they can’t control. The book shares stories of leaders from around the world.
“The basic idea we wanted to give school leaders is that there are many things you can do, but you have to focus on the things that only you can do,” said Zhao, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Kansas. “You can’t do everything, and you need to empower others to do the things that they can do. We look at the issue of, ‘How do you carve out a space for yourself?’”
Watterston, dean of the faculty at the University of Melbourne, and Zhao have starkly different backgrounds in education. The former started as a classroom teacher in a rural Indigenous school in Western Australia and rose to lead several schools before taking his current post.
Zhao has spent a career in higher education researching and writing about schools around the world and improving the educational experience.
In working together previously, they realized their unique experiences with education suited them to a collaboration.
“I said, ‘You’ve got to write that book. Because I want to know what you did in going from a small, rural school to probably the best university in Australia,’” Zhao said of his co-author. “That was fascinating to me, his journey.”
Zhao’s respective journey took him from his native China to study how schools operate there to the United States, putting him in contact with thousands of teachers and school leaders.
Both have seen many school leaders who felt like they had to be in charge of everything in a school, including curriculum, teachers, students, extracurricular activities, budgets, community relations and more, the authors said. In “Focused,” they aim to help school leaders excel in their roles while empowering others.
The book is presented in three stages:
How to build a leadership paradigm for outstanding schools.
What are the most influential elements for collective success?
How to avoid the pitfalls that prevent success.
The book’s opening chapters provide guidance on how principals can focus on what they can do to be the most effective principal possible without trying to also be the best teacher or best person in any other role. Stage I shares chapters on how leaders can use a system the authors call “the inverted triangle of influence” and creating game plans for success and leading a renewed purpose of education.
Stage II focuses on how leaders can achieve collective success by leading students, teachers and other players in the school environment. The authors point out that students can be given a larger role as school leaders than that with which they are usually entrusted.
“Students are not only learners, they are also leaders of learning for others,” Zhao said. “Schools rarely treat them as leaders of their own learning. We have organized schools so students are only considered learners, but they are and can be change-makers.”
Teachers are also learners, and the book’s second stage contains vignettes and examples of leaders who have successfully engaged teachers as self-determined individuals who can help shape the vision for a school.
Stage III shares strategies to avoid pitfalls that can prevent success, including leading through formative accountability and sustainability. Action steps are included to help leaders embrace hope instead of fear or risk aversion and how to innovate without simply making changes for the sake of change.
“As a principal, do you want to focus on the past, present or future?” Zhong asked. “We propose school leaders invest in a new future. But you can’t wait for the system. Systems don’t innovate; they follow and respond. People and leaders innovate.”
Watterston and Zhao wrote that if leaders trust and empower all the players within their institution, they can guide the kinds of change and improvements that enable all students to succeed.
“You are the bus driver, but you’re not the bus, as Jim often says,” Zhao said. “The idea with this book is to use examples to inspire people. The stories all come from people we’ve met and the successes we’ve seen them have.”
END
New book helps school leaders focus on what they can do without getting weighed down
'Focused' gives strategies, examples of how leaders can do what only they can do
2024-02-16
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Research grant aimed at improving wastewater monitoring for diseases in rural Appalachian communities
2024-02-16
Testing wastewater to assess the spread of the COVID-19 virus became common and well-publicized during the pandemic, but it has been focused mostly on urban areas.
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has awarded $400,000 to Virginia Tech, with an additional $50,000 to Virginia Tech from the Virginia Department of Health, for a two-year project to identify and implement improved and new methods to detect pathogens for multiple diseases in the wastewater of rural communities.
“My work and research have primarily been focused on rural areas, and prior to the pandemic, most ...
New study analyzes link between digit ratio and oxygen consumption in footballers
2024-02-16
The efficiency of oxygen supply to tissues is a factor in the severity of important diseases such as Covid-19 and heart conditions.
Scientists already know that the relationship between the length of a person’s index and ring fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio is correlated with performance in distance running, age at heart attack and severity of Covid-19.
Now Swansea University digit ratio expert Professor John Manning has been working with colleagues to look more closely at the subject.
Their findings have just been published by the prestigious American Journal of Human ...
Under pressure - space exploration in our time
2024-02-16
In the past decade, humanity has seen the birth and expansion of a commercial space sector with new, private players, addressing technological challenges - from space launch to communication and satellite imagery of Earth. Last year, the global space industry skyrocketed launching more than 2,660* satellites into orbit, and, into the universe, interplanetary probes, landers, and much more. In the United States, SpaceX was responsible for almost 90% of these launches. In parallel to this progression is the expansion of more than 70 countries** demonstrating space capabilities. It affirms the general consensus and understanding ...
Climate change has brought forward the flowering period in Doñana National Park by 22 days
2024-02-16
Researchers from the University of Seville have investigated how the flowering of 51 species of shrubs, bushes and trees has changed over the last 35 years in Doñana National Park so as to understand how plant communities are responding to climate change in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Over this period, the average temperature in the area has increased by 1 °C and the minimum temperature by as much as 2 °C. As a result, the community’s peak flowering time, the time when the greatest number of species are in flower, has been brought forward by 22 days, from 9 May to 17 April.
This earlier flowering is not ...
Games in the classroom and the boardroom: How ‘serious games’ are helping us learn
2024-02-16
A team of researchers are encouraging us to swap textbooks for games, as they drive the application of games in learning, engagement and research.
Known as ‘serious games’, these games are designed for more than just entertainment. Ranging from digital applications to physical board games, they are developed for learning, problem solving, raising awareness, research, and stakeholder engagement – with potential in both schools and workplaces. A key application will be for educating people on sustainable development and climate change.
Experts leading in the field at the Universities of Warwick, Cardiff, York, and Sussex, ...
Entrepreneurship on the periphery: between precarious work and the search for a meaningful life
2024-02-16
Understanding how the poor deal with the effects of the economic crisis into which Brazil plunged in 2014 was the aim of the research project “The crisis seen from the periphery: struggle for social mobility in the frontiers of (i)legality” conducted by Leonardo de Oliveira Fontes with FAPESP’s support (19/13125-2 and 21/13970-4). An article published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research is one of the results of the investigation.
Fontes is currently a professor in the Department of Sociology ...
Optimal volume of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity postconcussion in children and adolescents
2024-02-16
About The Study: The findings of this study of children and adolescents with acute concussion suggest that moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity reduced symptoms up to a certain threshold but appeared to offer no further benefit in symptom reduction beyond that point.
Authors: Andrée-Anne Ledoux, Ph.D., of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.56458)
Editor’s Note: Please ...
Projecting the future registered nurse workforce after the pandemic
2024-02-16
About The Study: The rebound in the total size of the U.S. registered nurse (RN) workforce during 2022 and 2023 indicates that the earlier drop in RN employment during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic was likely transitory. Updated forecasts of the future RN workforce are very close to those made before the pandemic.
Authors: David I. Auerbach, Ph.D., of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.5389)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...
Lockdown skin cancer diagnosis delays linked to deaths and £6bn costs in Europe
2024-02-16
Delays in diagnosing melanoma due to Covid-19 lockdown may have contributed to over 100,000 years of life lost across Europe and over £6bn in costs, mainly indirectly due to loss of productivity, finds a new study led by UCL and University Hospital of Basel researchers.
The authors of the new JAMA Network Open paper say their findings show how vital early detection of cancer can be, while also highlighting the importance of considering unintended side effects in any future pandemic planning.
Co-lead ...
RNA interference with zilebesiran for mild to moderate hypertension
2024-02-16
About The Study: In adults with mild to moderate hypertension, treatment with zilebesiran, an investigational RNA interference therapeutic, across a range of subcutaneous doses at 3-month or 6-month intervals significantly reduced 24-hour mean ambulatory systolic blood pressure at month three in this phase 2, randomized clinical trial.
Authors: George L. Bakris, M.D., of University of Chicago Medicine, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jama.2024.0728)
Editor’s ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
New study links historical redlining to delays in HIV treatment
Understanding causes of echo chambers: Political news selective exposure across countries
New study reveals unique adaptations of jaw function and tooth wear in hypercarnivores
Robot that watched surgery videos performs with skill of human doctor
“Emotional contagion” a factor in senior’s mental health
Fear of another heart attack may be a major source of ongoing stress for survivors
Let’s talk about sex: Heart patients want guidance from health care professionals
Heart disease more common in past redlined areas linked to limited access to healthy foods
Heart disease could hit up to 28 years sooner for people with CKM syndrome
MESA heart disease risk score worked well with or without race included
Bystander CPR up to 10 minutes after cardiac arrest may protect brain function
911 dispatcher assistance improved chances of receiving bystander CPR
GLP-1, SGLT2 medications may lower stroke survivor’s risk of future heart attack, stroke
TYK2 transforms tau from ‘good guy’ to a ‘bad guy’ that contributes to Alzheimer’s disease
Elephant seal colony declines one year after avian flu outbreak
While more is better, even moderate amounts of exercise may reduce risk for common heart condition
Researchers uncover new role of mutant proteins in some of the deadliest cancers
Patients may become unnecessarily depressed by common heart medicine
Largest T cell clinical trial in solid tumors heralds new era in precision immunotherapy
Call for applications: Participation in the 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum for Outstanding Young Researchers in Mathematics and Computer Science
A milestone for reproductive medicine: Producing viable eggs from undeveloped oocytes through In vitro technology
Vast majority of Trump voters believe American values and prosperity are ‘under threat’
Scientists investigate if red grape chemical can keep bowel cancer at bay
The refrigerator as a harbinger of a better life
Windfall profits from oil and gas could cover climate payments
Heartier Heinz? How scientists are learning to help tomatoes beat the heat
Breaking carbon–hydrogen bonds to make complex molecules
Sometimes you're the windshield: Utah State University researcher says vehicles cause significant bee deaths
AMS Science Preview: Turbulence & thunderstorms, heat stress, future derechos
Study of mountaineering mice sheds light on evolutionary adaptation
[Press-News.org] New book helps school leaders focus on what they can do without getting weighed down'Focused' gives strategies, examples of how leaders can do what only they can do