I hear a lot about "transformation" in schools. I know there are many well-meaning people that want
Welcome to The Learner-Centered Leader Blog
Stay True to Your learners, Your Staff, and Yourself
In a previous newsletter, I highlighted the problems I saw developing with the concept of "learner-centered leadership."
A teacher just starts their lesson when a student gets up from their seat, swears at the
Learner-centered leadership, learner-centered instruction, or learner-centered anything is not a bad concept. In fact, school leaders that
Three years into my career as a teacher, a couple moved into our community to teach at
As you know, I travel through a lot of school buildings in my job as an Executive
Have you ever had a situation when you said something or did something and then discovered that
Public school educators are facing a monumental challenge in today’s world. There is a major political party
According to a study published by the Hoover Institute titled The Economic Cost of the Pandemic, (Eric
On July 2nd, 1881, Charles Guiteau, a man who was upset he did not get a political
I welcome you to imagine a school where this chart drives all decisions. Imagine a world where we
How many times have you heard someone say, "You just have to get out of your own
Blur words are words that are so vague in meaning that they are not useful in trying
Those of us engaged in public education must constantly adjust, reflect, and react to what is happening
First of all, my headline is slightly bullshittish. How do we define "success?" Our job as educators
Okay, we know we live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. A statement of fact:
Your purpose lies beyond your work. It is the reason you think you exist. Most leaders do
Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi developed the concept of a "flow state." Have you ever been working on a
Last week I had in-depth conversations with three outstanding educators. Two of them are teachers, and one
I recently heard a school administrator say that they were looking for "rigor" in how learners are
I created the New learning Ecosystem chart seven years ago. It was my attempt to try to make
I want to share two conversations I had this week that will form the basis for the
Walking to the front door was not an easy chore. I had to navigate around broken toys,
I want to thank Gregg Behr, the Executive Director of The Grable Foundation, for inspiring this post. Although
As I reflect on the potential impact of web 3.0 I keep coming back to the idea
In my perfect world, schools are based on the diagram above. The learner is at the center
Recently, I have sat through a few meetings of educators where the topic involved "the learning gap"
As we emerge bleary eyed from the pandemic, let's take some time to reflect on what will
This week I met over 100 educators in different events. I talked to everyone from a superintendent
Early in my career, I faced three tough decisions in a six-year period. My wife and I had
The following is post from my weekly newsletter, The Learner-Centered Leader. To subscribe to the newsletter you
Last week I talked about two terrible, horrible, no good, very bad questions. This week I am
(This is written as a letter to my two college-aged daughters.) (It is also the foundation of
Raise your hand if you feel as if you are the hamster running on that wheel...working hard
3 Drivers For Transforming Education Systems One of my "go-to" newsletters is The Learn Letter by Eva Keiffenheim. As
The Iceberg Model Of Systems Change We have all heard of the saying "that's the tip of
What a great blog post I ran across last week. The author, Carey Nieuwof, makes a great
Post Traumatic Growth...Can You Help Your Staff and Learners "Get" It? I am in the process of
I know I promised a simple explanation of two things in last week's blog: a crypto digital
The promise of Web 3.0, which I introduced earlier, depends to a large extent on the blockchain.
I believe it is imperative that learner-centered leaders are always peering beyond the headlights into the future.
I bet some of you reading this newsletter have danced around the feeling of being “burnt out”.
I don’t know about you, but when I see kids having a blast in school while they
When our kids were young, we took them to the Outer Banks In North Carolina for beach
We all love to have problems facing us all day at work, right? Well, if you do
I worked with Dr. Coiner when I was the superintendent at Penn-Trafford School District. Dr. Coiner was
I was thinking of statistics the other day. Here is something that I find interesting. The chance
When I was a teacher, a group of my teacher friends and I organized 2 field trips
l "Remember, the act of schooling is an inherently political act." --Dr. Bill Boyd
Here is something to think about. In all of my experience and all of my reading on
Do you have a book in your life that you continually go back to and read again
I am going to get right to it in this post. This post is not meant to
There are things in life that are simple, and there are things in life that are complicated.
Title of Book: Top of Mind Author of Book: John Hall Year Published: 2017 What is unique
Today’s blog post in an exert from my book School Leadership: Learner-Centered Leadership In Times Of Crisis.
Outlook on LIfe What is your outlook life? Are you a “glass is half full” or a
Questions to consider. How much time do you spend in quadrant #4? Actually, track your time for a
Title of Book: Win Art Work & Succeed At Life: 5 Principles To Free Yourself From The
The Board President of IU8, Tom Bullington, and I have a great working relationship. I consider him
Title of Book: The Expansion Sale: Four Must Win Conversations To Keep and Grow Your Customers Author of
Learner-centered leaders want to get things done. Creating the conditions in which the school system starts to
Those of us involved in trying to change schools to become learner-centered know how difficult that change
What does it mean to be “leadershipped out”? Here are some signs that you might be suffering
The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome
My Brother and Critical Thinking My brother works as a foreman for a pipe-laying crew. He mostly
Ripping the Band-Aid Off This post builds off an earlier post entitled “The Old and New Story
Here are some comments I hear all of the time from teachers, principals, superintendents, and anyone else
A Story This week I had the honor of participating in a dissertation defense (congratulations Dr. Jim
A Story Is "leadership" something that you are born with or a skill that you can develop?
In my last post, I discussed the importance of developing your leadership philosophy and the first four
Building your leadership philosophy My new book talks a lot about learner-centered leaders developing a leadership philosophy.
Let’s start thinking… This post is “Part Two” to last week’s blog post about a moral imperative
Michael Fullan’s book, The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, has been a foundational text for my career.
I had the pleasure to sit down with a group of OUTSTANDING elementary teachers last week. I
I have never been too keen on doing “New Year’s Resolutions”. Besides the fact that I have
Data without theory is like jigsaw pieces not put together yet We live in a world of
Today’s uncomfortable truths lead to tomorrow’s solutions Let the handwringing begin. I read today about the shock
School Leaders are Writing a New Story for Education Today’s Reality Our society is in the middle
Kids are the reason I have hope for America I know that the pandemic is grinding us
America at it’s best The political world today is filled with two political parties that are in
As many of you know, I have been working on a book about school leadership for over
How does your personal mission become a beacon for your school? The following blog post comes from
America and the idea of Freedom in Schools Freedom versus obligation. I was in a discussion on
The following are my thoughts on the effects of COVID-19 on our education system. This comes from
The view in my backyard There sure is a lot to get stressed about these days…and I’m
Does your life feel like this? Is Busy a Badge of Honor? Let’s face it, the last
“Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I have listened to
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