Powerful Schools seeks to release the creative vision within all educators, and show how schools can lead the way in establishing structures and practices that will support young people to become productive members of a global society. If educators are liberated to recognise that the vast potential of schools need not be constrained by expectations about qualifications, curriculum, the length of the school day, or physical buildings, then their imagination soars, as does their capacity for invention. Powerful Schools is a blueprint, showing how each and every school can grow abundantly rich in opportunities for individuals to develop the skills to become more socially and globally mobile, actively supported by numerous people and organisations who are consciously working to engage them in making the most of these opportunities.
Dr Helen Wright is a leading commentator on education and a well-known headmistress. She has taught at and headed some of the UK's leading schools for over 20 years and in January 2013 took up an education role in Australia. She is renowned, both in the UK and globally, for her knowledge of and passion for girls' schools and her forthright opinions on education, motherhood and parenting. Her views regularly make headline news in the national and international media. She has written comment articles for a variety of media and was a finalist at the Brit Writers' Awards 2012 in London in December in the best non-fiction book category for her book "Decoding your 21st Century Daughter", ahead of its publication in 2013. She has also spoken at education conferences and events around the world; in the last two years, she has spoken in the USA, China and Australia as well as at home at events like the Independent Schools' Show, the Wellington College Top Girls' Conference and the IDPE and isbi conferences. In 2013 Dr Wright became Head of Ascham School in Sydney, one of Australia's top girls' schools, and lived in Australia for a year. Prior to this she was Head of St Mary's Calne in Wiltshire, which she led for nearly a decade.
Introduction: what is social and global mobility? Chapter 1: Mobility, Power and Schools: why are they important? Chapter 2: Dimensions of Powerful Schools: what does Powerful look like in practice? Chapter 3: Who is going to make this happen? Who are your stakeholders? Chapter 4: Planning for change Chapter 5: Motivations and contributions - why your stakeholders will get involved and what they can bring Chapter 6: How do you engage your stakeholders? Realms of powerful activity Chapter 7: Building the power: practical ideas to engage stakeholder groups Chapter 8: Bringing it all together - what do you do next?
