Leading Adult Learning

Ellie Drago-Severson is Professor of Education Leadership and Adult Learning and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. A developmental psychologist, Ellie teaches, conducts research, and serves as a consultant to school and district leaders, systems leaders, and teacher leaders in public, charter and private schools and systems-on professional and personal growth and learning; leadership that supports principal, teacher, school, and leadership development; and coaching and mentoring in K-12 schools, university settings, and other adult education contexts domestically and internationally. She is also an internationally certified developmental coach who works with leaders to build internal capacity, lead on behalf of social justice, and grow systemwide capacity. For more than three decades, Ellie's research, teaching, and partnerships in the field have sought-synergistically-to explore, and extend the possibilities of adult development and developmental leadership as levers for internal capacity building at the individual, team, organizational, and societal levels. Her work explores interconnected streams that focus on: the connection between internal capacities and educational leaders' practice on behalf of social justice, a developmental approach to feedback for growth, pressing challenges national and international educational leaders are facing and helping them to manage them, leadership preparation and development, a new, learning-oriented model for leadership development, supporting adult development in individuals and teams across and within systems, supporting diverse adult English Language Learners and those who serve them, and growing teacher leadership. Consonant with the urgent conversations about transforming schools, systems, and society as more learning- and equity-oriented contexts, her work foregrounds how we can support leaders' internal capacity building in schools, organizations, and leadership preparation programs, and how these capacities inform the gifts leaders are able to give to those in their care, each other, and the world as they lead for social justice. Ellie loves opportunities to accompany school leaders in their vital work-and never takes it for granted. Instead, she considers it a gift. At Teachers College, Ellie is director of the PhD Program in Educational Leadership, teaches aspiring and practicing principals in the Summer Principals Academy, aspiring superintendents in the Urban Educators Leaders Program, leaders from a variety of different sectors in the Accelerated Educational Guided Inquiry Studies (AEGIS) Program, and also coaches leaders in the Cahn Fellows Program for Distinguished Leaders and in her private coaching practice to help leaders grow their practice and themselves. She also serves as faculty director and co-facilitator of the Leadership Institute for School Change at Teachers College. Ellie is author of the best-selling books Helping Teachers Learn (Corwin, 2004) and Leading Adult Learning (Corwin/The National Staff Development Council, 2009)-as well as Becoming Adult Learners (Teachers College Press, 2004) and Helping Educators Grow (Harvard Education Press, 2012). She is also a co-author of Learning for Leadership (Corwin, 2013), Learning Designs (Learning Forward & Corwin, 2014), Tell Me So I Can Hear You (Harvard Education Press, 2016), and Leading change together (ASCD, 2018). Ellie's work has earned awards from the Spencer Foundation, the Klingenstein Foundation, and Harvard, where she served on faculty for 8 years and was awarded the Morningstar Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Dean's award for Excellent in Teaching. Most recently, Ellie received three outstanding teaching awards from Columbia University. She has earned degrees from Long Island University (BA) and Harvard University (EdM, EdD and Post-Doctoral Fellowship). Ellie grew up in the Bronx and is very grateful for the way in which it and that community has shaped her life.

Preface Acknowledgments About the Author Part 1. Foundations 1. A New Model of Leadership for Adult Growth and Learning In This Chapter Meeting Adaptive Challenges The Need for a New Model of Leadership Supporting Learning Across the System Re-envisioning Staff Development The Research Informing This Book A New Learning-Oriented Model of School Leadership Organization of the Book Summary and Conclusion Reflective Questions 2. How Constructive-Developmental Theory Informs the Pillar Practices Why Constructive-Developmental Theory? Informational Learning vs Transformational Learning Constructive-Developmental Theory: An Introduction Why Ways of Knowing Matter When Supporting Adult Growth Shaping School Cultures: Noble Expectations and Hidden Developmental Demands The Holding Environment and Why It Matters in Schools The Learning-Oriented Leadership Model Chapter Summary Frequently Asked Questions Application Exercise Reflective Questions Part 2. Pillar Practices for Growth 3. Teaming: Growth Opportunities for Individuals, Organizations, and Systems About Effective Teaming and Its Value Key Elements of Successful Teaming The Team as a Source of Individual Growth and Development Why and How School Leaders Employ Teaming Team Structures That Nurture Adult Development Implementing Teaming: Lessons From the Field Chapter Summary Frequently Asked Questions Application Exercise Reflective Questions 4. Providing Leadership Roles: Learning and Growing From Leading Together About Providing Leadership Roles Developmental Benefits of Providing Leadership Roles Examples of School Leaders? Use of Providing Leadership Roles Cases and Lessons From the Field Chapter Summary Reflective Questions 5. Collegial Inquiry: Engaging in Shared Dialogue and Reflection on Practice Collegial Inquiry: A Kind of Reflective Practice Collaborative Cultures How Collegial Inquiry Attends to Developmental Diversity Why and How School Leaders Employ Collegial Inquiry Practices School Leaders Use to Initiate Collegial Inquiry Case Study: One Principal?s ?Rare and Unique Opportunity? to Engage in Reflective Practice Over Time Convenings: Personal Case-Based Discussions That Support Collegial Inquiry Chapter Summary Application Exercises Reflective Questions 6. Mentoring: Building Meaningful and Growth-Enhancing Relationships About Effective Mentoring and Its Value Mentoring and Developmental Diversity Implications: How Our Way of Knowing Influences the Way We Mentor Why and How School Leaders Employ Mentoring An Example of a Mentoring Program: Lessons From the Field A Protocol for Mentoring Relationships That Nurture Adult Development Chapter Summary Application Exercise Reflective Questions 7. Implementing the Pillar Practices: Cases From the Field Case 1: Mentoring Principals and Assistant Principals Case 2: Coaching School Leaders Case 3: Leading Teachers by Listening Case 4: Supporting Adult Development Through Schoolwide Transformation Case 5: The Pillar Practices, Hawaiian Style Chapter Summary Application Exercise Reflective Questions 8. The School as Learning Center: Stepping Forward With Hope Meeting Adaptive Challenges by Building Developmental Capacity The Promise of Building Schools as Learning Centers Implications of the New Learning-Oriented Leadership Model Attending to and Valuing Adults? Ways of Knowing Putting the New Learning-Oriented Model Into Practice Stepping Forward On the Gift of Giving Research Appendix Glossary Endnotes References Index

"With this comprehensive and compelling book, Eleanor Drago-Severson establishes herself as a leading expert on authoritative leadership in education." -- Howard Gardner, Author of Leading Minds "As complete a primer for leading adult learning as can be found in print today. Each chapter includes cases and lessons from the field and reflective questions. Eleanor Drago-Severson combines research and practice to create an essential handbook for leaders of adults." -- The School Administrator Magazine, January 2011 "Eleanor Drago-Severson takes hold of an important and neglected truth: students grow best in schools where the adults around them are growing, too. In this nurturing and much-anticipated work, the author shows us exactly how to make this happen. Sound theory, vivid examples, and a practice-ready framework-it's all here! Anyone who cares about making our schools better will feel richly rewarded for spending time with this encouraging book." -- Robert Kegan, Meehan Professor of Adult Learning and Professional Development "There is no greater opportunity for improving public education than to make schools places where adults learn and lead together. In her rich and engaging book, Drago-Severson explores the challenge of this important work and shows us how success is both possible and deeply rewarding." -- Susan Moore Johnson, Pforzheimer Professor of Teaching and Learning "Building on the 'pillar practices' of her earlier work and animated with stories, exercises, and illustrations, this book offers both lucid explication of the powerful insights of constructive developmental theory and intensely practical partnership in how to put it all to work on Monday morning. In these hard times, this is a welcome and hopeful blueprint for the reanimation of our schools and the transformation of our communities." -- Laurent A. Parks Daloz, Senior Fellow