Leadership means always working to meet challenges of changing world

Leadership, Sept-Oct, 2009 by Charles Weis

Dear Colleagues:

"Leadership for a changing world" is more than just the focus of this issue of Leadership magazine and the theme for ACSA's upcoming Leadership Summit. Our world is changing and schools must change in order to prepare graduates for a global economy that uses technology ubiquitously and values multi-cultural and multi-lingual learning. Refining our leadership skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of our changing schools and world is what good leaders are doing every day.

In this issue, author Perry Wiseman writes that our revolutionary times call for "a type of leadership whose goal should be not only to grow resilient schools, but to make them thrive in the face of distinctly new challenges." The skills Wiseman describes help leaders build "an organizational, not just individual, capacity for change." The result is schools that are almost like self-cleaning ovens. "Their people have the capacity to respond effectively to messes, because they have created a culture that wants to sparkle in the midst of chaos."

Due to the complex nature of education today, instructional leadership is being distributed across the school community. Teachers are helping lead the change process, and school leaders need to know how to develop teachers as instructional leaders. Author Shelly Kurtz writes that the savvy administrator "will eagerly welcome the opportunity to share some power and to capitalize on the strengths of the teacher leader."

Sustaining teacher commitment to struggling students

This issue also includes the findings of a study that focused on a group of teachers who have a reputation for being committed to and successful with struggling urban high school students. Author Rebecca Cheung found that such teacher commitment is "strongly influenced by variable conditions that are largely controlled and determined by leaders. This is good news," she writes.

Additional articles include more on leadership development, including rules for brand new administrators; strategies for creating professional learning communities; new ways of mentoring and much more.

This is our chance to make a real difference in the lives of our students and staff. There is no harder work, nor will there be a better time to make this commitment. ACSA is proud to be your partner in leading this changing world.

Sincerely,

Charles Weis

ACSA President