Drawing in the School Context as a Learning Resource in School Leader Development: Application-Oriented Projects in Active Learning Designs

Abstract

This article investigates a yearlong professional development experience provided to two cohorts within a doctoral program for early career school leaders. Drawing from situated learning theory, we examined one aspect of this program’s pedagogy, which centers on the use of field-based application-oriented projects that leaders must take up in their school settings. From this investigation, we identified and reported two key elements of the school context that were regularly drawn into leaders’ application-oriented learning experiences. We also illustratively highlight several of the authentic leadership consideration and practice experiences that were enabled.

Keywords

leadership for school improvement principals principal development active learning professional development in-service leadership development situated learning theory leadership development leadership pedagogies

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Amrein-Beardsley

Zambo

Moore

D. W.

Buss

R. R.

Perry

N. J.

Painter

S. R.

. . . Puckett

K. S.

(2012). Graduates respond to an innovative educational doctorate program. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 7, 98-122.

Anderson

L. M.

Turnbull

B. J.

(2016). Building a Stronger Principalship: Vol. 4. Evaluating and supporting principals. New York, NY: The Wallace Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Pages/Building-a-Stronger-Principalship-Vol-4-Evaluating-and-Supporting-Principals.aspx

Béteille

Kalogrides

Loeb

(2012). Stepping stones: Principal career paths and school outcomes. Social Science Research, 41, 904-919.

Bourdieu

(1981). Man and machines. In Knorr-Cetina

Cicourel

A. V.

(Eds.), Advances in social theory and methodology (pp. 304-317). London: Routledge.

Branch

G. F.

Hanushek

E. A.

Rivkin

S. G.

(2012). Estimating the effect of leaders on public sector productivity: The case of school principals. Washington, DC: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research & American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED529175.pdf

Bridges

E. M.

Hallinger

(1995). Implementing problem based learning in leadership development. Eugene: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, College of Education, University of Oregon.

Bryk

A. S.

Sebring

P. B.

Allensworth

Luppescu

Easton

J. Q.

(2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Bush

(2009). Leadership development and school improvement: Contemporary issues in leadership development. Educational Review, 61, 375-389.

Byrne-Jimenez

Gooden

Tucker

(2017). Facilitating learning in leadership preparation: Limited research but promising practices. In Young

Crow

(Eds.), Handbook of research on the education of school leaders (pp. 173-201). New York, NY: Routledge.

10.

Cobb

(1994). Where is the mind? Constructivist and sociocultural perspectives on mathematical development. Educational Researcher, 23(7), 13-20.

11.

Coburn

(2005). Shaping teacher sensemaking: School leaders and the enactment of reading policy. Education Policy, 19(3), 476-509.

12.

Coelli

Green

D. A.

(2012). Leadership effects: School principals and student outcomes. Economics of Education Review, 31, 92-109.

13.

Cosner

Tozer

Zavitkovsky

(2016). Enacting a cycle of inquiry capstone research project in doctoral-level leadership preparation. In Storey

Hesbol

(Eds.), Contemporary approaches to dissertation development and research methods (pp. 163-184). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

14.

Cosner

Tozer

Zavitkovsky

Whalen

(2015). Cultivating exemplary school leadership preparation at a research intensive university. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 10(1), 11-38.

15.

Darling-Hammond

LaPointe

Meyerson

Orr

M. T.

Cohen

(2007). Preparing school leaders for a changing world: Lessons from exemplary leadership development programs. Stanford, CA: Stanford Educational Leadership Institute, Stanford University. Retrieved from http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Preparing-School-Leaders.pdf

16.

Davis

Darling-Hammond

LaPointe

Meyerson

(2005). School leadership study: Developing successful principals (A review of research). Stanford, CA: Stanford Educational Leadership Institute, Stanford University. Retrieved from http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Developing-Successful-Principals.pdf

17.

Day

D. V.

Harrison

M. M.

Halpin

S. M.

(2009). An integrative approach to leader development. New York, NY: Routledge.

18.

Desimone

Porter

Garet

Yoon

Birman

(2002). Effects of professional development on teachers’ instruction: Results from a three-year longitudinal study. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(2), 81-112.

19.

Donmoyer

Yennie-Donmoyer

Galloway

(2012). The search for connections across principal preparation, principal performance, and student achievement in an exemplary principal preparation program. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 7, 5-43.

20.

Gray

Bishop

(2009). Leadership development. Journal of Staff Development, 30(1), 28-33.

21.

Grissom

J. A.

Harrington

J. R.

(2010). Investing in administrator efficacy: An examination of professional development as a tool for enhancing principal effectiveness. American Journal of Education, 116, 583-612.

22.

Hitt

D. H.

Tucker

P. D.

Young

M. D.

(2012). The professional pipeline for educational leadership. A White Paper developed to inform the work of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. Charlottesville, VA: University Council for Education Administration. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED533487.pdf

23.

Honig

Hatch

(2004). Crafting coherence: How schools strategically manage multiple, external demands. Educational Researcher, 33(8), 16-30.

24.

Huang

Beachum

White

Kaimal

Fitzgerald

Reed

(2012). Preparing urban school leaders: What works? Planning and Changing, 43(1/2), 72-95.

25.

Huber

S. G.

(2011). Leadership for learning—Learning for leadership: The impact of professional development. In Townsend

MacBeath

(Eds.), International handbook of leadership for learning (pp. 635-652). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

26.

Hutchins

(1994). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

27.

Kolb

(1984). Experiential learning: Experience as a source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NY: Prentice Hill.

28.

Korach

Cosner

(2017). Developing the leadership pipeline: Comprehensie leadership development. In Young

Crow

(Eds.), Handbook of research on the education of school leaders (pp. 262-282). New York, NY: Routledge.

29.

Lave

(1988). Cognition in practice: Mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

30.

Lave

Wenger

(1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

31.

Louis

K. S.

Leithwood

Wahlstrom

Anderson

(2010). Investigating the links to improved student learning: Final report of research findings. New York, NY: The Wallace Foundation. Retrieved from www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/school-leadership/key-research/Documents/Investigating-the-Links-to-Improved-Student-Learning.pdf

32.

National Policy Board of Educational Administration. (2015). Professional standards for educational leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.

33.

Orr

M. T.

(2011). Pipeline to preparation to advancement: Graduates’ experience in, through, and beyond leadership preparation. Education Administration Quarterly, 47, 114-172.

34.

Orr

M. T.

Orphanos

(2011). How graduate-level preparation influences the effectiveness of school leaders: A comparison of the outcomes of exemplary and conventional leadership preparation programs for principals. Educational Administration Quarterly, 47, 18-70.

35.

Osterman

Furman

Sernak

(2014). Action research in EdD programs in educational leadership. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 9, 85-105.

36.

Putnam

R. T.

Borko

(2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational Researcher, 29(1), 4-15.

37.

Resnick

L. B.

(1991). Shared cognition: Thinking as social practice. In Resnick

L. B.

Levine

J. M.

Teasley

S. D.

(Eds.), Perspectives on socially shared cognition (pp. 1-20). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

38.

Robinson

V. M.

Lloyd

C. A.

Rowe

K. J.

(2008). The impact of leadership on student outcomes: An analysis of the differential effects of leadership types. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44, 635-674.

39.

Rowland

(2017). Principal professional development: New opportunities for a renewed state focus. Washington, DC: Education Policy Center at American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from http://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/Principal-Professional-Development-New-Opportunities-State-Focus-February-2017.pdf

40.

Spillane

J. P.

Halverson

Diamond

J. B.

(2001). Investigating school leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Educational Researcher, 30(3), 23-28.

41.

Spillane

J. P.

Lee

L. C.

(2014). Novice school principals’ sense of ultimate responsibility: Problems of practice in transitioning to the principal’s office. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50, 431-465.

42.

Sutcher

Podolsky

Espinoza

(2017). Supporting principals’ learning: Key features of effective programs. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/supporting-principals-learning-key-features-effective-programs-report

43.

Taylor

D. L.

Cordeiro

P. A.

Chrispeels

J. H.

(2009). Pedagogy. In Young

M. D.

Crow

G. M.

Murphy

Ogawa

R. T.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on the education of school leaders (pp. 319-369). New York, NY: Routledge.

44.

Turnbull

B. J.

Riley

D. L.

Arcaira

E. R.

Anderson

L. M.

MacFarlane

J. R.

(2013). Six districts begin the principal pipeline initiative. New York, NY: The Wallace Foundation. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED555867.pdf

45.

The Wallace Foundation. (2016). Building principal pipelines: A job that urban districts can do. New York, NY: Author. Retrieved from http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Perspective-Building-Principal-Pipelines.pdf

46.

Zambo

Isai

(2013). Action research and the educational doctorate: New promises and visions. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 8, 97-112.