Leaders in Educational Thought

Michael Fullan

Title Duration Description

Leadership: 2:47 Michael Fullan discusses the
A Current View benefits and challenges of
being a leader in education
today.
The Growth Mindset 2:15 Successful leaders regard
errors as opportunities for
growth. Wrong drivers at
the policy level represent the
maintenance of policies that
do not get the desired results.
Consequently, educational
leaders are working diligently
to select the right drivers for
change.
Teamness 3:13 Building social capital
involves mentorship between
experienced and novice
educators. This teamness
requires leaders to support,
facilitate, and maintain
collaborative relationships
across schools. This
represents large-scale cultural
change at the school, board,
and district levels.
Leadership Qualities 4:13 Leaders build social capital
within their teams. They
model lifelong learning,
personal persistence, and
resilience.
Transparency 2:00 Establishing transparency of
practice and transparency of
results effectively monitors
what is and is not positively
impacting upon student
achievement.
Current Practice 2:10 Positive changes evident
in Ontario schools include:
deprivatization of practice;
teachers and students
engaged in inquiry and
reflection as co-learners;
teacher and student
metacognition; and students
taking ownership of their own
learning.
Innovative Pedagogy 1:33 Next steps include innovative
pedagogy in the service of
all students developing their
critical literacy.
The Digital Dimension 4:20 The digital dimension of
pedagogy requires teachers
and students to engage as
innovative co-learners.
Top Performing Schools 11:04 Drawing on global research,
Michael Fullan shares
specific details of what top
performing educational
systems do to achieve results.
Theory of Action 5:50 Michael Fullan describes
seven concepts that make
up the Theory of Action.
These concepts are (1)
Capacity Building Focused
on Results, (2) Learning in
Context, (3) Professional
Learning Communities (PLCs),
(4) Lateral Capacity Building,
(5) Deprivatization Precision,
(6) System Identity, and (7)
Transparency.
Insights that Lead to Action 12:40 Michael Fullan discusses
and Improvement the action oriented change
insights, highlighting six
interactive insights that
facilitate action in schools.
These insights result in
concrete improvements.
These six insights are (1)
the need to develop a
shared vision, (2) impressive
planning does not necessary
mean quality education,
(3) behaviour changes
before beliefs, (4) the
implementation dip is a
bumpy road that needs to
be discussed in the open,
(5) having a clear vision of
change can be paralyzing,
and (6) adaptive challenges
are difficult but necessary for
change.
Self-Assessment 1:28 Michael Fullan suggests
the need to participate
in positive pressure as a
self-assessment strategy
for schools. Fullans three-
pronged approach includes
(1) comparing our schools
to ourselves (e.g., assessing
where we began as compared
to where we are now), (2)
comparing our schools with
other similar schools and/ or
districts, and (3) comparing
our schools to an absolute
and/ or external standard.
Principalship 3:00 Michael Fullan reports
that there is international
consensus on the important
role played by principals in
creating successful schools.
Fullan explains that in spite of
working within increasingly
bureaucratic systems,
principals cannot focus solely
on managing their schools at
the expense of ensuring that
quality teaching and learning
opportunities are being
facilitated in their schools.
Targets 3:25 Setting targets, though useful,
can be problematic if not
jointly set between schools
and districts. Michael Fullan
explores what jointly set
targets look like, considering
how school-based targets can
work in tandem with school
board or district targets.
Aspirational targets are key to
creating successful teaching
and learning environments.
Leadership in Ontario Schools 10:27 Michael Fullan explains
that authentic leadership
requires transparency,
true partnerships between
schools and school districts,
and developing leadership
among tri-level linkages (i.e.,
between schools and the
communities, districts and the
province). Taking seriously
critiques from resisters
helps with ongoing self-
assessment and the creation
of sustainable change in
education, and assists in
readying ourselves for future
change.
Learning Is the Work 8:07 Michael Fullan explains that
the Learning is the Work
concept involves exploring
what happens on a day-
to-day basis in schools in
between workshops and
professional development
sessions. Although this work
is more difficult, Fullan
explains that numerous
benefits arise from Learning
is the Work, including re-
energizing the profession and
supporting increased student
engagement. Learning is
the Work leads to natural,
sustainable change in schools.
Change 1:40 Michael Fullan explores the
fear of change. He advises
that it is important to go
through the entire process of
confronting our fears to get
good results (i.e., getting the
fear out of the open, creating
and providing non-risk
atmospheres, and working
through small doses of the
new environment). Once
this process is completed,
people are able to see the
possibilities of success, and,
as a consequence, are willing
to take more risks.
Trust 2:18 Michael Fullan discusses
transparency as a method
to develop trust among all
educational stakeholders.
Fullan explains that trust can
only be fostered through
behaviours, and that trust,
along with transparency, is
the single biggest condition
for success.
Building Relationships of 1:39 Michael Fullan discusses
Collaboration current gains at building
collaborative relationships
among teachers, schools, and
school districts. Sustained
lateral dialogues about
success stories create great
power and momentum for
positive change.
Six Secrets 2:27 Michael Fullan discusses
his new book, Six Secrets of
Change. Fullan highlights
key points from the
book, emphasizing that
these secrets come directly
from successful classroom
practices rather than from
theory.
Networks 1:10 Michael Fullan argues that
networks alone will not
produce results. Successful
networks must be both
purposeful and well-led to be
effective.
Next Steps 1:42 Michael Fullan emphasizes
that leadership at all three
levels of education (i.e., at
the school and community,
district, and state levels) is
crucial for success. Due to its
complicated nature, concrete
examples of good leadership
must be captured and shared;
using new media greatly
facilitates this sharing.