How Leaders Learn: Cultivating Capacities for School Improvement - Paperback

by Gordon A. Donaldson (Author)

How Leaders Learn portrays the developmental experiences of educators seeking to become accomplished leaders in their schools. The author presents a new model of leadership knowledge: the Interpersonal-Cognitive-Intrapersonal (I-C-I) model. Through the stories of teacher leaders and administrators in several leadership development programs, the book depicts the evolution of understanding, skill, and self-confidence. These learners grapple with questions essential to all effective leadership: Does my leadership generate improved learning for the students in my school? What are my greatest assets as a leader? What are my greatest liabilities, and what do I do about them? Can I find a leadership role that is both productive and sustainable for me and for the school I serve?

This dynamic professional development tool:

• Introduces a framework for thinking about how school leaders cultivate and support their own learning.
• Richly describes in leaders' own words the deepening of interpersonal, cognitive, and intrapersonal leadership knowledge and action.
• Describes how to structure the Performance Learning cycle to support leadership that benefits students.
• Links recent literature and research to support new insights into the role of emotion, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills in leader learning.

Author Biography

Gordon A. Donaldson, Jr. is a professor of education at the University of Maine.