Collaborative Leadership: Six Influences That Matter Most / Edition 1

by Peter M. DeWitt

Overview

Get the fuel you need to drive collaborative leadership in your school!

What type of leadership do you practice? Many of us rely on transformational and instructional leadership. But there are advantages in applying a holistic angle including all stakeholders—an approach known as collaborative leadership. Peter De Witt unpacks six factors framed through John Hattie’s research while painting a powerful scheme: meet stakeholders where they are, motivate stakeholders to strive for improvement, model how to do it. The blueprint will inspire you to:

• Transform your leadership practice
• Identify where you can make changes
• Build and empower your team
• Incorporate all stakeholders into the conversation

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506337111
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/28/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	347,896
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Peter De Witt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For the last 10 years, he has been facilitating professional learning nationally, and internationally, based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books.

De Witt's professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy.

Additionally, in the Summer of 2021, De Witt created a year long on-demand, asynchronous coaching course through Thinkific where he has created a community of learners that include k-12 educators in leadership positions.

De Witt's work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.K.

Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week, which has been in circulation since 2011. In 2020 De Witt co-created Education Week's A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race, gender, sexual orientation, research, trauma and many other educational topics.

Additionally, De Witt is the Series Editor for the Connected Educator Series (Corwin Press) and the Impact Series (Corwin Press) that include books by Viviane Robinson, Andy Hargreaves, Pasi Sahlberg, Yong Zhao and Michael Fullan.

He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York State's (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year, and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts & Sciences), and sits on numerous advisory boards.

Peter is the author, co-author or contributor of numerous books. Click on title to purchase. They include:
Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press. 2012).

Flipping Leadership Doesn't Mean Reinventing the Wheel (Corwin Press. 2014)

Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (Corwin Press/Learning Forward).

School Climate: Leading With Collective Teacher Efficacy (Corwin Press/ Ontario Principals Council. 2017).

Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018).

Instructional Leadership: Creating Practice Out Of Theory (Corwin Press. 2020).

Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening the Impact of Instructional Leadership Teams (Corwin Press. Learning Forward. 2021).

De-implementation: Creating the Space to Focus on What Works (Corwin Press. 2022).

Leading with Intention - Developing self-awareness to fostering an unreasonable human interconnectedness to impact the school community (co-authored with Michael Nelson. Corwin Press. 2024).

Peter's articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages.

Some of the organizations Peter has worked with are the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Learning Forward, National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), University of Oklahoma, Cognition Education (New Zealand), Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL), Victoria Department of Education (Australia), University of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), the National Education Association (NEA), New Brunswick Teacher's Association (Canada), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), Education Scotland (Scotland), Glasgow City Council (Scotland), Kuwait Technical College (Kuwait) the National Association of School Psychologists, ASCD, l’Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO), the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario (CPCO), and the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC), National School Climate Center, GLSEN, PBS, NPR, BAM Radio Network, ABC, and NBC's Education Nation.

Learn more about bringing Peter De Witt to your school or district at petermdewitt.com

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Collaborative Leadership
What You Will Find in This Book
Why This Book?
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1: What Do You Want to Be to Leadership?
What If You Could Be the Kind of Principal You Want to Be?
Motivating People to Be Their Best Every Day
What Is Collaborative Leadership?
Meet, Model, & Motivate
10 Critical Issues Facing Education
School Story—Many Hands Make Light Work
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Discussion Questions
Chapter 2: Instructional Leadership (.42)
What Do Instructional Leaders Do?
Collaborative Leadership: A Positive Effect on Learning
The Politics That Distract Us From Making Learning the Main Priority
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Flipping Our Focus to Learning
Student-Centered Leadership
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Discussion Questions
Chapter 3: Collective Teacher Efficacy (1.57)
To Be Effective, Teachers Need to Be Motivated
School Climate: The Plate Everything Lies On
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Enhance Communication to Promote Teacher Efficacy
Risk-Taking and Rule-Following: Finding the Balance
Within-School Variability
Fostering Teacher Voice to Increase Collaboration
Collective Teacher Efficacy
School Story—Teachers Need to Have a Voice, Too!
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Discussion Questions
Chapter 4: Assessment-Capable Learners (1.44)
Assessment-Capable Learners
Student Voice Needs to Come First
Inspiring Assessment-Capable Learning
Be More Than Visible
A Collaborative Leadership Mindframe
We Need Evidence to Collaborate Effectively
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Discussion Questions
Chapter 5: Professional Development (.51)
What Does Good Professional Development Look Like?
Flipped Faculty Meetings
Collaborative Leaders Debate, Dissect, and Discuss
The Core Business of Learning
School Story—Using Research to Engage All Stakeholders
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Discussion Questions
Chapter 6: Feedback (.75)
Feedback Is Complicated
Feedback to Move Learning Forward
One to Grow On
The Multiple Avenues of Effective Feedback
Teacher Observations: The Collaborative Approach
School Story—A New Collaboration
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Discussion Questions
Chapter 7: Family Engagement (.49)
Nurturing Family Engagement
Why Family Engagement Is Difficult
How We Communicate With Parents
Flipping Family Communications
The Partnership Approach
Branding Your School
School Story—Engaging Families at the High School Level
Meet, Model, & Motivate
Discussion Questions
Chapter 8—What Are Your Next Steps?
The Place to Start—Strengths
The Implementation Dip
Moving Forward by Discovering Your PLN
Don’t Negotiate or Regulate as Much as You Collaborate
Discussion Questions
Afterword—Russ Quaglia
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Peter De Witt's excellent book Collaborative Leadership builds bridges from evidence to practice, providing a wealth of ideas for developing a collaborative vision, strategy and frameworks for action. De Witt presents real insight into the potential benefits of collaborative leadership, and this book should surely encourage its adoption. It might also encourage all educators to see the value of evidence based practice and to consider how we might gather, compare and act on our own evidence to improve student experience. "

Gavin Dykes

Collaborative Leadership has confirmed a core truth in education: We must create an educational learning community grounded in trust and responsibility, not testing and accountability. De Witt has provided a framework to challenge our current thinking, make us reflect, and perhaps even become a little uncomfortable with current practices as school leaders. He has challenged us to have higher expectations of ourselves and those around us—to work collaboratively, simultaneously building trust and responsibility between all stakeholders striving to reach shared goals.

Russell Quaglia

"To most educators, leadership books have about as much impact as the leaves that cover my lawn each fall. But Peter De Witt’s advice in Collaborative Leadership is of hardier stuff. Like the leaf that clings to the tree long after the winter has arrived, this book will stay in readers’ thoughts and affect their actions for many seasons to come. De Witt delivers a strong message on how to begin this necessary work, where to focus, and most importantly how you grow as a leader. "

Raymond J. Mc Nulty

"Teachers dream of having the type of principal described in Collaborative Leadership! De Witt’s roadmap of Meet, Motivate, and Model, underpinned by an impressive research base, has the potential to transform relationships and collaboration between teachers and leaders, ultimately leading to an improved learning experience where the voices of all concerned are listened to and valued. "

Lisa Lande

This book is much more than about collaborative leadership. It feels collaborative for it has a generous and inclusive tone and is packed with the authentic voices and stories of students, parents, teachers, leaders and researchers. It provides a strong case for being collaborative and will inspire all who read it to reflect on their understanding of what it means to be a collaborative leader and on how they can increase their educational impact through greater collaboration.

Viviane Robinson

"Peter De Witt is an experienced teacher and administrator. I recommend his book as a practical and informative resource for administrators at any point in their career. It is easy to read and utilize from day one. It is an essential handbook to keep on your desk. "

Dr. Jo Moccia

"As I read Collaborative Leadership: Six Influences That Matter Most, I kept being reminded of the great quote by the late business guru Peter Drucker, 'If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.' Peter De Witt has hit the mark; he teaches all of us how to truly take a deeper dive into the important aspects of collaborative leadership and provides a new model and pathway to get us there through proven influencers. His personal leadership journey, stories from the field and practitioner's lens breathes life into the ideas. "

Dr. Steve Constantino

"Peter De Witt's comprehensive combination of Hattie's evidence, personal and practical experience, clear, useable frameworks and illuminating blogs and articles make the case for collaborative leadership a cause for immediate action. "

Shirley Clarke

"Collaborative Leadership brings together the essence of how leaders maximize impact. De Witt unpacks Hattie’s six leadership keys, adds his own considerable insights and makes the whole phenomenon of efficacious leadership come alive with vignettes, and ‘meet, model, and motivate’ ideas in each chapter. Above all, he makes it personal. Be a better leader, he urges, and then shows the way. "

Michael Fullan

"It is time we realized that the top-down model of leadership often guarantees failure in professional communities. Peter De Witt offers us a way forward with a revolutionary new approach to leadership that recognizes that everyone’s brain is required for complex change—not just the brain of the “leader.” If you want to have an impact, you should study this book and put these ideas into practice as soon as you can. "

Jim Knight

"In this compelling book on leadership, Peter De Witt tackles comprehensive and convincing reasons for the need to be collaborative. He accompanies his reasons with recommendations that guide. Supported by valued research and accompanied by stories from leaders in the field, De Witt pulls no punches. He shares, with honest reflection, his own experiences as he grew as a leader, writer, and professional developer. The stories and the research combine to deliver a book that informs and guides. It is the kind of book one keeps close after reading, a go-to as the reader develops themselves as a collaborative leader for this century. "

Jill Berkowicz

"Peter De Witt's brilliant book is by a proven leader for other leaders. It shows that collaborative leadership means more than distributing responsibilities, including others in decision-making, or managing data teams. Collaborative Leadership is about working or laboring together to accomplish extraordinary things. It is about defining directions as a community and also implementing them to best effect. De Witt is a hugely accomplished writer, stellar blogger on social media, and the most humble leader you could meet. You will be unable to put this truly inspiring and deeply practical book down. "

Andy Hargreaves

"To most educators, leadership books have about as much impact as the leaves that cover my lawn each fall. But Peter DeWitt’s advice in Collaborative Leadership is of hardier stuff. Like the leaf that clings to the tree long after the winter has arrived, this book will stay in readers’ thoughts and affect their actions for many seasons to come. DeWitt delivers a strong message on how to begin this necessary work, where to focus, and most importantly how you grow as a leader."

Raymond J. McNulty