Generations at School: Building an Age-Friendly Learning Community / Edition 1

by Suzette Lovely, Austin G. Buffum

Overview

Helps school leaders cultivate improvement-driven, cross-age learning communities by providing case studies, workplace alternatives, and easy-to-apply strategies to promote cross-generational collaboration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412927284
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	02/16/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.34(d)

About the Author

Suzette Lovely is the deputy superintendent of personnel services for the Capistrano Unified School District in Orange County, CA. She has spent 24 years in public education as a teacher, assistant principal, elementary principal, and director of elementary operations. Lovely also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University, teaching courses in educational administration.

Author of two previous books: Setting Leadership Priorities: What’s Necessary, What’s Nice and What’s Got to Go (Corwin Press, 2006) and Staffing the Principalship: Finding, Coaching and Mentoring School Leaders (ASCD, 2004), Lovely is also a staff writer for Master Teacher publications.

Austin G. Buffum is currently adjunct professor of educational leadership at Chapman University and California State University, Fullerton. He recently retired as the senior deputy superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District in South Orange County, CA. During his 34-year career, Buffum served as a music teacher and coordinator, elementary school principal, curriculum director, and assistant superintendent.

Buffum was selected as the 2006 Curriculum and Instruction Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators. He has presented at scores of regional and national conferences and speaks regularly to schools, districts, and departments of education across the nation about his passion for professional learning.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Roland S. Barth
Preface: The Demographic Divide
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1. The Generations at Work in Schools
The Perfect Storm
Who's Who? A Snapshot of Four Living Generations
Roadmaps and Aspirations
Conclusion: A Cause Celebre
2. New Rules for the Sandbox
Coloring Within the Lines
From School to Work
The Birth of Organized Labor
Trailblazers, Pioneers, and Indiana Jones
The Neutral Zone
That Was Then, This Is Now
Conclusion: Let Go of the Quo
3. Cross Age Connections in a Learning Community
Intergenerational Chemistry in a PLC
Know Your Lineup
A Case in Point
Conclusion: Ageless Excellence
4. Recruitment Renaissance: Give It to 'Em Their Way
Generational Forecasting
Start Your Own Farm Team
Who's on First?
On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!
Be All That You Can Be
Handle With Care
Conclusion: Become First-Rate
5. Creating Synergy in the Schoolhouse
The Demographic Gulch
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go
The Synergy Doctrine
Diplomacy: New Word of the Day
Connecting the Dots
Conclusion: Not Too Young, Not Too Old
6. Here Come the Millennials, Ready or Not!
Generational Recycling
Bye-Bye, Breakfast Club
A Special Lot
Safety First!
Oozing With Optimism
Teamwork: Here, There, Everywhere
Conventional Wisdom
Under Pressure
Achievers 'R' Us
When Theory Meets Practice
Conclusion: In Good Hands
7. Meet the Parents
Fly-Overs and Swoop-Ins
Lower the Drawbridge
Outwit, Outlast, Outplay
Mind Your Manners
Different Worlds
Does Your Complaint Policy Make the Grade?
Conclusion: Let's Make a Deal
Resource A: Attracting and Retaining High-Quality Leaders: District Inventory
Resource B: Snag the Best and Bypass the Rest: Behavioral-Based Interview Questions
Resource C: Partnership Teaching Contract Language
Resource D: Synergy Audit: How Generationally Friendly Is Your Workplace?
Resource E: Civility Board Policy
References

Editorial Reviews

"Filled with creative ways to develop the capacity of a staff to work together as a professional learning community. The authors make a compelling case for recognizing the significant generational differences in play among most faculties and, more important, offer specific strategies for addressing those differences in ways that benefit teachers and students alike."

Richard P. Du Four

"An interesting, insightful, and uplifting read! Filled with practical suggestions and strategies to understand generational differences and build on shared interests and strengths while leveraging unique perspectives and motivations. "

James Rickabaugh

"Filled with creative ways to develop the capacity of a staff to work together as a professional learning community. The authors make a compelling case for recognizing the significant generational differences in play among most faculties and, more important, offer specific strategies for addressing those differences in ways that benefit teachers and students alike."

Richard P. DuFour

"This is the essence of the book: understanding our generational differences, finding our generational commonalities, which ultimately will enable us to work together to make a difference for all students. The authors do an outstanding job of providing practical examples and strategies that can be easily implemented. "

Middle Ground Magazine

"Baby boomer teachers are now the old guard. Generation X parents are demanding accountability and transparency. And a rising generation of Millennials is recasting the attitudes and behaviors of youth. The authors provide an excellent roadmap through this new landscape, drawing on concrete examples that will ring true with anyone who works in a school."

Neil Howe