The Skillful Team Leader: A Resource for Overcoming Hurdles to Professional Learning for Student Achievement

by Elisa B. MacDonald

Overview

Get the most out of your PLCs and teacher teams!

All teams face hurdles. What distinguishes the skillful team leader from a less effective one is his or her approach in overcoming them. Whether you are a team leader or a trainer of team leaders, this book is an essential resource for you.

Elisa MacDonald offers a skillful approach to team leadership rooted in values, mindset, intelligence, and skill. Readers will learn from reality-based examples illustrating common team hurdles in collaboration, shared leadership, goal setting and attainment, rigorous discourse, and continuous improvement. This practical guide features:

• Research-based and field-tested solutions for preventing and overcoming hurdles
• Brief follow-up sections with tips for sustaining positive change
• Ways to work beyond the team to shape and influence school culture
• Prompts to apply learning to your own leadership hurdles
• A common chapter format for easy reference and flexible use

 

"Teacher teams have become a common fixture of North American schools. However, not all teams make the best use of their meeting time by engaging in sustained, professional learning. Written in a clear, practitioner-friendly style, this book provides team leaders with an array of useful strategies to address common team hurdles and realize the promise of powerful, collaborative learning."
—Jim Knight, Author of Instructional Coaching

"This book is a fantastic resource for someone who leads teams every day. The vignettes echo the very real challenges that I continually see in team meetings. The book is organized so that I can easily find practical strategies to apply right away when I am facing major challenges in my daily work."
— Karen Coyle Aylward, Literacy Coach and Team Leader
Boston, MA

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483303949
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	03/05/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

An educator for 30 years, Elisa B. MacDonald is the author of the best-selling book, The Skillful Team Leader: A Resource for Overcoming Hurdles to Professional Learning for Student Achievement. Her broad-ranging experience includes roles such as teacher, literacy coach, and assistant principal of instruction in the Boston Public Schools and adjunct professor for teacher action research at Boston College. As national director at Teach Plus, Elisa built up and led a program in six cities in which teams of teachers in chronically underperforming schools achieved rapid gains for students. Currently, Elisa consults with school districts and organizations, training and coaching team leaders and helping to transform teacher, school, and district-level leadership teams.

When Elisa isn’t championing students and teachers, she is on stage acting, driving her twins to soccer and theater, or experimenting in the kitchen, pretending she’s on the Food Network. Contact Elisa if you want to learn more about skillful intentional team leadership, or if you just want a delicious fudge recipe.

www.elisamacdonald.com
[e-mail]
(Twitter) @elisaBmacdonald
(LinkedIn) Elisa B. MacDonald

Table of Contents

Dilemma Questions Index
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Part I. Foundations
1. A Skillful Approach
A Note From One Team Leader to Another
The Need for Skillful Team Leadership
An Introduction to a Skillful Approach: Values, Mindset, Intelligence, Skill
Important Information Regarding the Writing and Organization of This Book
2. Mindful About Mindset
Mindset
Deconstructing the Fundamental Mindset Questions
The Developing Mind
Can We Change Our Minds?
Hurdles to Maintaining a Growth Mindset
Consider School Culture: Shifting From a Fixed Mindset Culture to a Growth Mindset Culture
A Final Word
Application to Your Work: Connect, Observe, Explore, Act
Part II. Hurdles
3. Alone Together: Overcoming Hurdles to Foster a High-Functioning, High-Impact Collaborative Team
What Is Collaboration, and Why Is It Needed?
Hurdles to Fostering a High-Functioning, High-Impact Collaborative Team
Considerations for Group Agreements
Consider School Culture: Shifting From a Culture of Alone Together to a Collaborative Culture
Application to Your Work: Connect, Observe, Explore, Act
4. Not It: Overcoming Hurdles to Achieve Shared Leadership for Learning
What Is Shared Leadership, and Why Is It Important?
Hurdles to Achieving Shared Leadership for Learning
Consider School Culture: Shifting From a Culture of Dependency to a Culture of Shared Decision Making
Application to Your Work: Connect, Observe, Explore, Act
5. Seemingly SMART: Overcoming Hurdles to Set and Attain Impactful Goals
What Are SMART Goals, and Why Are They Important?
Hurdles to Setting and Attaining Impactful SMART Goals
Consider School Culture: Shifting From a Scapegoat Culture to a Culture of Mutual Accountability
Application to Your Work: Connect, Observe, Explore, Act
6. Off-Course Discourse: Overcoming Hurdles to Lead a Team in Rigorous Discourse
What Is Rigorous Discourse, and Why Is It Important?
Hurdles to Leading a Team in Rigorous Discourse
Consider School Culture: Shifting From a Culture of Nice to an Honest, Up-front Culture
Application to Your Work: Connect, Observe, Explore, Act
7. Inertia: Overcoming Hurdles to Lead an Action-Oriented Team for Continuous Improvement
What Are Action-Oriented Teams, and Why Are They Important?
Hurdles to Leading an Action-Oriented Team for Continuous Improvement
Consider School Culture: Shifting From a Culture Acidic to Change to a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Application to Your Work: Connect, Observe, Explore, Act
A Closing Note
Resources
Resource 3.1 Function vs. Impact
Resource 3.2 Team Function, Impact Matrix Indicators
Resource 3.3 Compass Points: An Exercise in Understanding Styles in Group Work
Resource 3.4 Hopes and Fears Exercise
Resource 4.1 Adapted Consultancy Protocol
Resource 4.2 Is Your School Leadership at Its Highest Leadership Capacity?
Resource 5.1 Making the Shift From Seemingly SMART to SMART
Resource 5.2 SMA-H-RT Guiding Questions
Resource 5.3 Data Analysis Protocol
Resource 6.1 Six Phases of Adapting Data-Driven Instruction
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a fantastic resource for me someone who leads teams every day. The vignettes echo the very real challenges that I continually see in team meetings. The book is organized so that I can easily find practical strategies to apply right away when I am facing major challenges in my daily work. "

Karen Coyle Aylward

"No matter what situation a leader or coach finds themselves in, the answer is going to be somewhere between the pages of this text. Having alternate routes to consider is a plus to the problem solving. "

Roxie Ahlbrecht

"This book has become an indispensible guide for me and my leaders. Mac Donald has masterfully drawn from her own experiences and from experts in the field to create a practical resource for anyone involved in leadership development or wanting to improve his or her own leadership skills. "

Emily Becker

"Mac Donald’s book provides “real talk” and real solutions to problems that arise in schools. She does not tip toe around issues. She confronts them and writes about practical ways to both avoid potential hurdles and deal with issues when they arise. "

Carline Kelly

Teacher teams have become a common fixture of North American schools. However, not all teams make the best use of their meeting time by engaging in sustained, professional learning. Written in a clear, practitioner-friendly style, this book provides team leaders with an array of useful strategies to address common team hurdles and realize the promise of powerful, collaborative learning.

Jim Knight

"This book does an excellent job of living up to its title. The author addresses a variety of roadblocks leaders face—whether they are teachers or administrators—and offers suggestions to help overcome these obstacles. "

David G. Daniels