* Draws together real experiences of middle-leadership and offers practical tips to help aspiring, new and experienced middle leaders * Covers all aspects of middle leadership including leadership styles, pedagogical approaches, the curriculum and staff wellbeing * Offers advice on avoiding common pitfalls * Advocates for an approach to leadership that is academically rigorous, but also prioritises staff and pupil wellbeing.

This book discusses how East Asia has introduced school and curricular reform to reflect democratic citizenship and globalized skills, knowledge, dispositions, and competencies in the 21st century. It also focuses on the tendencies and reasons students from Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore receive the highest scores in international students' assessment such as PISA and TIMSS; yet their curiosity and motivation for learning are the lowest internationally. Moreover, Indonesian and Vietnamese students are likely to receive the lowest testing scores, yet their motivation for learning is quite high. It is worth investigating high academic achievement in East Asia in light of the trend towards democratization. The authors consider controversial issues such as whether the goals of democratic education should be the attainment of high academic scores, consideration of whether to implement competency-based curriculums or meritocratic systems of academic competition, and the provision of equal opportunities in the community of learning. The book illuminates each country's struggle to realise school reform on the basis of its social and cultural settings, and looks at what connects East Asia's past, present, and future.

Despite meritocratic claims of equal opportunity, official statistics released by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, reveal that a large segment of the Malay population has sustained the lowest academic achievement from 1987 to 2011. This statistical representation raises the possibility of a politically induced, systemic inequality as a point of investigation. To investigate this seeming contradiction between the rhetoric and practice of equal educational opportunity, Nadira Talib analyses education policies by drawing on a synthesis of philosophical perspectives and critical discourse analysis as a way of making explicit how the historical constitution of the learner is linked to the legitimisation of inequitable education policies that favour corporatist practices. By making explicit how the underlying assumption of the policy 'logic' that increasing expenditure on 'talents' must necessarily involve the increasing welfare of everybody is both unsubstantiated and arbitrary, the book presents a moral political problem in demonstrating how education policies are unfounded and unsupported through the idea of meritocracy.

This book explores the pivotal role that geography as a school subject plays in helping every young person achieve their educational potential. Expressed as 'GeoCapabilities', this concept draws on the the capabilities approach developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum applied to curriculum thinking in schools. While traditional subjects have often been deemed irrelevant and outdated in an overcrowded secondary school curriculum, subjects like geography have often been lost or combined with others to fulfil a broad skills agenda. More recent talk of a 'knowledge led' curriculum can often lead to the recitation of facts at the expense of developing deeper understanding. This book argues the concept of powerful geographical knowledge, based on the work of Michael Young and David Lambert, invests the subject of geography with its educational potential: this forms the basis of GeoCapabilities. GeoCapabilities focuses on both what is being taught and why, and as such provides a framework of curriculum thinking which will be of interest and value to geography teachers, school leaders with curriculum development responsibilities and all those interested in the capability approach and the moral imperative of education.

Understanding democracy, learning to be democratic and to value democracy are critical competencies to be developed by all Americans. In the present debate about what knowledge is of most worth in the public school, these civic competencies are seen as second in importance only to the development of critical thinking. They are typically, however, honored more in commencement rhetoric than in school programs or practices; their actualization falls far short of their ascribed importance. The authors argue that critical opportunities for democratic development occur in the day-to-day life of the schools. It follows that all grade levels should participate in the creation of the "constitution" of the school and classrooms, the justice structure of the school (its disciplinary code, norms, and adjudication), the policy-making of the school, and in the understanding of the school as a social laboratory. The authors demonstrate the effectiveness of such a program by reporting some two decades of applied research on democratic schools which have realized some of these outcomes.

This book focuses on special organizational configurations for schools in diverse parts of the world. Some of these new organizational and institutional designs are called multi-service schools, others are called extended service schools and still others are called community learning centers. While these schools have different names and notable different characteristics, they belong in the same category because of a common feature in their design: they connect schools with once-separate community programs and services.Chief among the prototypes for these new organizational and institutional designs are the ones featured in the book's title. Some are called multi-service schools to indicate that they selectively provide some new programs and services. Others are called extended service schools to indicate that they serve young people beyond the regular school day, seeking influence and control over out-of-school time while enabling alternative teaching-learning strategies, and providing services other than typical "pupil support services." Still others are called community learning centers, a name that showcases the educational functions and priorities of schools and announcing priorities for adult learning and development. Community schools, still called in some places full-service community schools, serves as a prototype that increasingly positions schools as multi-purpose, multi-component, anchor institutions serving identifiable neighborhoods and entire rural communities. The book is structured to enhance understanding of these organizational prototypes and provides comparative social analysis. It also identifies knowledge needs and gaps as well as developmental territory for the future.

In "Overcoming Religious Illiteracy," Harvard professor and Phillips Academy teacher Diane L. Moore argues that though the United States is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, the vast majority of citizens are woefully ignorant about religion itself and the basic tenets of the world's major religious traditions. The consequences of this religious illiteracy are profound and include fueling the culture wars, curtailing historical understanding and promoting religious and racial bigotry. In this volume, Moore combines theory with practice to articulate how to incorporate the study of religion into the schools in ways that will invigorate classrooms and enhance democratic discourse in the public sphere.

Urban Schools: Crisis and Revolution describes America's inner-city public schools and the failure of most to provide even a minimally adequate education for their students. With numerous examples, James Deneen and Carm Catanese argue that these failures are preventable. Early chapters document the two-tiered character of American public schools, the tragic consequences of failing schools for millions of students-mostly Black and Hispanic-and the financial costs to American society. In later chapters, Deneen and Catanese describe the special problems of inner-city schools and the changes in school organization and curriculum needed to overcome them. They also provide examples of schools in severely disadvantaged communities in which such changes have enabled students to succeed academically, graduate, and enter college. In the final chapters, the authors examine the public and non-public school options available to urban parents. They discuss school choice, a hotly debated issue in urban education. The book concludes with a plan, consisting of six recommendations, for reforming a failing urban school.

This book examines school violence in South Korea from an international comparative perspective. It analyses nationally representative samples and provides extensive literature reviews based on academic journals, various social and educational magazines and major media articles on school violence in South Korea. This book includes major data sets for the analysis such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and Nation Youth Policy Institute. These data show frequency, patterns and associated factors of school violence in South Korea and comparison of those in Japan and the United States.

Urban Renewal and School Reform in Baltimore examines the role of the contemporary public school as an instrument of urban design. The central case study in this book, Henderson-Hopkins, is a PK-8 campus serving as the civic centerpiece of the East Baltimore Development Initiative. This study reflects on the persistent notions of urban renewal and their effectiveness for addressing the needs of disadvantaged neighborhoods and vulnerable communities. Situating the master plan and school project in the history and contemporary landscape of urban development and education debates, this book provides a detailed account of how Henderson-Hopkins sought to address several reformist objectives, such as improvement of the urban context, pedagogic outcomes, and holistic well-being of students. Bridging facets of urban design, development, and education policy, this book contributes to an expanded agenda for understanding the spatial implications of school-led redevelopment and school reform.

This book contains ten state-of-the-art articles about current challenges in education. They go back to the international conference "Teacher Education for Promoting Well-Being in Schools" (S'tefan cel Mare University of Suceava / Romania, July 2020), organized by the Association for Teacher Education in Europe. The articles are concerned with the following: diversity in special education; research through photovoice; sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education of pre-primary education students; teacher education; new trends in education; influence of the COVID 19 pandemic on education; digital competences of teachers.

Societies recurrently declare themselves to be in crisis. As crises proceed an educationalization, a delegation of social problems to schools, has been observable since the implementation of public mass schooling in German-speaking countries and the US. However, schools are not able to solve the problems, leading to crisis narratives of schools not delivering. The study identifies a social function of these recurrent crisis narratives in attempts to (re)integrate societies and (re)establish legitimacy of the system. It is firstly, an act to help societies discursively to address their problems and, secondly, to regain a legitimate social order. But what would happen, if this piece were removed, as an increasing number of parents opt out of the public-school system, thus fragmenting it?

Based on action research and implementation at one of the world's great schools, this book provides a much-needed exploration of how to implement positive education at a whole school level. Evidence-Based Approaches in Positive Education summarises the integration of a whole-school mental health and well-being strategy, positive psychology programs and pastoral care models from 3 - 18 years of age. Positive education is the teaching of scientifically validated programs from positive psychology and character education that have an impact on student and staff well-being. It is an approach that focuses on teaching, building and embedding social and emotional learning throughout a student's experience. St Peter's College - Adelaide is the only institution in the world to integrate Martin Seligman's well-being theory throughout all aspects of both its strategic intent and positive education programs. The School's vision is to be a world-class school where all boys flourish. Its mission is to provide an exceptional education that brings out the very best in every boy. This is done within an intellectually and spiritually rich environment that nurtures international-mindedness, intercultural understanding, respect and a commitment to social justice. This book captures the developments of the St Peter's College journey. It focuses on the integration of well-being across seven strategic goals: Academics; Well-being; Student Life; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Partnerships; People, Culture and Change; Sustainability and Environment; Community Engagement, Advancement, and Philanthropy. A uniquely Australian school, the impact of a St Peter's College education is to build great men: who believe safety, service and integrity and fundamental parts of their lives; who are active members of communities that are socially and culturally diverse; who engage in political, ethical, and environmental challenges as good citizens. Since 1847, St Peter's College alumni have had global and life-changing impact in all fields of human endeavour. The School's alumni include three Nobel Laureates, 42 Rhodes Scholars, Olympians and Archbishops, artists and scientists, educators and journalists, actors and politicians, philanthropists and physicians, CEOs, diplomats and soldiers, explorers, painters and poets. This book shares evidence-based practices and makes a substantial contribution to the rapidly developing field of positive psychology and its application in schools.

Framed by the theoretical work of Gloria Anzaldua, this volume focuses on the cultural and linguistic practices of Mexican-origin youth at the U.S. border to explore how young people engage in acts of "bridging" to develop rich, transnational identities. Using a wealth of empirical data gathered through interviews and observations, and featuring perspectives from multinational and transnational authors, this text highlights how youth resist racialized and raciolinguistic oppression in both formal and informal contexts by purposefully engaging with their heritage culture and language. In doing so, they defy deficit narratives and negotiate identities in the "in-between." As a whole, the volume engages issues of identity, language, and education, and offers a uniquely asset-based perspective on the complexities of transnational youth identity, demonstrating its value in educational and academic spaces in particular. This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in the sociology of education, multicultural education, and youth culture more broadly. Those interested in language and identity studies, as well as adolescence, schooling, and bilingualism, will also benefit from this volume.

Developing Your School's Student Support Teams is a practical manual for schools seeking to establish and sustain coordinated teams in support of students' social, emotional and behavioral health. Every day, students struggle with a range of issues, including traumas, that complicate their learning, engagement, and overall well-being. School psychologists, counselors, social workers and nurses are employed in many school districts, but their schedules often make it difficult to collaborate effectively in developing and implementing comprehensive intervention plans. This book promotes teamwork throughout schools by exploring how interdependent practitioners can come together at the appropriate levels and times to help coordinate school and community resources. This "filtering" process will guide K-12 leaders and service professionals toward systems and decision-making that enable long-term student supports, accurate identification of systemic learning barriers, improved school culture and climate, attention to diverse populations, and more. With these proactive teamwork strategies, school staff will be better prepared to share workload and accountability and to identify and build upon the existing strengths and supports of every student.

Al Ramirez writes on the subject of how the public schools in the United States are financed and how other funds are raised for educational programs in elementary and secondary schools. A context for public school finance is provided throughout the volume by grounding each topic in historical, policy, political, and common practice, so the work spans both the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject matter. The text is written primarily for graduate students in programs for education leadership, administration, policy studies, public administration, public finance and public accounting. The content will also serve as a resource for practitioners and education policy leaders, e.g., school board members, foundation program officers, legislators, and policy analysts at the local, state and national levels. Each chapter is structured so as to enhance the book s value to pre-service students preparing for entry-level school administration positions as well as candidates for advanced degrees who need more research based theoretical content on school finance. The author recognizes that each state has its own unique funding approach and guides readers to state resources that supplement the books content."

This book presents a comprehensive history of the many contributions the Jesuits made to science from their founding to the present. It also links the Jesuits dedication to science with their specific spirituality which tries to find God in all things. The book begins with Christopher Clavius, professor of mathematics in the Roman College between 1567 and 1595, the initiator of this tradition. It covers Jesuits scientific contributions in mathematics, astronomy, physics and cartography up until the suppression of the order by the Pope in 1773. Next, the book details the scientific work the Jesuits pursued after their restoration in 1814. It examines the establishment of a network of observatories throughout the world; details contributions made to the study of tropical hurricanes, earthquakes and terrestrial magnetism and examines such important figures as Angelo Secchi, Stephen J. Perry, James B. Macelwane and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. From their founding to the present, Jesuits have trodden an uncommon path to the frontiers where the Christian message is not yet known. Jesuits' work in science is also an interesting chapter in the general problem of the relation between science and religion. This book provides readers with a complete portrait of the Jesuit scientific tradition. Its engaging story will appeal to those with an interest in the history of science, the history of the relations between science and religion and the history of Jesuits.

Seeking Balance: The Story of a Principal s Second Semester continues the story of fictional Principal Joe Gentry s first year on the job. Like its predecessor, Reality Calling: The Story of a Principal s First Semester, this book is crafted from authentic experiences shared by principals. This part of the story picks up in January as Joe anticipates his mid-year evaluation. As winter turns to spring, he reflects on lessons learned and seeks to build on successes and correct his mistakes. Throughout, Joe seeks guidance and support from his wife, mentors, and two friends, who are also new principals. As the months roll by, he navigates the complexities of school leadership and seeks balance between personal and professional life, leadership and management, and theory and the real-world. This extended, real-world case study provides an authentic, unvarnished account of a fully-human principal knee deep in what is appropriately called the toughest job in education. The book concludes with Joe anticipating an end of the year meeting with his two friends to reflect on their progress toward becoming the leaders they have envisioned."

* Features more than 20 case studies that will serve as inspirational models for teachers and school leaders. These stories come from public, private, and charter schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities. * Each case study ends with a short section called "Learning from School or District: Bringing Practice to Your Classroom/School/District" to clearly articulate practical applications from the case study. * Authored by the Executive Director of the Green Schools National Network (GSNN) * Explores the GSNN four pillars "GreenPrint" for Green, Healthy, and Sustainable that have emerged from 10 years of research, evaluation, and work with schools and school districts. * Very few books address whole school sustainability and even fewer, if any others, highlight stories of leading change for sustainability. This is the first compilation of case studies written by leaders of transformative change in their schools and school districts. * We're facing complex and urgent crises that are both local and global ; PK-12 education has the responsibility and opportunity to serve as a model of local action and learning toward a more vibrant and sustainable future. This book highlights this need and provides exemplars in action.

* Features more than 20 case studies that will serve as inspirational models for teachers and school leaders. These stories come from public, private, and charter schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities. * Each case study ends with a short section called "Learning from School or District: Bringing Practice to Your Classroom/School/District" to clearly articulate practical applications from the case study. * Authored by the Executive Director of the Green Schools National Network (GSNN) * Explores the GSNN four pillars "GreenPrint" for Green, Healthy, and Sustainable that have emerged from 10 years of research, evaluation, and work with schools and school districts. * Very few books address whole school sustainability and even fewer, if any others, highlight stories of leading change for sustainability. This is the first compilation of case studies written by leaders of transformative change in their schools and school districts. * We're facing complex and urgent crises that are both local and global ; PK-12 education has the responsibility and opportunity to serve as a model of local action and learning toward a more vibrant and sustainable future. This book highlights this need and provides exemplars in action.

This book uses a multi-dimensional conceptual framework to demonstrate how neoliberal forces have been manifested through changes to K-12 public education finance policy in British Columbia, Canada between 2001 and 2015. The text offers in-depth critical policy analysis to illustrate how the public education system has been impacted by the emergence of a hybrid model of public-private funding. By examining the impacts of this neoliberalized model, in which school districts must compete for public funding and engage in for-profit activities, the book highlights emerging financial inequalities; exacerbated inequities for students; increased entrepreneurialism; closer alignment of administrators' subjectivities with a managerial approach to educational leadership; and an illusion of local autonomy. Ultimately, the text makes powerful contributions by calling attention to detrimental processes of neoliberalization, marketization, and privatization within public education, as well as the managerialization of educational leadership. This text will benefit researchers, academics, educators, and educational leaders with an interest in the politics of education policy and finance, school district leadership, international and comparative education, and the sociology of education.

The Wellbeing Toolkit is an invaluable resource for promoting wellbeing and resilience among all school staff, thereby improving staff attendance and retention, and helping all teachers fall back in love with teaching. In this thought-provoking book, Andrew Cowley, co-founder of Healthy Toolkit (@HealthyToolkit), draws on his own experiences as a school leader to unpick the myths around wellbeing and set out a practical, authentic and values-driven model that will enable leaders to foster a positive atmosphere for the benefit of the whole-school community. With a focus on developing a culture of positivity and self-care, effectively enabling all staff members to take ownership of the wellbeing strategy and supporting and promoting healthy lifestyles, this practical guide also considers scenarios arising from potentially more stressful incidents such as a bereavement. Staff wellbeing needs to be a strategic consideration for all primary and secondary school leaders, not something delivered on an ad hoc basis. Emphasis must be placed on really knowing staff, what motivates them and what may affect their confidence. The Wellbeing Toolkit offers effective strategies for addressing staff wellbeing from a whole-school perspective with particular reference to reducing workload, managing stress and supporting teachers in challenging circumstances.

Originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, this expanded text provides new insights into the successful, sustained implementation of Full-Service Community Schools (FSCSs) in the United States. Reviewing the Success of Full-Service Community Schools in the US documents the experiences of students, teachers, and communities involved in the establishment and growth of FSCSs. By considering how successful this reform strategy has been in meeting the needs of underserved communities, the text illustrates the potential these schools have to transform students' learning and outcomes. In particular, the studies illustrate the value these schools have in supporting low-income students and students of color. At the same time, by interrogating the defining pillars of FSCSs - expanded learning opportunities, integrated services, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership - chapters identify challenges that if left unattended, could limit the transformative potential of this reform strategy. This groundbreaking text will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics, professionals, and policy makers in the fields of Educational Change and School Reform, Multicultural Education, Sociology of Education, Education Policy, and School Management and Administration.

--The increased professional momentum from the field needs more "how to" guides, based on extensive research and practice, to move forward with quality work and sustainable systems for carrying out this work --Real world examples of inspiring best practices where local communities, cities and increasingly regional entities in New York City, San Francisco, and Tokyo --While targeted for city planning, this book will also reach out and inform the educators and community developers seeking to connect more directly with their local communities and schools.

--The increased professional momentum from the field needs more "how to" guides, based on extensive research and practice, to move forward with quality work and sustainable systems for carrying out this work --Real world examples of inspiring best practices where local communities, cities and increasingly regional entities in New York City, San Francisco, and Tokyo --While targeted for city planning, this book will also reach out and inform the educators and community developers seeking to connect more directly with their local communities and schools.