Includes concise portraits of the problems and major culprits and issues facing schools, as well as practical solutions Notable contributors such as Yong Zhao, Christopher Lubienski and Carol Mullen Chapters present an important policy topic and critical analysis from the perspective of experienced educators involved in teacher and administrator preparation

Includes concise portraits of the problems and major culprits and issues facing schools, as well as practical solutions Notable contributors such as Yong Zhao, Christopher Lubienski and Carol Mullen Chapters present an important policy topic and critical analysis from the perspective of experienced educators involved in teacher and administrator preparation

Published with Kappa Delta Pi, Creativity and Education in China takes readers on a journey through research-supported ideas and practical examples of creative and innovative schooling within a changing regime. Analyzing the consequences of exam-centric accountability on the creative and critical capacities of Chinese students, author Carol A. Mullen's dynamic portrait of a country serves as both a cautionary tale and an inspiring example to emulate. Examining creative endeavors and breakthroughs within a competitive, globalized educational landscape, the chapters are organized around environmental and global issues impacting education, expressions of creativity within pre-K-12 schools in China, and creative innovation in higher education learning environments. Presenting captivating cases from the field, the book offers novel approaches to fostering creativity as a natural, integrated part of high-stakes education systems in Eastern and Western cultures alike.

Education Policy Perils provides educators and those interested in the future of public education with research-based and practical analyses of some of the foremost issues facing public schools today. The collection, written by experienced scholar-practitioners, offers insights that include nuanced descriptions of various challenges facing educators and recommendations for overcoming them with an eye toward more successful policy and better implementation. The authors apply their expertise to a range of issues from international testing to policy challenges related to curriculum on the state and national levels. This volume positions ongoing debates within the wider context of an education landscape struggling to displace junk-science ideology with empirical research. The scope and sequence combined with the expertise of the contributors make this volume a vital resource for educators at all levels during a pivotal time of major changes in education policy.

This collection is the result of action research carried out by teachers, administrators and professors operating a school-university collaboration. It creates a model of mentoring where guided but flexible structures are used to unleash the creative capacity of the group. The research accounts reveal much about the nature of mentoring organizations, as they are now and how they might be improved. Approaches include the use of lifelong mentoring, synergistic co-mentoring, professional peer networking and the creation of collaborative relationships and teams.

Curriculum Leadership Development is an up-to-date, user-friendly textbook offering unique approaches to help readers understand the complexity of curriculum leadership. It is grounded in current and relevant theory, research, legislation, and application in the closely related areas of curriculum leadership, development, and scholarship. The text solidifies the concepts of curriculum and leadership in experiential learning contexts, and promotes democratic action and critical thinking. Author Carol A. Mullen uses a descriptive, qualitative approach that integrates case study, data analysis, personal reflection, and lessons learned. Among the most important elements of the book are:the inclusion of the voice and curricular experiences of the professional student who is a seasoned teacher or beginning adminstrator;detailed illustrations of practitioners' experiences as curriculum makers and action researchers;an articulation of the links among curriculum development, constructivist curricula, and mentoring scaffolds; andpractical exercises to accompany case studies. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students in education will find this textbook of value in their coursework, as will curriculum professionals who teach practicing teachers.

This collection is the result of action research carried out by teachers, administrators and professors operating a school-university collaboration. It creates a model of mentoring where guided but flexible structures are used to unleash the creative capacity of the group. The research accounts reveal much about the nature of mentoring organizations, as they are now and how they might be improved. Approaches include the use of lifelong mentoring, synergistic co-mentoring, professional peer networking and the creation of collaborative relationships and teams.

Revealing Creativity: Exploration in Transnational Education Cultures explores the recovery and fostering of creativity under educational constraint. This longitudinal global study of diverse education populations in China, Canada, and Australia offers application of the 4-C Creativity Model through experiential activities and exploratory interviews within classrooms and other learning spaces. Transnational in scope, this book describes an original innovative method, process, and tool for addressing obstacles to creativity in educational environments and within the self that constitute a significant challenge to practice. Through an immersive encounter with a validated creativity model, diverse cultural groups were guided to interpret the 4-C classification system and uncover their latent potential as creators. For their own purposes, readers can adapt the dynamic model-as-method process for releasing and revealing creativity within accountability-bound competitive cultures.

This book explores why veteran teachers choose to remain in the classroom, making teaching their life's career. The authors felt compelled to interview veteran teachers to learn about their experiences, how they make meaning of their classrooms and schools, and in particular what can be known about the adversities they face and their resilience. Factors (individual and contextual) are uncovered that influence veteran teacher's resiliency and adaptation from veteran teachers' perspectives and the literature. Induction programs, professional development, and mentoring are also examined for their importance to the interviews and education. Features of this book include: Focuses on veteran teacher resilience and why veteran teachers choose to remain in the classroom and teaching profession Uses an interview method involving veteran teachers that illuminates issues of resiliency and retention from their perspective Highlights 15 narrative accounts of veteran teachers tailored to their perceptions, experiences, and strategies for navigating barriers and overcoming challenge Combines conceptual frameworks, research results, interventions, and strategies Connects implications of the study and suggestions for future research to practice and policy This book is for researchers interested in teacher resilience, particularly veteran teacher resilience and the study and development of it, as well as practitioners drawn to the same topic, with applicability to their fields. Anyone interested in resilience, particularly within demanding professional contexts and stressful situations, should find value. "The focus on teacher resilience is original and it is an important aspect of why teachers might choose to stay in the profession. Teacher resilience is understudied and should provide useful knowledge to policymakers and education leaders on how to improve working conditions and increase efficacy. So much ink is spilled extolling why teachers exit the profession--there is a dearth of research on why they stay, which in my opinion is even more important than why they leave. This book makes an important contribution to the literature and will hopefully inform policy making and inspire others to conduct research on the subject." Christopher H. Tienken, Associate Professor, Dept. of Education Leadership Management and Policy, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA "The topic is original. It seems there is much literature on new teachers and why they leave, but little on veteran teachers and why they stay. The topic and the reporting of the findings with suggestions for practices to be implemented in university programs as well as in K-12 schools is very useful. The format this book follows is actually a strong one for other researchers and students in doctoral programs." Sandra Harris, Professor Emerita, Educational Leadership, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, USA

Published with Kappa Delta Pi, Creativity and Education in China takes readers on a journey through research-supported ideas and practical examples of creative and innovative schooling within a changing regime. Analyzing the consequences of exam-centric accountability on the creative and critical capacities of Chinese students, author Carol A. Mullen's dynamic portrait of a country serves as both a cautionary tale and an inspiring example to emulate. Examining creative endeavors and breakthroughs within a competitive, globalized educational landscape, the chapters are organized around environmental and global issues impacting education, expressions of creativity within pre-K-12 schools in China, and creative innovation in higher education learning environments. Presenting captivating cases from the field, the book offers novel approaches to fostering creativity as a natural, integrated part of high-stakes education systems in Eastern and Western cultures alike.

Education Policy Perils provides educators and those interested in the future of public education with research-based and practical analyses of some of the foremost issues facing public schools today. The collection, written by experienced scholar-practitioners, offers insights that include nuanced descriptions of various challenges facing educators and recommendations for overcoming them with an eye toward more successful policy and better implementation. The authors apply their expertise to a range of issues from international testing to policy challenges related to curriculum on the state and national levels. This volume positions ongoing debates within the wider context of an education landscape struggling to displace junk-science ideology with empirical research. The scope and sequence combined with the expertise of the contributors make this volume a vital resource for educators at all levels during a pivotal time of major changes in education policy.

"Curriculum Leadership Development "is an up-to-date, user-friendly textbook offering unique approaches to help readers understand the complexity of curriculum leadership. It is grounded in current and relevant theory, research, legislation, and application in the closely related areas of curriculum leadership, development, and scholarship. The text solidifies the concepts of curriculum and leadership in experiential learning contexts, and promotes democratic action and critical thinking.
Author Carol A. Mullen uses a descriptive, qualitative approach that integrates case study, data analysis, personal reflection, and lessons learned. Among the most important elements of the book are:
*the inclusion of the voice and curricular experiences of the professional student who is a seasoned teacher or beginning adminstrator;
*detailed illustrations of practitioners' experiences as curriculum makers and action researchers;
*an articulation of the links among curriculum development, constructivist curricula, and mentoring scaffolds; and
*practical exercises to accompany case studies.
Graduate and advanced undergraduate students in education will find this textbook of value in their coursework, as will curriculum professionals who teach practicing teachers.

Revealing Creativity: Exploration in Transnational Education Cultures explores the recovery and fostering of creativity under educational constraint. This longitudinal global study of diverse education populations in China, Canada, and Australia offers application of the 4-C Creativity Model through experiential activities and exploratory interviews within classrooms and other learning spaces. Transnational in scope, this book describes an original innovative method, process, and tool for addressing obstacles to creativity in educational environments and within the self that constitute a significant challenge to practice. Through an immersive encounter with a validated creativity model, diverse cultural groups were guided to interpret the 4-C classification system and uncover their latent potential as creators. For their own purposes, readers can adapt the dynamic model-as-method process for releasing and revealing creativity within accountability-bound competitive cultures.

This book addresses Problem-based Learning (PBL) in elementary schools and reveals how this can promote elementary students' development in critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and citizenship, also known as the 5 Cs. Through teachers' interviews, the book explores which PBL strategies promote skills and knowledge gains when students collaboratively investigate authentic open-ended problems. It also uncovers peer-to-peer relational learning and other strategies used in PBL classrooms, and it examines their importance to public education. The book paints a lively picture of student-centered learning, drawing upon frameworks, best practices, experiences, processes, strategies, and research results. Firsthand accounts of best practices in PBL instruction connect this pedagogy to theory, research, practice, and policy. It explores teacher instruction in the early years of schooling that purposefully fosters student-centered learning, real-world relevance, and collaboration in accordance with capacities expected of successful 21st century graduates. This book supports the implementation of PBL in elementary schools and promotes increased student engagement and achievement, as well as college and career readiness. This book is of interest to practitioners seeking information about PBL pedagogies for elementary grades, such as teachers, teacher mentors and trainers, (school) leaders, and policymakers, as well as anyone interested in pedagogic strategies that advance critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and citizenship capacities.

Here is a doorway through which readers will sneak a peak at the academy-its exterior and interior spaces. There is much within the academic environment that can invite entry or obstruct movement. With this text, doors have been opened for novice scholars and new faculty, as well as experienced academicians and administrators. Each chapter has an aperture on vital mentoring issues (such as productive learning within groups, developing effective marketing and networking strategies, and creating successful student-centered programs) that, together, provides a broader perspective on the professoriate. Readers are guided through the process of becoming successfully mentored, largely by entering into viable relationships and learning the art of receiving and giving. The various mentoring formats described provide exposure to a wide range of options that readers can mindfully act upon; these also demonstrate the value of learning within one-to-one systems and group contexts. Finally, readers are given access to guarded secrets about graduate school, not only concerning unspoken norms but also the 'hidden curriculum' of the academy and of mentor's expectations. The mentoring concepts and practices narrated have all been tested in real-life settings. Further, the chapters' case scenarios and analyses are supported with data collected from multiple sources_documents, surveys, and interviews_including the Writers in Training (WIT), a long-standing doctoral cohort. Dozens of graduate students in education in particular, as well as faculty and administrators have contributed to this work.

A volume in Educational Leadership for Social Justice Series Editor Jeffrey S. Brooks, University of Idaho, Denise E. Armstrong, Brock University; Ira Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University; Sandra Harris, Lamar University; Whitney H. Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth University; George Theoharis, Syracuse University While social identity challenges probably confront all school administrators, the authors focus on a doubly marginalized leadership population-Black female principals-whose experiences are rarely tapped. Based on lessons from this study and the literature reviewed, the authors think that leadership preparation programs should give prospective administrators opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills relevant to navigating their leadership identities. In the age of accountability, and with the pressures placed on the education system to ensure the success of all students, school leaders are under constant scrutiny. The appearance, speech, body language, and interactions of principals with students, parents, teachers, and community members are dissected. Stretching to satisfy expectations, many principals find themselves trying to conform to a predefined image. Work pressures like these prove immeasurably intense for many Black women. Society has subscribed to certain beliefs about different groups, and these beliefs affect the roles, responsibilities, and identities of the individuals. They can have a positive or negative influence. Many principals have created professional identities that they have fine-tuned and learned to steer. Trial and error has helped them learn identity-fitting techniques, while other principals may still be learning how to effectively manage people, address supporters and nonsupporters, and be politically savvy. Regardless of how they develop their identity, principals work toward inventing and branding themselves, fulfilling public identities (e.g., caregiver) and trying out new identities, such as commander-and-chief. Black female principals must navigate their identities as bicultural beings with different stakeholder groups and within work spaces that are traditionally geared to monocultural White males.

A volume in Educational Leadership for Social Justice Series Editor Jeffrey S. Brooks, University of Idaho, Denise E. Armstrong, Brock University; Ira Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University; Sandra Harris, Lamar University; Whitney H. Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth University; George Theoharis, Syracuse University While social identity challenges probably confront all school administrators, the authors focus on a doubly marginalized leadership population-Black female principals-whose experiences are rarely tapped. Based on lessons from this study and the literature reviewed, the authors think that leadership preparation programs should give prospective administrators opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills relevant to navigating their leadership identities. In the age of accountability, and with the pressures placed on the education system to ensure the success of all students, school leaders are under constant scrutiny. The appearance, speech, body language, and interactions of principals with students, parents, teachers, and community members are dissected. Stretching to satisfy expectations, many principals find themselves trying to conform to a predefined image. Work pressures like these prove immeasurably intense for many Black women. Society has subscribed to certain beliefs about different groups, and these beliefs affect the roles, responsibilities, and identities of the individuals. They can have a positive or negative influence. Many principals have created professional identities that they have fine-tuned and learned to steer. Trial and error has helped them learn identity-fitting techniques, while other principals may still be learning how to effectively manage people, address supporters and nonsupporters, and be politically savvy. Regardless of how they develop their identity, principals work toward inventing and branding themselves, fulfilling public identities (e.g., caregiver) and trying out new identities, such as commander-and-chief. Black female principals must navigate their identities as bicultural beings with different stakeholder groups and within work spaces that are traditionally geared to monocultural White males.

The Leadership Identity Journey takes readers on a breathtaking, all-consuming, transformative journey. The invitation is to think of your life as a journey that follows a mythic path. By doing so, new possibilities emerge for thinking about leadership identity and preparation, as well as artistic research and the education field. The perspectives described in this book are supported by school leaders' insights into powerful iconic photographs relative to the five mythic life phases: the human condition, trials in life, human triumph, human transformation, and human crossing, with the addition of leadership as a dimension of the life-journey model. The authors conducted their study using selected photographs framed by the universal mythic framework inspired by mythologist Joseph Campbell.

The Leadership Identity Journey takes readers on a breathtaking, all-consuming, transformative journey. The invitation is to think of your life as a journey that follows a mythic path. By doing so, new possibilities emerge for thinking about leadership identity and preparation, as well as artistic research and the education field. The perspectives described in this book are supported by school leaders' insights into powerful iconic photographs relative to the five mythic life phases: the human condition, trials in life, human triumph, human transformation, and human crossing, with the addition of leadership as a dimension of the life-journey model. The authors conducted their study using selected photographs framed by the universal mythic framework inspired by mythologist Joseph Campbell.

From Student to Professor is the doorway through which readers experience graduate school life, from both sides of the lectern. This guide not only discusses how students may adjust and succeed in graduate school; it also prepares them to enter a career in academia. Providing a broad perspective on the professoriate, Mullen offers readers a visual map of the entire graduate school experience, navigational prompts, case studies, anecdotes, glossaries, and updated resources in order to best understand vital issues that affect graduate students and professors: learning productively within groups, developing effective marketing and networking strategies, creating successful student-centered programs, and establishing digital learning relationships in the academy.

The knowledge base about mentoring and coaching in education has grown considerably worldwide in the last decade. The very many definitions of mentoring and coaching demand an evidence base to assist with understanding the convergence and distinctions between these concepts, and with situating them in relation to learning. This Handbook is a leading source of ideas and information. It covers national and international research on schools, higher education, and disciplines within and beyond education. The editors draw together contributions and present evidence bases and alternative worldviews in which concepts are both untangled and substantiated. Unique in its coverage, this handbook maps current knowledge and understanding, values and skills underpinning educational mentoring and coaching for learning. Contributors who are leading scholars and practitioners address issues of theory and practice in school, higher education, and other educational contexts, and they set out practical applications of coaching and mentoring for practitioners and researchers. Contributors also address social justice issues, such as those involving traditional and technical forms of mentoring and coaching, democratic and accountability agendas, and institutional and historical patterns of learning. The SAGE Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education is an essential reference for practitioners, researchers, educators, and policymakers. Dr Sarah J Fletcher is an international Educational Research Mentoring and Coaching Consultant and she convenes the Mentoring and Coaching SIG for the British Educational Research Association. Carol A Mullen is Professor and Chair, Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations Department, at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.

Here is a doorway through which readers will sneak a peak at the academy-its exterior and interior spaces. There is much within the academic environment that can invite entry or obstruct movement. With this text, doors have been opened for novice scholars and new faculty, as well as experienced academicians and administrators. Each chapter has an aperture on vital mentoring issues (such as productive learning within groups, developing effective marketing and networking strategies, and creating successful student-centered programs) that, together, provides a broader perspective on the professoriate. Readers are guided through the process of becoming successfully mentored, largely by entering into viable relationships and learning the art of receiving and giving. The various mentoring formats described provide exposure to a wide range of options that readers can mindfully act upon; these also demonstrate the value of learning within one-to-one systems and group contexts. Finally, readers are given access to guarded secrets about graduate school, not only concerning unspoken norms but also the 'hidden curriculum' of the academy and of mentor's expectations. The mentoring concepts and practices narrated have all been tested in real-life settings. Further, the chapters' case scenarios and analyses are supported with data collected from multiple sources_documents, surveys, and interviews_including the Writers in Training (WIT), a long-standing doctoral cohort. Dozens of graduate students in education in particular, as well as faculty and administrators have contributed to this work.

As accountability expectations for schools, universities, and businesses rapidly take root in Westernized countries, the widespread importance of mentoring is indisputable. Current trends have escalated the role and practice of mentorship, aligning it with human performance, institutional reform, teacher education, leadership development, student learning, cultural diversity, and policy initiatives. Although already a hot topic in educational research, new policy and legislative changes for success within K-12 public schools and, with growing attention, higher education have secured the fate of mentorship. The Mentorship Primer raises awareness about the value of mentoring and presents its changing and complex meaning for students, educators, and leaders. This comprehensive introduction covers three broad areas: the foundations of mentorship, technical mentoring, and alternative mentoring. Anyone searching for guidance in their profession or for a clearer picture of mentorship in its myriad forms will benefit from reading this book, complete with glossaries and references.