What does it mean to be a "lead learner" in a school? What does it mean to be a "learning organization"? This book takes up those questions by advancing a concept of the school as a learning organization in which prescribed expectations and experiential professional judgment don't have to be (and in fact shouldn't be) oppositional and incompatible. The authors refer to this particular type of learning organization as an "intelligent, responsive" school.

Break down the barriers that keep professional learning from sticking!Real professional learning takes place when there is a permanent change in practice. This book outlines what it means to intentionally interrupt the status quo in order to overcome barriers to learning that impede permanent change. The authors explain the psychological processes involved in learning and which biases get in the way of making professional learning stick. Staff developers will find tools and strategies for:Moving professional learning beyond activities to deepen conceptual changeEnabling new learning by building three key capacities: a learning focus, collaborative inquiry, and instructional leadershipEmbedding and sustaining a true learning culture in schools