Articles

Project-Based Learning: The Secret to Success

May 3, 2012 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Project-Based Learning in Science

Project-based learning is essential to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities in a global economy and information age. To perform successfully in meaningful and rewarding jobs today, people need critical thinking skills, creativity, interpersonal skills, understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures, technology skills and other similar knowledge and skills. As Phyllis P. Blumenfeld explains, “Project-based learning is focused on teaching by engaging students in investigation. Within this framework, students pursue solutions to nontrivial problems by asking and refining questions, debating ideas, making predictions, designing plans and/or experiments, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, communicating their ideas and findings to others, asking new questions, and creating artifacts (e.g., a model, a report, a videotape, or a computer program).”

Yet, in most schools – even those considered to be the best – teachers are still asking students to memorize meaningless facts for tests. According to Jay Matthews, education reporter for the Washington Post, a school in my neighborhood is one of the best high schools in the Washington metropolitan area and the United States of America. Jay produces the Challenge Index, “his measure of how effectively a school prepares its students for college.” Students in my neighborhood school spend nearly all of their time listening to teachers lecture. Project-based learning is as rare as hens’ teeth. Unfortunately, my neighborhood high school is the norm, not the exception, when it comes to lecturing versus project-based learning.

As Edutopia puts it, “Solving highly complex problems requires that students have both fundamental skills (reading, writing, and math) and 21st century skills (teamwork, problem solving, research gathering, time management, information synthesizing, utilizing high tech tools).” Those skills aren’t learned by listening to teachers lecture and memorizing facts for tests. They are learned when students are actively engaged in researching, collaborating, solving complex problems and using technological tools. In project-based classrooms, teachers are facilitators of learning, not lecturers.

Organizing project-based learning requires collaborative, engaged, creative and intelligent teachers. They need to work together across disciplines and ensure that content standards are met. Teachers must also be creative in identifying guiding questions that drive the inquiry and the project. Then everyone involved in the project needs to figure out how to integrate their subject area with other disciplines and the overall the project.

For example, suppose we want to answer the question, “How do people express themselves through myths and legends?” Language teachers could facilitate student inquiry through language activities designed to teach students how to utilize the `Writing Process’ to publish their books about myths and legends. Reading comprehension would focus on the study and understanding of myths, legends and fables. The art teacher could incorporate artistic expression by helping students children create illustrations for their books or make puppets that convey mythological characters. The science teacher could focus on studying the role of myths and legends in scientific understanding, while the social studies teacher looks though the lens of history and the role of religion.

Students are highly engaged in learning when it is project- and inquiry-based. As the adage states, “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

We help schools develop project- and inquiry-based teaching and learning. Contact us for more information.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, Curriculum Development, Inquiry-Based Education, Project-Based Teaching and Learning, School Improvement

Creating Fabulous Schools: Faculty Collaboration is Key

April 25, 2012 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Faculty Collaboration and Student Learning

One of the most important factors in school improvement and creating fabulous schools is the quality of collaboration among teachers. Certainly, there are other important factors, but faculty collaboration is an absolutely necessary condition. It is possible, with high quality teaching, to have a good school. It is not possible to have an outstanding school without excellent teamwork among teachers.

Faculty collaboration is what makes the sum of the parts greater than the whole. It’s what creates the conditions for students to excel intellectually, academically, socially and emotionally. And that’s the primary business of the schoolhouse. Schools in which students are not achieving their highest and greatest potential are not fabulous. They may be good or even great, but great is not good enough when it comes to schools and the education of our children. The ultimate goal of school improvement is to create outstanding schools for all students.

Most schools kill collaboration before it even has a chance to germinate. That’s hardly the fault of the teachers. It’s a problem with the very structure of the school. One can’t expect teachers to work together as a team when schools’ organizational systems proclaim loudly and clearly that collaboration is dead upon arrival. Little or no time to meet together, the absence of effective school leadership that supports teamwork, and a lack of cross-curricular planning are a few of the telltale signs that collaboration among teachers is not valued.

First and foremost, the school leader must clearly articulate the case for working together as a team. Given how deeply collaboration is buried by the structure of schools, they must make a compelling case for collaboration. They need to be truly committed to collaboration at every level in the school. To rise above the noise, they must be visionary and zealous in creating a collaborative environment. That’s not an easy task and many school leaders will benefit from leadership coaching to accomplish the goal of creating schools in which collaboration among faculty and staff members is as much a part of the fabric of the school as students and teachers themselves.

A collaborative faculty sits together and plans the curriculum. English teachers teach content and skills that are connected to content and skills being taught in social studies, art, science and so on. Units of inquiry centered on main ideas guide the organization of the curriculum across the disciplines.

Suppose, for example, that students in the sixth grade are studying peace and conflict. In social studies, students may be studying about notable peacemakers and the origins of war while the science teacher engages students in exploring scientific discoveries that were the source of major conflicts between religion and science. The English teacher has selected a text focused on themes of war and peace, and students are discussing the characters and plots, and writing essays on peace and conflict. Add physical education, art and drama to the mix and students are buzzing with the excitement of learning that actually makes sense to them.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, School Improvement, School Leadership, Team Building

Leadership Coaching and Consulting to Build Strong Management Teams

January 17, 2012 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

As school leaders, we delegate many responsibilities to members of our management team and depend heavily on them to run our schools. The bigger the school, the more we delegate. Our management teams are critical to the successful functioning of our schools.

While members of our team may be smart, capable people, they are not always excellent team players. Once, I had a talented, intelligent business manager who couldn’t figure out how to play on our team. After trying many approaches, I hired a topnotch management consultant and organized a retreat. We learned a lot about school management teams and how to work together on a team. We made progress.

Gradually, my business manager’s same old behaviors returned and we struggled again to function as a strong team. I couldn’t seem to get things back on track, so I decided it was time to part ways. It was unfortunate to have to reach that decision. She was quite talented, but just couldn’t function well on our team. Or so I thought.

A few years later, I had another talented but difficult member of my management team. The longer we worked together, the more we struggled to work effectively as a team. This time, I hired a consultant who was also a professional leadership coach. Again, we organized a management retreat, learned new strategies for working together as a team, and made significant progress.

This time, my management consultant continued to work with me as my leadership coach. We met regularly and she coached me to figure out solutions to the complex challenges of school leadership and maintain a strong management team. With her help, I gained new perspectives, learned a lot about myself, developed my emotional intelligence and understood better my contributions to the challenges we faced as a team. I realized that her ongoing support as a coach was critical to my success as a team leader.

It is difficult to build and lead strong management teams. Yet, our success in leadership roles is often determined by our ability to be team builders and leaders. The landscape is littered with schools, organizations, governments, businesses and sports franchises that have suffered dearly from the disintegration of leadership teams. Don’t let that happen to you or your school.

Leadership coaching is one of the best investments you will ever make in your success as a school leader, whether it’s for developing and leading your management team or for other challenges you face in school leadership. Contact me for professional coaching services. I guarantee you will be glad you did.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, School Improvement, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership, Team Building

Leadership Coaching to Help Leaders Manage and Develop Boards

December 14, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

As Head of School, I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the complexities of managing my Board and the attendant relationships. While I enjoyed the support of my Board, Board relationships, development and management were ongoing challenges. I quickly discovered I was not alone. School governance and the challenges of managing boards were regular topics at gatherings of school leaders.

Once I got squeezed between my Board Chair and my Facilities Committee Chair in their disagreement related to the choice of an architect for school expansion. In the end, the Board Chair convinced the Board to choose his preferred architectural firm and the architect withdrew his children from the school. I confess, I didn’t know how to manage the situation, which contributed to a bad outcome.

On another occasion, I discovered that a Board member was having inappropriate discussions with parents about one of my teachers. Although perhaps well intentioned, the Board member’s involvement in a staff matter made the situation very difficult. It is not uncommon for board members to cross the line between governance and management. Nonetheless, when they do, the resulting problems can be significant. In my experience, it’s very difficult to know how to handle potentially destructive situations when one’s board member is part of the problem.

I could provide many more examples of the challenges we sometimes face as leaders, as could you, in working with our boards.

With most of the challenges I faced as a school leader, I had someone to turn to for help and advice – my Board, my Board Chair, a consultant, colleague, my wife, etc. A problem, I began to realize, was that I didn’t have someone who could help me consistently with some of the most sensitive and complex problems I faced as a school leader, namely those that involved my boss, the Board.

So, one day I sought help from a leadership coach. Getting leadership coaching was the best decision I made in my 20 year career as a school leader.

My coach provided leadership coaching to help me gain new insights into the dynamics and relationships among and with my board members by helping me look at complex situations from different perspectives. She was a sounding board and confidant with whom I could discuss very sensitive and difficult situations. She helped me develop new strategies and held me accountable for carrying through.

My coach also helped me look at my own fears, shortcomings and contributions to difficult relationships. She helped me analyze and improve my emotional intelligence. I learned an enormous amount about myself and became a much better leader as a result.

It’s amazing how often we cannot see the forest for the trees. We’re so focused on urgent daily operational matters that we fail to seek the help we need to address important issues until they become urgent, which is often too late. Sometimes we need assistance from someone who understands the challenges of school leadership and working with boards, someone who can consistently and confidentially help us figure out solutions to very complex and sensitive problems.

That’s what I do. If you would like help managing and developing your board, please contact me for a free consultation. I guarantee it will be one of the best decisions you will make as a school leader.

Filed Under: Emotional Intelligence, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership

School Leadership: The 8 Critical Areas

October 13, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

There is enough research on leadership to fill oceans. Indeed, we can easily find ourselves swimming in the leadership data and wondering where to focus our energies.

Since most leadership research doesn’t focus on school leadership, how do we know what’s most important for school leaders? After all, schools are unique institutions. It stands to reason that they require a unique kind of leadership.

Thankfully, Independent School Management conducted research on school leadership and found that effective school leaders do the following exceptionally well:

Vigorously seek to develop a faculty culture focused on professional development
Give public, positive reinforcement to deserving employees and students
Promote an ongoing faculty conversation regarding high expectations and support for students
Establish a faculty-wide conversation regarding professional development
Place great emphasis on having high expectations tailored to each student
Demonstrate an inspired and inspirational commitment to the school’s mission
Sustain high levels of self-awareness and self-management
Exhibit determined pursuit of their own professional growth programs

It’s great to know where to focus to be an exceptional leader. It’s quite another thing to focus on those areas with all the competing demands of school leadership. Even if you can focus on one or more of the areas in which you need to improve, developing and implementing a plan successfully can be very elusive.

How does one develop a faculty culture that is focused on professional growth and development? Sometimes the complaining and bickering seems to drown out the voices of those devoted to learning, sharing and supporting each other. It would be fabulous to have an ongoing conversation among teachers about ways to improve teaching – one that would dominate the discussions in the faculty lounge and infuse teachers with the same passion for learning that we want our students to demonstrate. The question is, how does one create that awesome reality?

The same questions and challenges apply to the other areas that exceptional school leaders focus on. Knowing what makes a school leader exceptional is one thing. Knowing how, when and where to get to the what is quite another.

It’s easier said than done. The urgent constantly gets in the way of the important.

That’s why it’s important to have a leadership coach. Do you know any successful athletes without a coach? A school leader coach will help you address one, some or all of the critical areas above and become an exceptional leader. School leadership coaching is like a personalized leadership development program. The only agenda of your leadership coach is to help you in whatever way you need assistance. Whether you need to develop your skills as an inspirational school leader, develop self-awareness or develop in any other way as a leader, the most effective and cost-efficient way to go is with a school leader coach.

Filed Under: Faculty Culture, School Improvement, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership

Has a Leadership Coach Got Your Back? And Front?

October 7, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

School leadership is like a contact sport. You never know from where or whom the hit will come. And it can be fatal. In fact, school leaders get a fatal hit every three years, on the average. Very few have a leadership coach to help them avoid fatal blows. Yes, the average tenure for school leaders is about three years. After that, they’re fired or move on because they’ve taken too many hits.

As a leading school consultant once told my board and management team, “You gotta have your head’s back. It’s an open target. Protect it.”

Unfortunately, boards and management teams don’t always have your back. When push comes to shove, they’re more interested in their backs than yours.

You need someone who has your back. Who does? Who can you count on unequivocally?

A school leadership coach. Do you have a leadership coach? They make their living off of having your back. If you don’t have one, you should get one.

The National Association of Independent Schools studied coaching for school leaders. Here’s what school leaders said about school leader coaches and leadership coaching:

Supported, encouraged and validated me
Affirmed me, so I knew that I wasn’t crazy
Gave me perspective by zeroing in and then out to get the big picture
Served as a sounding board and as someone who could challenge, push or nudge my thinking
Confirmed my own intuition or knowledge of a situation or relationship
Contextualized and validated my reality
Provided an outside perspective that was most useful in thinking through crisis situations
Gave me courage to make and implement difficult decisions
Helped me transition to a new school culture and the challenges of being an outsider in the community
Improved my self-knowledge or self-awareness
Helped me negotiate a new contract
Balanced the power relationship between me and my board
Helped boards hear my important messages

Who doesn’t need what a leadership coach offers? Every leader needs a coach. Every school needs a coached leader.

In the corporate world, most executives and their corporations enjoy the benefits of executive or leadership coaching. Leadership coaching is used extensively to help leaders improve, prepare for new challenges, launch new initiatives and manage change – to mention a few.

The return on investment for leadership coaching is estimated to be about 500%. Imagine that for you and your school!

So, obviously, leadership coaching is not just about protecting your back. In fact, it’s much more about your front and where you and your school are headed.

Leadership coaching will make a huge difference in your life and in the life of your school. It will help you become an exceptional leader and create an exceptional school.

Filed Under: School Leader Coaching, School Leadership

The Art of Exceptional Leadership

September 28, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Are you an exceptional leader, or an average one?

By now, you probably know a lot about school leadership. You’ve taken courses, received training and attended conferences on effective school leadership.

If you’re like most people, much of what you studied remains in your notes and on your list of things to do. Most you simply don’t remember.

That’s okay. The data is overwhelming. We’ve become data junkies living in data junkyards. In education, everything is about data these days – data-driven decisions, data-driven instruction, data-driven leadership. Next thing you know, we’ll have data-driven play. The data will always be there. More will arrive. You can find it anytime and try out new skills and techniques.

Don’t get me wrong. Data has its rightful place. We can and must learn from it. But expertise and skills learned from data analysis do not an exceptional leader make.

Your relationships make you an exceptional leader, or not. Relationships are the key. And relationships are an art form in the truest sense of the word.

When you walk into your school, lead a faculty meeting, talk with parents and chat with students, your relationships are far more important than your leadership skills and expertise. Your ability to connect with people, and to maintain strong relationships built on trust and respect define your leadership. Skills and expertise are the icing on the cake.

The key to healthy relationships is self-differentiation. Emotionally, exceptional leaders are not dependent on anything other than themselves. They are self-sufficient and live without undue anxiety or over-dependence on others. Their sense of worth comes from within and is independent of relationships, circumstances and events.

Exceptional leaders understand that the emotional processes going on within their schools are extraordinarily powerful – much more powerful than ideas, goals or any other leadership tool. The emotional life of an organization is like the wind and waves. The sailor who tries to overcome them will likely fail, whereas positioning oneself to let the natural force assist will take the ship in the right direction.

The art of exceptional leadership is the capacity to be a steady, non-anxious and challenging presence, and to be connected to people but not enmeshed in the emotional processes. In short, the exceptional leader is first and foremost emotionally intelligent. Leadership through presence and self-differentiation is not easy. Be prepared to lose friends and experience the pain of isolation and personal attacks. It comes with the territory.

So do the rewards. And they are endless. Exceptional school leadership creates exceptional schools. Is anything more beautiful?

Filed Under: Consulting Services, School Improvement, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership Tagged With: coaching school leaders, school improvement, school leadership, schools

The Key to Ridding Schools of Nasty Social Behavior and Emotional Harm

September 12, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

I am deeply saddened by the way some teachers and students treat each other in school. We have all observed or heard about teachers and students belittling, ridiculing, intimidating and ignoring each other much too often. This kind of mistreatment occurs in our “best” schools and our “worst” schools. One might expect it in our worst schools, but not in our best schools. Yet, it happens all the time.

Students go to school to learn – not just subject knowledge, but how to be good citizens in school and their worlds outside of school. Learning appropriate social behavior in the complex and constantly changing worlds in which we live is not easy. Most of us adults are still trying to figure it out. It requires ongoing teaching, learning and assessment, even more so than learning a language, math, history or science. Unfortunately, in the frenzy to improve academic test scores, we’ve lost sight of our higher imperative as educators to improve students’ social behavior and emotional intelligence – to educate our students to be brilliant citizens of their social groups, communities, and the world.

The emotional harm that occurs in schools as a result of poor social behavior causes enormous damage. I spoke to one high school student recently who told me that she has felt inferior and incapable in her math classes ever since her fourth grade math teacher angrily called her stupid for answering a question incorrectly. The teacher is well known for shaming children. Take a moment, please, to imagine the emotional distress this teacher has created in the lives of the children she has taught and continues to teach. Yet, this teacher is considered to be an excellent teacher. Unfortunately, she is no exception.

Teachers are not the only ones who mistreat students. Students mistreat each other. Parents are part of the problem, too.

School leaders can improve schools dramatically and create schools in which social behavior and emotional intelligence are valued as much as academic success. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Several years ago, two students in whom I have the utmost confidence to speak the truth told me that they witnessed a freshman being beaten by seniors, and a teacher walking by without intervening. It was “Freshman Beat Down Week” at one of the best public high schools in the region and country, according to Jay Mathews of the Washington Post. I called the principal to express my concern about the incident and to inquire about steps the school was taking to deal with the problem. She told me that “Freshman Beat Down Week” is a myth and that it doesn’t exist. Ignorance is bliss. Shortly thereafter, I learned that another freshman had her ribs broken by a senior. She refused to report it out of fear of retaliation by the seniors who beat her.

The problem is with the will, not the way. There are many ways, but few wills.

School leaders, with the will to take the necessary actions, can create schools in which teachers and students treat each other respectfully and compassionately in classrooms and hallways, and on buses and athletic fields. Leaders can create school cultures in which emotionally damaging and nasty social behavior rarely occurs – schools in which students, teachers and parents consistently treat each other respectfully.

To create schools devoid of mistreatment by teachers, students and parents, leaders must take the nasty-social-behavior-bull by the horns and wrestle with it until it is tamed and the school is a peaceful place. School leaders must address the issue head on, own the problem, and engage teachers, parents and students in finding solutions. It’s a school community problem that won’t be solved by punishment and rules.

Leaders must take the lead role in creating a joyful school experience for everyone. One excellent way to begin is with a school culture or faculty culture assessment. The data from these assessments provide excellent information about the source and nature of the problem. Based on these data, school leaders can design programs, establish initiatives, provide professional development and a myriad other interventions that will truly address the problem and transform the school.

That lead role is a tough role to play. Many school leaders seek the assistance of a school leadership coach to help them. If you are a school leader who wants to tackle the problem of negative social behavior and create a school that is both emotionally nurturing and academically challenging, contact us for school leader coaching services and/or teacher training/coaching services.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, Emotional Intelligence, Faculty Culture, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership, Team Building

Payal Majahan, Co-Founder of Art of Learning in India, Joins Hollinger International

August 31, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Hollinger International is thrilled to announce that Payal Majahan has joined Hollinger International as an associate consultant. Payal is an educationist with over 15 years of experience in the field of education. She has worked in numerous capacities (teacher, administrator, adviser, consultant) in schools offering national and international curricula and has been instrumental in incubating and nurturing internationalism through systems, curriculum and people development in India, Indonesia and Canada. Payal has in-depth knowledge and experience with of CIE, IBNA and IBAP. Her training and experience have given her a global perspective and an insight into best practices and key success factors that enable her to customize services to the requirements of individual schools.

Payal is the co-founder of Art of Learning (AOL). AOL’s suite of services include establishing new schools; strategic enhancements to existing schools; review and design of school systems and work processes, curriculum and pedagogical practices. AOL also provides K-12 schools with assistance in attaining accreditation by national and international agencies, such as the IB and IGCSE.

As a writer and editor, Payal co-authored a series of five General Awareness Activity books for Grades One through Five and edited a set of two workbooks in compliance with the new curriculum for a leading publishing house in India.

Payal holds a MA in History, a BA in Education from the Indiri Ghandi University and a BA from Lady Shri Ram College.

Filed Under: Associate Consultants, Consulting Services

Sidney Rose Joins Hollinger International

August 16, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Hollinger International is thrilled to announce that Sidney Rose has joined Hollinger International as an affiliate consultant. Sidney Rose is a senior education administrator, consultant and entrepreneur who has been working internationally for more than 30 years. He has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India and Sweden. He has a proven track record as the Founding Director of three prestigious international schools in Sweden, Qatar and India, establishing each from initial startup through to staff recruitment, curriculum design and development, marketing, opening and then running the multimillion dollar projects.

Sid implemented International Baccalaureate Programmes for each of the schools for which he served as Founding Director and served as a Consultant Presenter for the International Baccalaureate North America. He is an excellent KG-12 leader and administrator as well as implementer of in-service teacher training and quality assurance in schools.

Sid is also an experienced educator in the Arts. He served as Chair of the and Chair of the Dubai International Arts Society.

Besides being an educator, Sid has run his own businesses, and worked in advertising, marketing and public relations. He has also established innovative community projects and initiatives, ranging from teaching English in a Vietnamese refugee camp to organizing arts festivals in Dubai to setting up a street school for laborers’ children in India, as well as organizing classes for elderly people to learn information and communication technologies in Sweden.

Sid holds a BA in Arts from the Manchester Metropolitan University, a Graduate Certificate in Education from the Manchester Victoria University and a School Leadership Certificate from the University of Michigan.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, International Baccalaureate, Start a School