Practical Networked Leadership Skills

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other,” John Kennedy intended to say in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

We see two catalysts as supporting our change from a traditional professional development to a contemporary professional learning model; a combination of our Instructional Coaching program and a 24/7 informal peer education model which can be observed most closely by watching our Twitter streams at #acps. Both offer a collaborative environments in which educators are supported to self-initiate learning, cross-pollinate ideas, test new strategies, and share resources.

In concert with such technology affordances, is an equally robust human capital strategy. Coaches focus on helping teachers develop and reach thoughtful and even unconventional professional goals such as how a middle school science teacher can introduce more play into learning.  In our model, teachers take ownership of their development by seeking out a coach, rather than a coach being “assigned” by a principal.  

These guides, stories, and reports share a method for self-directed learning through online networks for teachers. 

"A new era of personalized professional development is sweeping into schools. We've created this guide to capture the extraordinary changes in PD tools and in the cycle of learning. We look here at tools that support how teachers engage with colleagues; that help teachers learn or find support for implementing fresh strategies and approaches; and that measure how that learning impacts practice in the classroom."