The Principal, Michael Fullan
The Principal, Michael Fullan
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The Principal
Three Keys to Maximizing Impact

Author: Michael Fullan

Narrator: Don Hagen

Unabridged: 4 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 09/01/2015

Categories: Nonfiction, Education

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

Over the past two decades, Michael Fullan has written influentially about the change that school and district leaders must bring about as formalized achievement standards and new technology transform how schools are run. What he hasn't done until now is explore and discuss in detail how and why the principal's role itself must change.

Principals are often called the second most crucial in-school influencers (after teachers) of student learning. But what should the principal do in order to maximize student achievement? In The Principal, Fullan explains why the answer lies neither in micro-managing instruction nor in autonomous entrepreneurialism. He also shows systematically how the principal’s role must change, and demonstrates how it can be done in short order, at scale.

Fullan shows how principals have been boxed into a narrow role that undercuts their ability to develop the whole school. He sheds light on how, in times of crisis, it’s all too easy for principals to do the wrong thing—to take actions that are ineffective or even counter-productive, particularly when they don’t feel entirely in charge. But even in the toughest of external conditions, he shows, there is always leeway for action. Fullan explains how to choose the right versus wrong drivers—loosening focus on accountability and instead concentrating on capacity-building; focusing less on technology and more on pedagogy; abandoning fragmented strategies and striving for “systemness”; and forgoing individualistic solutions in favor of collaborative effort. He shares how principals can foster the professional capital of teachers and get far more accomplished for all students.

The author explains the three key roles that administrators must play in order to have the biggest impact on student achievement—the learning leader, the district and system player, and the change agent. Throughout The Principal are "action items" to help leaders implement Fullan’s program effectively, as well as provocative discussion questions that enhance the book’s usefulness in professional development and leadership courses.

About Michael Fullan

Michael Fullan is the global leadership director, New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL), and a worldwide authority on educational reform with a mandate of helping to achieve the moral purpose of all children learning.

A former dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto, Michael advises policymakers and local leaders around the world to provide leadership in education. Michael received the Order of Canada in December 2012. He holds honorary doctorates from several universities in North America and abroad.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Peter

Michael Fullan begins The Principal – Three Keys to Maximizing Impact with some sobering statistics about the drop in morale among principals: - 75% of principals feel that their job has become too complex; - Half of all principals feel under great stress; - The percentage of principals who are satisfi......more

Goodreads review by Dave

We are going to use this book for our principal professional development this year. We had Fullan in the district last year, and he is the goods. This book is among his best. Highly recommended for all school administrators. As always, he takes very complex topics and makes them accessible for just......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca

Was there a page count requirement for this book? There’s a lot of “Here’s what I’m about to tell you” and “Here’s what I just told you” and "Here's something I told you in another book I wrote." But in between: a decisively argued call to action for school leaders to prioritize teacher leadership a......more

Goodreads review by Paul

Realistic and insightful. Fullan provides an insightful, reasoned, and measured mode of thinking on issues of educational leadership. If district leaders and school heads all read this book, perhaps the educational system could take a few steps forward instead of spinning its wheels in exhausting, ou......more