Giant: Barbara McAfee
“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I met Barbara at Mt. Madonna school in California where Skip Olsen and I attended a workshop with two of my other giants Peter Block and Angeles Arrien. Barbara was […]
Giant: Richard Sheridan
“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: Note: I will reference Sheridan’s two books, italicize direct quotes, and add my experiences. I recommend you get both books. There are many more ideas, stories, and practical applications than […]
Giant: Diane Zimmerman
Giant: Diane Zimmerman “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I met Diane in person at a Cognitive Coaching Advanced Training in Lake Tahoe, NV in the 80s. I had seen her on video tapes coaching teachers […]
Why are talented people leaving education? #3
Part Three – How Can Reverse the Trend? William Sommers & Janice Bradley Toxic leaders who focus on ‘Theory X’ management styles and/or ‘command-and-control’ only, contribute to accelerating the exodus of talented professionals, and sustain high pressure/low creativity to their organizations. What we will address in this third article is […]
Giants Continue with Peter Block
“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: Early in my leadership career I read Peter’s Empowered Manager. Here is a graphic to determine whether those are low or high agreement and low or high in trust. It […]
Giants Continued: Jane Stevenson
“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I have been blessed by being able to work with Jane three different times. As a member of the special services team, where I was principal, she and Barb Vallejo […]
Why are Talented People Leaving Education #2
Why are talented people leaving education? Part Two – How Can We Make It Better? William Sommers & Janice Bradley In our beginning article we reviewed the research and experience of ‘What’ educators must deal with and ‘Why’ this is an important issue to address. We learned that toxic leaders […]
Why are talented people leaving education?
Part One – What is going on? William Sommers & Janice Bradley There is an exodus of experienced teachers, leaders, and staff in education these days. According to Forbes Magazine (August 3, 2023), “While 46% of school leaders are considering calling it quits, that doesn’t mean all of them will.” […]
Elevating Leadership Part 2
Elevating Leadership William Sommers, PhD Director of Stakeholder Centered Coaching for Educators In Stakeholder Centered Coaching (SCC) to be successful requires three elements: (I call it CHaD) Courage – receive real feedback and data from real sources. Humility – a belief that the leader can increase their skill level and/or […]
Giants #10: Andy Hargreaves
Giant #10 Andy Hargreaves “if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: I have been learning from Andy Hargreaves continually since I read Understanding Teacher Development, (1992). What caught my eye was this quote, “understand that developing teachers […]