leaders .as. learners

Submitted by Merrilou Harrison, WSLA Instructor In this age of reality shows, many people’s lives become transparent to the world. One of those shows is “Hoarders.”  This is a show in which a person’s gathering and keeping “stuff” becomes such an obsession that their normal lives are highly impacted. As they work through the issue of sorting, [...]

Submitted by WSLA Director, Carol Whitehead I, and most of the folks I know, seem to start each year thinking positively about the future and determined to change bad habits, lose weight, exercise more, eat right, learn a new skill and/or read all those journals and books stacked up on the night stand. Because I [...]

By Jay Hambly, WSLA Instructor Since the beginning of time, our educational institutions have had an annoying habit of getting on the latest bandwagon or movement with the hope of seeking the magic bullet that will solve our learning problems. Trends come and go. The words, titles and acronyms change, but the one thing that seems [...]

As you settle in for the holidays, perhaps a good book is just the right thing for relaxing. One of my favorites is Beyond the Wall of Resistance: Unconventional strategies that build support for change by Rick Maurer.

By Janice Watson, WSLA Instructor and Coach In Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools, authors Glenn Singleton and Curtis Linton challenge educators to a personal and systemic examination of a primary and essential question: “To what degree do you and your system have the will, skill, knowledge, and capacity [...]

By Gene Sharratt, Ph.D., WSLA Instructor Hope is the belief and a feeling that a desired outcome is possible. When students have hope for tomorrow, they are inspired to improve their learning. High levels of student hope are associated with increases in learning, connectedness in school, and better attendance. Highly effective leaders and teachers know with good relationships [...]

By Kristine McDuffy, WSLA Instructor As educational leaders, we are charged with, what I believe to be, the world’s most important, challenging and rewarding work.  It is an awesome responsibility, a noble calling and a passion that requires us to rise above any challenge and do the best job we can for every child, every [...]

By Othene Wade, WSLA Instructor “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” Dr. Martin Luther King Several years ago, while attending a WSLA meeting, one of the instructors shared that he was among the thousands in the crowd in [...]

By Tom Marrs, WSLA Instructor As a young principal I struggled to figure out the new superintendent who had just arrived to lead the school district where I worked.  It was physically and mentally exhausting to interact with the variety of new initiatives, research, direction changes and the verbal barrage that took place in intense [...]

By Merrilou Harrison, WSLA Leadership Learning Specialist Welcome back to a new school year! The challenges of this year can be both exciting and a bit breath-taking. If you are reading this, I assume that you are a leader in some way within your school or system. People are looking to you for clues as [...]