September 2016 Bookshelf
Books 22 September 2016
The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business
Dennis Littky and Samantha Grabelle
With over 40 years of experience working in education, Dennis Littky is a champion of bursting through the norms of today’s education system and establishing programs that bring new life to learning environments around the world. In the 2004 book, The Big Picture, Littky and his colleague, Samantha Grabelle, seek to inspire educators to go beyond the conventions of their current learning environments and explore the possibilities to unleash every child’s insatiable appetite for learning.
The Design of Everyday Things
Don Norman
When it comes to design, there is inspiration all around us—from the car you drive, to the shoes you wear, to the very e-publication you are reading right now. And, they all started with a healthy dose of design thinking. Recognizing the beauty in everyday things, Don Norman takes readers on a journey to heighten our understanding of what constitutes good versus bad design. Along the way, you will be encouraged to use these design thinking signals as you imagine new ways for your learning environment to fully accommodate your learners’ needs.
Leading Change
John P. Kotter
To put it lightly, transforming education is a tall order. Whether you are looking to disrupt the entire system or simply shift a single learning environment, it would be nice to get a peek at what’s around the corner every now and then. Leading Change is here to answer that call. By reviewing the successes and failures of some of the world’s largest institutions, John Kotter supplies readers with a management process built for translatability across whatever domain you are looking to transform.
Delivering on the Promise: The Education Revolution
Richard A. DeLorenzo, Wendy J. Battino, Rick M. Schreiber, and Barbara B. Gaddy Carrio
With all of the momentum from XQ’s Super School Project, there is no better time to get your hands on Delivering on the Promise. Rethinking education has been in the works ever since it became a formal institution, and there are models around the country that provide incredible insights as to how anyone can reimagine learning in their communities. Discover how this transformation culminated in one particular district at the turn of the 21st century.
On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities
edited by Richard Dufour, Robert Eaker, and Rebecca Dufour
It can’t be overstated enough how the transformation of any learning environment will present leaders with challenges never seen before. However, when these stories are gathered and solutions shared, a common North Star begins to shine. On Common Ground expounds this idea by providing education leaders with practical strategies to move their communities beyond the predispositions holding them back. By developing Professional Learning Communities (PLC), sustainable efforts to transform education for your learners can occur. Investigate how PLCs could be a catalyst in your search for transformational solutions.
Education and the Commercial Mindset
Samuel E. Abrams
Stemming from a common debate among educators across the nation and the significant rise and evolution of for-profit education institutions, Samuel Abrams invites readers to explore how learning can remain a public good, while incorporating private business-like strategies. Abrams acknowledges the fact privatizing education alone fails to address the school-centered paradigm we are stuck in. Through this insight, he molds the idea of a private market economy within the landscape of public education—exploring ways this institution can incorporate private business strategies to garner more talent to enter the education niche,
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