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In this bonus episode, we gathered practitioners and thought-leaders in the realm of learner-centered education to uncover the distinctions between leadership and management in a learner-centered environment. We were joined by
- Kelly Young, Executive Director of Education Reimagined
- Dr. Trace Pickering, Associate Director for Education Reimagined, Co-founder and Executive Director of Iowa BIG
- Allan Cohen, Strategy Consultant and Program Leader/Advisor to Education Reimagined
- Thomas Rooney, Superintendent of Schools, Lindsay Unified School District (CA)
To frame the conversation, we shared the thinking of Ken Robinson and John Kotter on the distinction between leadership and management.
From Ken Robinson:
The role of a leader is to provide a vision, to try to realize a sense of direction, a set of goals and purposes, and to inspire people to believe in and pursue them.
The role of the manager is to make sure everything is working so that the vision actually comes to pass.
And from John Kotter :
Leadership – The development of vision and strategies, the alignment of relevant people behind those strategies and the empowerment of individuals to make the vision happen, despite obstacles.
Management – Keeping the current system operating through planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling, and problem solving.
Our conversation was rich in principles that help to distinguish learner-centered leadership from the traditional school-centered paradigm of leadership. We touched briefly on management, but from this conversation, it’s clear that leadership in a learner-centered environment comes with greater challenges and far more nuance than management.
We are thinking about this question as a result of this incredibly rich conversation:
- How do you distinguish between leadership and management as you work to design learner-centered environments?
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