Nurturing learning communities : a guide to school-based professional development

Great leaders are engaged in a continual exercise involving learning and a lot of persuasion. Getting members to do what is best - for the school community, their students, themselves - is often a struggle because it means getting people to understand and want to do what is best, and that requires integrity, the willingness to empower others, courage, compassion, tenacity and great teaching skills. Good leaders also thread very carefully the grounds they are working in. They learn to move slowly, assessing their own leadership styles and the school's culture before diving in. They help to bring individual talents to fruition, create value, and combine these activities with enough passion to generate the greatest possible advantages for every group member. Leadership is a difficult undertaking. It takes exceptional, sometimes heroic, people to do it well. The right blend of people who have a strong purpose in life can help us to break away from the bunker mentality currently facing us and define our future as we walk it. While presenting the most recent developments in terms of leadership research, this contribution also provides a manual for school leaders' professional development and is suitable for audiences ranging from government officials to administrators, researchers, and school principals.