Donaldson, Gordon A. Jr.

The 58 members of MASL began their leadership development work with a single lofty goal: to improve their leadership so that student learning outcomes would improve in their schools in some perceptible way. Sixteen months of intensive work produced extraordinary results. Using the words of the participants, Donaldson and Mamik present these results by taking you along the same path the participants traveled. These blossoming leaders involve you in group meetings, one-on-one consultations, and in their own written reflections of how they each grew and evolved. Becoming Better Leaders makes the leadership process come alive in a way that most books of leadership theory cannot provide.

"A resource for aspiring and experienced instructional leaders, this text reveals a practical model of leadership for teacher leaders, principals, and school teams. It honors the working realities of schools and highlights interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and qualities essential to successful school leadership."--Jacket.

This small but powerful book will inspire all educators who seek an elusive dream: to create schools that function more productively and humanely for children and adults. A dedicated group of Maine educators - teacher leaders, teaching principals, and principals - wanted to lead their schools toward this dream. They first met at the Maine Academy for School Leaders (MASL) in 1992 to share their experiences and frustrations and to help each other improve their understanding and practice of educational leadership. In the years since then, they have made remarkable progress. This stimulating book recounts the journeys and describes the enlightening discoveries made by nine of the MASL participants. Through a series of stories as varied as the schools and the groups they represent, you see how MASL participants successfully forged working teams out of faculty groups greatly divided by philosophies and personal histories. These pioneering educators developed many new skills, including the ability to respond more constructively to angry and demanding parents and colleagues. Their stories are personal accounts of the twists and turns of their evolving identities as leaders. Each of these vignettes shares one goal: to make sense of the toughest leadership situations so that all of us can see the path more clearly.