Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
FOCUS
Leaders need to cultivate their own gardens
By Suzanne Bouffard
Categories: Leadership, School leadership, System leadership, Teacher leadershipOctober 2019
Vol. 40, No. 5
As we settle into October and the honeymoon period of the new school year wanes, The Learning Professional is taking the opportunity to address stress and resilience — specifically how professional learning can help build school leaders’ resilience to handle the stresses that come with their jobs. Education leaders need resilience more than ever. From mental health crises and public health concerns to college admissions scandals that threaten the equity of opportunity schools work hard to create, leaders face constant stress and unexpected challenges. The concept of resilience blossomed in the 1970s and 1980s. Emmy Werner helped start a paradigm shift with her study of how some high-risk children on the island of Kauai thrived despite significant adversity (Werner, Bierman, & French, 1971). Later, research
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References
Felitti, V.J., Anda, R.F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D.F., Spitz, A.M., Edwards, V., … & Marks, J.S. (2019). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 56(6), 774-786.
Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for Professional Learning. Oxford, OH: Author.
Werner, E.E., Bierman, J.M., & French, F.E. (1971). The children of Kauai: A longitudinal study from the prenatal period to age ten. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Suzanne Bouffard is senior vice president of communications and publications at Learning Forward. She is the editor of The Learning Professional, Learning Forward’s flagship publication. She also contributes to the Learning Forward blog and webinars. With a background in child development, she has a passion for making research and best practices accessible to educators, policymakers, and families. She has written for many national publications including The New York Times and the Atlantic, and previously worked as a writer and researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Duke University and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. She loves working with authors to help them develop their ideas and voices for publication.
Categories: Leadership, School leadership, System leadership, Teacher leadership
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