The Fourth Way by Andrew Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley (2009, Corwin)

First Way: teachers free to develop curriculum and teach as they see – no consistency between teachers

Second Way: government top-down of standardization, uniformity, inequity (in Ontario, Progressive Conservative Harris government of mid-late 1990s); negative impact on teacher motivation and student learning through decreased resources, less prep time

Third Way: increased levels of support, networks, resources, PD – but teachers held accountable by data

Fourth Way:
* 6 pillars of purpose and partnership
1) inspiring and inclusive vision
2) deepened public engagement – work side-by-side with parents and community
3) achievement through increased investment in education facilities and other social services
4) corporate educational responsibility, with education and business partners equally accountable to each other
5) students as partners in change
“Without students, there would be no teachers. Their voices matter a lot” (p. 82)
6) mindful learning and teaching: creative, innovative, team work, problem solving, flexible, courage, compassion, perseverance, differentiated instruction, assessment for learning, brain-based, learning styles, culturally responsive pedagogy
“Struggling students, striving to be more resilient, need to know that their teachers are ‘on their side’” (p. 86)

* Principles of professionalism
1) high quality teachers
“None of it matters unless all teachers are engaged in the changes that have to be achieved” (p. 88)
2) powerful professionalism
3) lively learning communities – teachers learn and improve together in cultures of collaboration, trust, responsibility

Catalysts of coherences“The challenge, rather, is how to bring diverse people together to work skilfully and effectively for a common cause that lifts them up and has them moving in the same direction with an impact on learning, achievement, and results” (p. 95)
1) sustainable leadership through distributive leadership
“Teachers and schools learn best not by reading research reports, listening to speeches, or attending workshops, but by watching, listening to, and learning from each other in the very act of teaching itself” (p. 99)
2) networks of mutual learning
“The point of networks is to spread innovation, stimulate learning, increase professional motivation, and reduce inequities” (p. 101)
3) responsibility before accountability
“Accountability is the remainder that is left when this responsibility has been subtracted” (p. 102)
4) building from the bottom, steering from the top


Reflections

I must admit this book was an academic read and not an easy one. Several "themes" are consistent with other books on school leadership: the importance of professional development for teachers, distributive leadership, use of networks, give student voice, involve parents as partners.

When I went through the Vice-Principal Selection process, my resume need to be include my leadership contributions and their impact on students and the school. I can resonate with the Fourth Way since we collect or obtain data but what is done with it? It is the impact it has for student learning and achievement that matters. Also, we are moving away from accountability to responsiblity - I like this!

Here in Ontario, all students in grades 3, 6, and 9 continue to write the EQAO tests. With the huge expense needed to implement the assessments, I agree with the authors of moving away from a census to a sample. We also need to remember the impact on student well-being.