7 Mindshifts for School Leaders
Finding New Ways to Think About Old Problems
- Connie Hamilton
- Joseph Jones - Superintendent, New Castle County Vocational Technical School District
- T.J. Vari - Assistant Superintendent, Appoquinimink School District
Foreword by Joe Sanfelippo
With the right approach, no problem is unsolvable.
How do you approach and solve problems in education that have been around so long that they just feel…normal? Perpetual issues—numeracy, reading ability, equity, grading, and teacher retention—are often continually managed, but not solved like the crises they are for future sustainability.
This innovative guide introduces seven mindshifts that will help you engage with your community, access diverse resources, embrace radical new ideas, create equity, and chart a course of school improvement to solve those “unsolvable issues” so that your students and teachers learn and grow. Features include
- Seven adaptable models—one per mindshift—for finding your own solutions to perennial problems
- Stories highlighting the successful implementation of each mindshift
- Discussions to help you match mindshifts to particular problems
- Technical tips and reflection questions
Persistent problems in education can only be solved if we approach them as the crises that they are. This book gives you the tools you need to become a new kind of school leader—one empowered to not just deal with the outcomes of perennial complex issues, but extinguish them altogether so that your students can thrive.
As our world changes, we must also change the way we think about leading, teaching, and learning. 7 Mindshifts for School Leaders offers practical strategies for how to make meaningful change to positively impact school communities for the better. This is a must-read book for all school leaders.
7 Mindshifts for School Leaders is a stand-out game-changer! Hamilton, Jones, and Vari offer real-time ideas and examples to support you with current leadership strategies. They provide a blueprint for implementing effective change to bolster student achievement.
Hamilton, Jones, and Vari empower school leaders to craft new solutions for age-old problems. This framework is an inspiring pathway and highly doable. Each new lens offered is complemented with a plethora of relatable examples, strategies, and resources.
The seven mindshifts shared by Hamilton, Jones, and Vari give current and upcoming school leaders a fresh way to think about the unique problems their schools are facing. The easy-to-read format offers the models and mindsets school leaders need to develop solutions to issues such as classroom management, achievement gaps, teacher retention, and more. It is a must-read for all leaders.
In 7 Mindshifts for School Leaders, Connie, Joe, and TJ lay the foundation for how leaders of the next generation will need to think differently to effect change and impact our schools. Reading this book is the first step in creating the mindsets needed to fight decades-old battles in education. Let’s start the revolution!
I love a book that is unabashedly deep. 7 Mindshifts is brimming with new insights and ideas for action. Each of the mindshifts is unique and rich with analysis and directional solutions. Take time with each mindshift. Savour it in its own right. Each one is a change theory on its own. The seven together cross-cut and stimulate more ideas about how we might find new ways to think about old problems in education.
We exponentially increase our chances of solving the vast challenges facing education when we adopt a crisis mindset. Enough with planning and strategizing! 7 Mindshifts for School Leaders is an all hands on deck call to action.
Hamilton, Jones, and Vari re-define what we mean by crisis and explain the mindsets needed for effective school leadership. Their ambition is no less than to solve persistent, fundamental problems in education. This book should sit on school leaders’ desks with many dog-eared pages and highlighted sections. It leads educators to the right place to start and the methods to sustain the positive changes all students desperately need.