The Principal (eBook)

Michael Fullan, Order of Canada, is a professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. He consults with leaders of education systems worldwide and is the award-winning author of more than thirty books, including Leading in a Culture of Change, The Six Secrets of Change, and Change Leader. To learn more, visit www.michaelfullan.ca.

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

About the Author xv

CHAPTER ONE: Outmoded 1

Gasp! 6

Leading Learning 8

Maximizing Impact 9

This Watershed Moment 10

The Chapters That Follow 13

Still Worth a Struggle 14

CHAPTER TWO: Vices and Virtues 17

Panic Time? 21

Four Wrong Choices for Driving Policy 22

Too Broad, Too Narrow: The Transformative Versus Instructional Leader 38

Principal Autonomy and Micromanaging:

Other Roadside Attractions 42

Time to Retune 46

CHAPTER THREE: The First Key--Leading Learning 51

What Key Research Tells Us 56

Professional Capital--a Framework for Leading Learning 67

Foster and Integrate 86

The More Powerful Way 88

CHAPTER FOUR: The Second Key--Being a District and System Player 93

Looking Out to Improve Within 98

Intradistrict Development 100

Beyond the District 107

Not You Alone 115

CHAPTER FIVE: The Third Key--Becoming a Change Agent 119

Change Agency 124

Distorted Mirrors 135

CHAPTER SIX: The Future Is Now 141

The Unplanned Digital Revolution 145

Planned Change: Common Core State Standards 154

Time to Change Careers? Or to Change Gears? 157

A Final Word 160

References 161

Index 169

"This revealing and powerful book comes just in time, as
we launch the biggest education reform in the past fifty years. It
should be required reading not only for principals, but perhaps
even more importantly for those who support and lead
them."

--Laura Schwalm, CaEdPartners; former superintendent,
Garden Grove, California

"After decades of studying, working with, and enhancing
the lot of principals . . . Fullan's conclusion? Principals
are needed now more than ever, and he's smack on target. He
doesn't mince words, yet instills hope and confidence. Simply
great . . . this book should be on every leader's desk.
Another bull's-eye!"

--Willam Parrett, director, Center for School
Improvement and Policy Studies, Boise State University, Idaho

"I just read The Principal and I am on fire and in
love. I couldn't put it down! Fullan's uniquely succinct brilliance
for soaring above the noise and clutter that bogs us down is
incredibly energizing and inspiring."

--Alice Thomas, president and CEO, Center for
Development and Learning, Metairie, Louisiana