learning leadership for leadership of learning

Learning Leadership For Leadership Of Learning

Richard S. Webster, Ph.D.  webster.1@osu.edu

Worthington  OH  43085-3558614-433-7144

Principal – PRM Institute: R&D for learning, processes, and creativity

Consider these propositions. They are one basis for making effective improvements in American education—high school and higher education

alike:

Learning Leaders—Who?

1. Every person who leads a class, course or other group assembled for educational purposes is a "learning leader, practicing learning leadership."  This is true regardless of title or topic, e.g., teacher, instructor, professor, presenter; engineering, history, mathematics, technology—every person, every course and program at every level.

Learning Leaders—Who?

2. Few learning leaders (probably < 5%) have attempted to learn about leadership as it applies to their work of education / teaching / instruction.

Learning Leaders—Who?

3. Many learning leaders (probably > 50%) with content presentation responsibilities will deny (many emphatically) that they are, in fact, learning leaders.

Learning Leadership—What?

4. By any description of leadership (we have collected > 300 leadership models and their associated skills or qualities) those in charge of classes, courses and other educational programs and events ARE, in fact, learning leaders.

Learning Leadership—What?

5. There are many reasons why those responsible for helping learners (aka "students") learn will disavow their role as learning leaders: those responsible for the leadership of learning.  Learning about these explanations will be useful.

Learning Leadership—What?

6. To "Leadership Denyers" we suggest accepting your honored role as leaders.

Learn more about leadership and how it fits your work and helps learners (those you are responsible for helping to learn) make their worlds better—while

improving contributions to national and global economies—theirs and yours.

Learning Leadership—How?

7. One step toward improving learning leadership is easy and logical: Simply make specific the learning process(es) you use for presenting your course content. Most content presentations are implicit, i.e. most instructors use implicit theories of teaching—we teach as we were taught as one wise teacher put it.

Learning Leadership—How?

8. Making implicit theories explicit improves learning leadership in useful ways.

Consider this. What would you add?

Learning Leadership—How?

9. Learning leaders improve their learning leadership when they review the LPEs they use; make them more explicit and task their students to provide evidence that LPEs have been used for content learning. Students can learn to document their use of LPEs, creating measurements akin to GPAs, e.g., Learning Process

Applications—LPAs, Learning Process Utilization—LPUs.

Learning Leadership—Why?

10. Learning work and knowledge work are very similar. Many learning process elements (LPEs) are common to students' learning work in high school and college and the knowledge work on the job in our global information society.

Learning Leadership—Why?

11. Common learning and performance elements are lanes on the bridge between learning work and knowledge work. Common process elements include:Thinking skills–a universal goal. Information technology (IT). Project knowledge and skills. Process knowledge and skills. Applied creativity for Innovation Quality improvement. Engagement

Learning Leadership—Why?

12. Suppliers, as a rule, respond to customers’ desires—those they serve.

Learning Leadership—Why?

13. Heads up, fair warning: Schools and colleges are suppliers to those their students are next involved with: High school students will seek colleges that add to their use of LPEs as learning tools. Employers will look for new hires that know how to learn, how to use LPEs. College students will respond quickly when those seeking new hires ask for LPE knowledge, skills and documented experience— LPAs / LPUs—see #9. Students will choose colleges that support LPE learning.

Learning Leadership—Why?

14. Who’s in control here? When employers realize that they can ask the their human resource providers (their high school and college suppliers) for specified learning process knowledge and skills (seven at #11) then those institutions that help their students achieve command of learning processes that employers want (regardless of the subject matter content) will command the market. This sea change in the learning marketplace will give them an advantage.

Learning Leadership—What Next?

15.Does this case hold up, make sense? • Is the learning work / knowledge work

supply chain described accurately? • How can those helping students learn best

learn to act as learning leaders? • What will it take to bring about this change

—in addition to employers asking for documented LPE knowledge and skills?

• And how to awaken employers to this opportunity?

• Who needs to do what for improving both learning work and knowledge work?

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