Shared Voice and Vision: Fostering Professional Communities for Student Success

Abstract

The National Policy Board for Educational Administration developed professional standards for educational leaders that include fostering a professional community to promote student success. The principal’s priorities must include pedagogy and the professional learning of teachers. The principal’s primary work is to build a school culture where vision and priorities are clear. In order to achieve this, the role of the principal as lead learner is critical. Using the work of Fullan and DuFour on leading professional learning, the chapter focuses on how to create a culture focused on trust, shared vision, and action research. This type of learning community focuses not only on testing data but on the creation of a collaborative community where every person shares responsibility for learning so that student success and well-being are optimized.