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Primal Leadership, Professional Learning Communities and Positive School Cultures:  Making the Connections for Student Success

“No Child Left Behind” legislation has had a huge impact on schools, staffs, students, parents, and communities.  This session will examine the role of primal leadership in the development of positive, cohesive school cultures that function as professional learning communities organized to insure that staff and student learning thrive.  Particular attention will be given to how data driven decision making can form the foundation for crafting faculty and departmental meeting activities that build staff members’ knowledge and skills creating an enhanced organizational capacity to serve students.  Leading and Learning by Wandering Around will be offered as a strategy to sustain the focus on enhanced student learning over time.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Discuss the concept of “Primal Leadership” and the critical role it plays in leadership and learning.
• Examine the connections between Primal Leadership and positive school cultures, characterized by Professional Learning Communities.
• Analyze a variety of faculty meeting/departmental activities designed to build positive school cultures and staff members’ capacities to serve all students.
• Identify strategies to assess school cultures and overcome toxic cultures using “culture building” and “culture busting” tools.
• Reflect upon ways to sustain a collective staff focus on and energy toward promoting high levels of student learning over time.
• Generate personal next steps.