The HTH GSE Leading Schools Program (LSP) emerged out of a desire to serve as a "change incubator" by working closely with teams of educators—around the country and the world—to transform schools. This one-year hybrid program blends residencies at High Tech High in San Diego, partnerships with HTH critical friends, and on-line participation in discussion forums and Collegial Conversations. Participants design and execute a leadership project that addresses an authentic need or issue at their home schools, and present this work to colleagues and a broader audience at the High Tech High Summer Institute. Ultimately, participants emerge from the program equipped to lead the charge in creating innovative, engaging learning environments for young people and adults.
The goals of the Leading Schools Program are to:
- Explore and share collaborative, student-centered, project-based pedagogies
- Build strong collegial cultures through coaching and the use of protocols to engage in authentic, purposeful conversations about student work, curricula design, and shared purpose
- Establish a “community of practice”—a critical mass of educators around the country and the world working toward common goals, deepening their practice, and learning strategies for sharing their work with colleagues within and beyond their own schools
The ideal candidate is reflective about his/her practice, eager to collaborate, and currently employed as a teacher or administrator in a K-12 learning environment. Preference will be given to teachers and/or administrators who apply as part of an “instructional leadership team” from a single institution with the goal of transforming their school learning culture to better educate students for success in college, careers, and citizenship in the 21st century.
Snapshot
Duration: One year, part-time – August through June
Location: School site, online and 3 residencies at HTH in San Diego
Desired Applicants: Local and distance educators; teams are encouraged to apply
Critical Friends Each LSP participant is paired with a HTH Critical Friend—a current HTH teacher or director—who serves as a collaborator, consultant and sounding board throughout the year via e-mail, video conferencing, and face-to-face conversations.
Residencies LSP participants attend the HTH Teacher Odyssey (August 8-12, 2011), the HTH Winter Residency (January 24-27, 2012), and the HTH Summer Institute and GSE graduation (June 24-27, 2012). During these residencies participants attend workshops, visit classrooms, meet with their critical friends, and engage in planning/tuning activities with their team members.
Personalization Participants develop a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) and engage in several “put it to practice” activities throughout the year. The PLP enables participants to tailor the program to their specific needs, interests, and professional goals.
Project Based Learning Through residencies, readings and conversations with Critical Friends and each other, participants explore and enact the essential elements of project based learning. They emerge from the program prepared to communicate and demonstrate these elements to colleagues.
Collegial Conversations Participants engage in online forums and monthly online Collegial Conversations focused on issues of teaching, learning and leading that emerge from their own practice. Discussions are structured to help educators inform and improve their own work, while introducing conversation protocols that can be utilized at their own schools.
Leadership With the support of their Critical Friend and their cohort, participants explore "fierce wonderings" from their practice to design and execute a Leading Schools project that addresses an authentic need or issue at their home school. They then present this work to colleagues and a broader audience at the High Tech High Summer Institute. Team projects are encouraged.
Program Benefits
We aim to create a learning partnership for all participants that is:
- Focused around a coherent set of goals and tailored to the needs of each team
- Applied in that participants engage in shared activities and reflect together
- Sustained through residencies, local support, and an on-line network that supports knowledge-sharing
- Collaborative in that participant teams will have opportunities to work together and with HTH mentors
Program Eligibility
Applicants must hold a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited US college or university or its equivalent from a recognized foreign institution of higher learning, and be currently employed as a teacher or administrator in a K-12 learning environment. Preference in admissions decisions will be given to teachers and/or administrators who apply as part of an “instructional leadership team” from a single institution with the goal of transforming their school learning cultures to better educate students for success in college, careers, and citizenship in the 21st century.
Products
The program culminates in three work products: a personalized learning plan, Leading Schools project and digital portfolio. To produce these products, students work with their critical friend, colleagues and administrators. They engage in a number of online consultations and collegial conversations over the year, and attend the HTH Winter Residency in January for a mid-course update and tuning. Each student presents these work products to their critical friend, colleagues, and the broader education community in a culminating POL at their school site and at the HTH Summer Institute in June.
Personalized Learning Plan: Under the guidance of their critical friend and advisor, students develop a personalized learning plan (PLP) involving several “put it to practice” activities that we call Wicked Awesome Learning Opportunities (WALOs). The PLP enables students to tailor the program to their specific needs based on the strengths of the student and his/her plans following graduation from the program.
Leading Schools Project: With the help of their critical friend, students design a project that taps into the interests, talents and goals of the student, touches upon some aspect of the student’s practice, and addresses a need at the home school. A preliminary project proposal is due at the end of the first residency (HTH Odyssey) and will be presented at the Odyssey Presentations of Learning. The student will work on this project throughout the year and prepare a tangible work product for presentation at the HTH Summer Institute.
Digital portfolio: The digital portfolio (DP) is a public place for students to present their work and reflections, particularly those related to the Leading Schools project, to the broader public and at each Presentation of Learning.
To learn more contact Hayley Murugesan at hmurugesan@hightechhigh.org
