As a site-based, participatory management project being implemented in 15 schools throughout Delaware, RE:Learning is a natural extension of the collegial relationships established over the past 10 years between local schools and districts and the State Department of Public Instruction. Success hinges on a periodic school review process and a…

Uses the Job Characteristics Model and Job Diagnostic Survey instrument to study the effects of 73 San Diego teachers' motivation and satisfaction on participatory management. Teachers are generally dissatisfied by the absence of feedback, autonomy, and task-related interaction. Participatory management opportunities must be differentiated…

A former National Teacher of the Year discusses leadership's joys and difficulties. Teacher leaders must speak up about conditions limiting their effectiveness and policies restraining their positive momentum. This means engaging in continuous professional development and comporting themselves as professional educators who know what is best for…

The necessary conditions for successful shared decision making include school board and administrative affirmation, tolerance for diversity, teacher and administrator training, and collegial support. Involving teachers in decision making requires four implementation phases: readiness, experimentation, refinement through trial and error, and…

Neglected in educational literature, assistant principals can nonetheless help principals by acting as vision codesigners, teacher coaches and evaluators, master schedule designers, program developers, instructional managers, and communicators. Shared instructional leadership allows for greater job control, flexibility, initiative, collegial…

The present confrontational labor/management negotiations model mitigates against the development of a higher form of teacher professionalism. Current union and school management models are highly centralized governance systems. Collaborative planning must be instituted in a collegial manner to be successful. (MLH)

Teacher empowerment can be better appreciated if viewed as professionalization, rather than an exercise in worrying about who the boss is. This article discusses three guiding principles toward empowerment (status, knowledge, and access to decision-making), separate needs and vantage points of teachers and administrators, and teacher autonomy.…

Defining community politically (as a flexible arena for debating perspectives and achieving purpose) provides different ways to consider diversity. Diversity becomes not an anomaly but an integral part of the community process; conflict is legitimized as appropriate and inevitable in achieving school purposes. Administrators must mediate conflict,…

Simply involving teachers in decision making does not ensure a more effective school. As one San Diego high school's experience with strategic planning shows, teachers must have previous experiences that stress personal validation, build collegiality, and provide opportunities for inquiry and reflection. Principals must be able to gauge staff…

Leadership plays an important role in middle-school community members' collaborative efforts. Principals, by valuing and recognizing contributions of each teacher, staff member, student, and parent, give high visibility to the collaborative process. Principals also bolster collaboration by providing necessary support systems and helping…