Brad Kershner – författare

The research in this volume draws on aspects of complexity theory and its integral link to systems performance to propose a new method for combatting the longstanding opportunity gap and related underperformance of so many underserved students in the American educational system.Through a longitudinal case study of the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College, this research considers the initial conditions and related disequilibrium principals experienced, the degree to which principals shared power and authority within their school context, and the extent to which they generated a shared school culture founded on collaboration and systematic reflection. From these data, the authors create a detailed picture of the Academy and its impact on the principals and their schools, using a new analytic tool called the “systems transformation heuristic," designed by the authors to quantify the qualitative dimensions of a school’s efforts to enact adaptive change consistent with the complex adaptive system metaphor.As such, it offers a new foundation for conceptualizing ongoing systems change, as well as a fresh model for school personnel to consider their experience from concrete, intertwined, and unique points of view. It will appeal to scholars, researchers, and practitioners with interests in educational leadership, complexity theory, urban education, and social justice.

The research in this volume draws on aspects of complexity theory and its integral link to systems performance to propose a new method for combatting the longstanding opportunity gap and related underperformance of so many underserved students in the American educational system.Through a longitudinal case study of the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College, this research considers the initial conditions and related disequilibrium principals experienced, the degree to which principals shared power and authority within their school context, and the extent to which they generated a shared school culture founded on collaboration and systematic reflection. From these data, the authors create a detailed picture of the Academy and its impact on the principals and their schools, using a new analytic tool called the “systems transformation heuristic," designed by the authors to quantify the qualitative dimensions of a school’s efforts to enact adaptive change consistent with the complex adaptive system metaphor.As such, it offers a new foundation for conceptualizing ongoing systems change, as well as a fresh model for school personnel to consider their experience from concrete, intertwined, and unique points of view. It will appeal to scholars, researchers, and practitioners with interests in educational leadership, complexity theory, urban education, and social justice.

In the Jim Rutt Show, Brad Kershner talks about this book. He also had an interview with Layman Pascal about it in the Integral Stage Authors Series.Our ability to understand and improve the field of education depends upon our ability to understand human development, culture, and society. We cannot understand what is happening in schools unless we understand the context in which schools exist. Through meaningful stories of school leadership and critical reflections on theories of complex systems, this book offers a framework for understanding how the intractable dilemmas of education reflect and embody the social, cultural, and developmental patterns of society. From the concrete dilemmas of school leadership to the abstract vistas of integral meta-theory, this book is a guide to understanding how it all fits together, and how to encourage the holistic growth of students, teachers, leaders, and educational systems.