Michelle Jones – författare

While best known for her winsome and accessible documentaries on art, the late Sister Wendy Beckett is an immensely significant figure in her own right. From early childhood, Wendy knew an unusually luminous relationship with God and she was gifted with the ability to communicate her profound spiritual insights with clarity and cogency.The Spiritual Vision of Sister Wendy explores the breadth and depth of her vision by selecting and reflecting on passages from both her published and unpublished works. The carefully curated selections are drawn from the wide range of sources in which we hear Wendy's voice - including her books, articles, correspondence, documentaries, interviews and previously unpublished material.Following a substantial biographical introduction, the book explores themes such as the transcendent God of joy and intimacy revealed by Jesus, what it means to live in a world in which the foundation of all being is Love, and the role of prayer, the Church and art in the journey to becoming fully human.

The theme of the book is the self-outpouring in love, or the kenosis, of Jesus Christ. The kenosis of the Son of God is at the heart of the identity of the Sisters of Jesus of Nazareth, for whom these reflections were initially composed. In baptism we are all plunged into the self-emptying life of Jesus and are called to live out this way of love in whatever situations we find ourselves. It is not surprising, then, that while the book was originally written to benefit a particular religious community it is, in fact, deeply significant to all followers of Jesus.Extravagant Love is not a sustained treatise on the kenosis of the Son of God. The mystery is too great for that. Rather, Ruth Burrows draws together scriptural and theological insights and her own lived experience of over seventy years as a Carmelite nun to offer various streams into the unfathomable ocean of God’s self-giving, ecstatic love. Each reflection is intended to begin in reading and to continue in prayerful pondering and contemplative wonder. †

Teachers Leading Educational Reform explores the ways in which teachers across the world are currently working together in professional learning communities (PLCs) to generate meaningful change and innovation in order to transform pedagogy and practice. By discussing how teachers can work collectively and collaboratively on the issues of learning and teaching that matter to them, it argues that through collective action and collaborative agency, teachers are leading educational reform.By offering contemporary examples and perspectives on the practice, impact and sustainability of PLCs, this book takes a global, comparative view showing categorically that those educational systems that are performing well, and seek to perform well, are using PLCs as the infrastructure to support teacher-led improvement.Split into three sections that look at the macro, meso and micro aspects of how far professional collaboration is building the capacity and capability for school and system improvement, this text asks the questions: Is the PLC work authentic? Is the PLC work being implemented at a superficial or deep level? Is there evidence of a positive impact on students/teachers at the school/district/system level? Is provision in place for sustaining the PLC work? Teachers Leading Educational Reform illustrates how focused and purposeful professional collaboration is contributing to change and reform across the globe. It reinforces why teachers must be at the heart of the school reform processes as the drivers and architects of school transformation and change.

Teachers Leading Educational Reform explores the ways in which teachers across the world are currently working together in professional learning communities (PLCs) to generate meaningful change and innovation in order to transform pedagogy and practice. By discussing how teachers can work collectively and collaboratively on the issues of learning and teaching that matter to them, it argues that through collective action and collaborative agency, teachers are leading educational reform.By offering contemporary examples and perspectives on the practice, impact and sustainability of PLCs, this book takes a global, comparative view showing categorically that those educational systems that are performing well, and seek to perform well, are using PLCs as the infrastructure to support teacher-led improvement.Split into three sections that look at the macro, meso and micro aspects of how far professional collaboration is building the capacity and capability for school and system improvement, this text asks the questions: Is the PLC work authentic? Is the PLC work being implemented at a superficial or deep level? Is there evidence of a positive impact on students/teachers at the school/district/system level? Is provision in place for sustaining the PLC work? Teachers Leading Educational Reform illustrates how focused and purposeful professional collaboration is contributing to change and reform across the globe. It reinforces why teachers must be at the heart of the school reform processes as the drivers and architects of school transformation and change.

Throw Away Your Loincloth is a frank and funny account of the author's efforts to develop her spiritual and intuitive connections whilst looking after the family home, bringing up three children, holding down a high-powered job and generally living the sort of frantic life too many of us are used to! A serious accident ended her career, followed by aggressive breast cancer, but although these slowed Michelle down a little, she did not allow them to stop her from reaching for her dreams...

Drawing on research, policy and practice in a diverse range of contexts to illuminate the process of system transformation and improvement, it provides a rich comparative basis for considering large-scale reform and offers contemporary reflections and insights into the process of school and system improvement.