Step In, Step Up: Empowering Women for the School Leadership Journey (A 12-Week Educational Leadership Development Guide for Women) - Softcover

Jane A. G. Kise; Barbara K. Watterston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1943874301 ISBN 13: 9781943874309

Publisher: Solution Tree Press, 2019

Synopsis

Women have incredible potential to drive change in education if they step up to lead at all levels. In Step In, Step Up, authors Jane A. G. Kise and Barbara K. Watterston guide current and aspiring women leaders through a twelve-week leadership journey. An assortment of activities, reflection prompts, and stories empower readers to overcome gender barriers to female leadership and engage in opportunities to learn, grow, and lead within their school communities.

This book will inspire you to step into educational leadership with confidence.

• Examine the need for women in leadership positions at schools and districts.
• Consider your own leadership identity and learn where to make adjustments.
• Feel empowered to overcome gender barriers, female stereotypes, and the double bind experienced by women in leadership roles.
• Gain tools and strategies for creating an action plan for effective instructional leadership in schools.
• Learn about hard and soft leadership skills and their value in educational leadership.
• Complete reflection activities to reinforce learning and professional leadership development.

Contents:
About the Authors
Introduction: The Why and How of Women's Leadership Journey
Chapter 1: Engaging Women in School Leadership
Chapter 2: Navigating Gender Barriers
Chapter 3: Finding Time for the Leadership Journey
Chapter 4: Readying Yourself for Stepping Up
Chapter 5: Taking the Path to Maturity
Chapter 6: Knowing Your Hardwired Strengths
Chapter 7: Challenging Your High-Flying and Limiting Beliefs
Chapter 8: Exploring Emotional Intelligence
Chapter 9: Making Yourself Heard
Chapter 10: Finding the Courage for Tough Conversations
Chapter 11: Encouraging More Women to Lead
Chapter 12: Crafting Your Identity as a Female Leader
A Final Note
References and Resources
Index

About this title

About the Author:

Jane A. G. Kise, EdD, is a consultant with extensive experience in professional development for instructional coaching, differentiation, and effective mathematics instruction. Other areas of expertise include leadership development and coaching, strategic planning, team building, and conflict resolution. She has worked with Minneapolis Public Schools, the Bush Foundation, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Minnesota Department of Education, television stations, large and small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community banking organizations. In addition to having an active client base in North America, Dr. Kise has conducted workshops in Germany, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, England, France, and Australia.

In 2005, Dr. Kise received the Isabel Briggs Myers Award for her research on differentiated coaching. In 2007, she received the Journal of Psychological Type Award for Best Application of Psychological Type for her research on coaching teachers for change.

She is author or coauthor of more than 20 books, including Intentional Leadership, Creating a Coaching Culture for Professional Learning Communities, Differentiated Coaching, Unleashing the Positive Power of Differences, and Introduction to TypeŽ and Coaching. In addition, Dr. Kise's articles have appeared in JSD, Principal Leadership, The Bulletin of Psychological Type, Writer's Digest, and many other magazines.

Dr. Kise is a certified practitioner for several instruments used for executive coaching, team building, and conflict resolution: the Hogan Assessment; the Neuro PQ; Myers-Briggs Type IndicatorŽ Steps I, II, and III; the EQ-i 2.0™; the Pearman Personality Profiler; and the Strong Interest Inventory™. Her research involves instructional coaching, identification of differences in how students with different type preferences master mathematical concepts and the implications for instruction, and also using type as a coherent framework for differentiated instruction.

Barbara K. Watterston, EdD, is the director of Watterston Consulting, specializing in facilitation and research focused on the design and delivery of professional learning programs to develop, enhance, and promote the work of the profession, and in particular, school and system leadership.

Dr. Watterston has over 30 years' experience in education and has held a number of school and executive leadership positions within the education and not-for-profit community sectors. She was a contributor and coeditor of Women in School Leadership: Journeys to Success (2010); a recipient of the Women of Achievement Award (WA, DET 2005); an accredited executive coach and a member of a number of university, departmental, school, and professional boards; and an Australian Council for Educational Leadership (ACEL) National Fellow.

Her national consultancy and research focuses on leadership development based on identified standards, linked to a cohesive and effective approach to professional learning. Dr. Watterston's most recent research report, Insights: Environmental Scan Principal Preparation Programs (2015) contributed to five major recommendations for preparing future leaders.

Her current projects include research, design, and delivery of emerging, executive, and system leadership programs integrating a focus on coaching and building high-performing teams. Dr. Watterston has a special interest in the links between leadership sustainability, well-being, and impact on performance.

Review:

"Step In, Step Up is a must-read book for all women in education, at every level. It will help women reframe how they see themselves as leaders and break through the barriers, both internal and external, to amplifying their impact as educators. As in every sphere, we need more women challenging norms and leading change. If you've ever doubted your ability to be a powerful change agent, this book is for you."

--Margie Warrell, women's leadership advocate; author, Stop Playing Safe and Make Your Mark

"This much-needed book, Step In, Step Up, is a guide for current and aspiring women leaders to use their sense of empowerment to discover their leadership identity and overcome the gender barriers to educational leadership. Authors Kise and Watterston dynamically engage the reader in identifying with their thorough research, explicit theory, and thought-provoking ideas that have worked in practice. As the authors note, 'When women work with other women, great things can happen.' This book needs to be on every woman's bookshelf."

--Dr. Lyn Sharratt, international consultant and author

"Step In, Step Up is a practical, informative, and accessible book that provides insightful advice for women either in or contemplating a career in school leadership. Interspersed throughout the book are provocative questions to help women reflect on their values, strengths, and skills, as well as useful strategies for dealing with barriers and challenges they are likely to face as they navigate the leadership journey."

--Lisa C. Ehrich, consultant; adjunct associate professor, faculty of education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

"Step In, Step Up is a truly inspiring book on so many levels. It is rich with research about what has historically stopped women from stepping up and what stops women now; but it certainly doesn't leave readers defeated. Instead, this helpful resource pushes readers forward with strategies for how to get into leadership, builds self-awareness, challenges limiting beliefs, and provides tools and structures readers can put in place to step up! I'm grateful to have this on my bookshelf to refer to and to share with others who are stepping into leadership."

--Jennifer Abrams, communications consultant; author, Having Hard Conversations and Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives

"The call to look at new ways of leadership that appropriately recognize the capabilities of females is profound and timely. In Step In, Step Up, authors Kise and Watterston cite both qualitative and quantitative evidence for their findings and recommendations. They explore notions of power in relation to society and gender, and they evidence cited acts as a call to action for better ways of doing things that free us of bias and past poor practices. We owe it to our children and the staff in our schools, as well as the countless younger women for whom this book may indeed be the difference in deciding to pursue leadership. This book helps start the discussions that are rarely encountered in schools or at system or sector leadership, involving both women and men and current and future leaders."

--Annette Rome, principal, St. Margaret's and Berwick Grammar School, Australia

"In Step In, Step Up, authors Kise and Watterston provide inspiration, information, and support to female educators who aspire to leadership roles. They present a gentle and consistent narrative, grounded in contemporary research and illustrated by real women's experiences both in the United States and Australia. This resource describes how feminine values can inspire and guide others to be bold and take risks, and provides meaningful exercises and reflection activities that take readers through a metaphorical journey to identify and celebrate who they are and what they can bring to school leadership. For me, this book is truthful and encapsulates common experiences; it validates my own experiences and leadership journey, and I believe other women will have the same reaction."

--Stacie Hansel, executive director, State Schools Performance, Queensland Department of Education, Australia

"In a changing educational landscape, with its heightened focus on differentiation, collaboration, and personal growth for learners, it is so refreshing to see that same emphasis being applied to leadership learning for women. Step In, Step Up is a true gift for aspiring women leaders in education, and I can see that it will support many women in their pathway to leadership. The richness of resources, alongside a balance of reflection and practice, will empower women to truly find their why and confidently develop an informed and personal vision of school leadership. I cannot thank the authors enough for providing a guided leadership journey for women, one we can use collaboratively, helping each other to succeed. It is truly empowering and exciting, and I can't wait to get started."

--Linda Douglas, principal, Ruyton Girls' School, Australia

About this edition

• Publisher: Solution Tree Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1943874301
• ISBN 13: 9781943874309
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Number of pages: 256