To make the best decisions possible, middle leaders need to have a nuanced understanding of the consequences of their actions. In this pragmatic book, Adam Robbins aims to boost their role-specific expertise to help them achieve that goal - and offers them a preferable alternative to learning from their mistakes. Instead of relying on generic leadership theories, Middle Leadership Mastery collates perspectives from psychology and cognitive science to share evidence-informed guidance on a wide range of topics - from supporting staff and students in crisis and managing wellbeing, to quality-assuring teaching and curriculum design. Adam Robbins draws on his sixteen years' experience of teaching in a deprived area to illustrate his points with stories and anecdotes from the front line, demonstrating how middle leaders can better understand their context and deliver the best outcomes from a variety of starting points.

Whether you're already leading or you have it on your radar, this book's for you. Don't expect a textbook full of highfalutin theories though, this book is rammed full of practical ideas that you can use instantly to help you in your current role or to get the position you want. How do you create a brilliant team? What is needed to establish an awesome ethos? How do you do those difficult personnel things? How do you make an impact? Answers to all of these questions and more are based on the combined 100 plus years of the authors' leadership experience in a wide range of educational settings. You'll find a cornucopia of pick and mix tips, strategies and stuff that really works and will make your leadership brilliant! Leadership doesn't come from formulae or from the latest list of government standards. Neither does it come from the school handbook or a 'values' poster in the staffroom. If you pick up 100 different leadership books you'll find 100 different nuanced definitions. Fundamentally, brilliant leadership is inspiring people to go the extra mile. There's a difference between 'outstanding' and 'brilliant'. Brilliant is self-made, inside out, creative and beyond the bounds of any simple description. Brilliance is a calling and brilliant practitioners go well beyond the call of duty. Middle leaders are the backbone of any school. At their best they challenge, manage, plan, develop and inspire colleagues to make learning brilliant for kids. Middle leadership covers a broad spectrum of roles and titles: curriculum leader, pastoral leader, key stage coordinator, subject coordinator, head of department, school leader, head of year, school leadership, head of house, head of faculty, subject leader. This book is aimed at anyone in middle leadership, regardless of job title, whether long in the tooth, new to leadership or wanting to get into it. Dip into this book and you'll find a wide range of tools, strategies, advice and top tips to help you be your brilliant best. Gary, Chris and Andy cover the myriad of issues facing middle leaders with their customary mix of good humour and solid, experience-informed advice. Topics covered include: starting a new role; whether in a new school or following internal promotion, what your colleagues and the kids will expect of you, identifying personal strengths and areas for further development, shifting your focus from your to-do list to your to-be list, having an impact, building rapport and a team ethos, planting seeds of positivity across the school, tips for holding effective meetings, how to plan improvement which works for your team and meets the expectations of senior leaders, planning, implementing and evaluating change, dealing with negative colleagues, overcoming issues and personnel problems, understanding and owning your thinking, celebrating successes, modelling and sharing best practice and developing a brilliant team. The Art of Being Brilliant series was a finalist in the 2017 Education Resources Awards in the Educational Book Award category.

Today the myriad skills needed to be an amazing middle leader in schools can seem mind-boggling. What's more Middle Leaders are taking up the leadership reins after gaining experience for far fewer years than ever before.Whether you are new to this role or are more experienced and aspiring to become a school leader, this book will give you the vital information you need in order to understand what is really important about your role and how to improve your key skills.

Effective inclusion in the classroom shouldn't be a burden; it should be the most rewarding aspect of a teacher's role. 'An excellent guide to changing approaches to inclusion and creating a culture where all children can flourish.' SEN Magazine In this innovative guide to supporting the most vulnerable students, experts Daniel Sobel and Sara Alston help primary and secondary teachers understand the barriers to children's learning. Emphasising the importance of meeting needs rather than focusing on diagnosis, they provide proven differentiation methods that maximise learning for the whole class, while reducing stress and saving time for the teacher. Guiding teachers through all the different phases of a single lesson, from starters to plenaries, the unique format of The Inclusive Classroom will help bring inclusion to the forefront of any lesson plan. Each chapter contains simple, effective actions to differentiate and improve learning outcomes for students vulnerable to underachievement, including those traditionally labelled SEN, EAL, pupil premium, looked after and young carers. Also provided are back-up ideas for when things don't go to plan, real-life anecdotes from teachers, and instructions on how to rethink traditional diagnoses and instead prioritise strengths and participation needs.

Declining academic performance, along with a growing apathy of students toward the value of education, demonstrates that students in the United States public education system do not recognize the value of a positive experience in middle schools. A plethora of research and writing has been done on elementary schools and secondary schools, but middle school education, as a whole, has been left behind. For this reason, there is the need for current research on all aspects and topics that may contribute to middle school student success. Promoting Positive Learning Experiences in Middle School Education focuses on the ideal conditions for maximizing student success and engagement in middle school education. The chapters take a deeper look into the modern tools, technologies, methods, and theories driving current research on middle school students, their teachers, their classroom environment, and their learning. Highlighting topics such as curriculum reform, instructional strategies and practices, effective teaching, and technology in the modern classroom, this book is ideally intended for middle school teachers, middle school administrators, and school district administrators, along with practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in middle school education and student success.

The book focuses on identifying your own leadership strengths to get success. Leadership is never easy. But thankful, something else is also true. Everyone of us has the potential to be a leader every day. Many people still have a narrow understanding of what leadership really is. But the fact of the matter is that leadership doesn't begin and end at the very top. It is every bit as important, perhaps more important, in the place most of us live and work. The leadership techniques that will work best for you are the ones you nurture inside. The best selling book on Human relations.

Teens talk to adults about how they develop motivation and mastery Through the voices of students themselves, Fires in the Mind brings a game-changing question to teachers of adolescents: What does it take to get really good at something? Starting with what they already know and do well, teenagers from widely diverse backgrounds join a cutting-edge dialogue with adults about the development of mastery in and out of school. Their insights frame motivation, practice, and academic challenge in a new light that galvanizes more powerful learning for all. To put these students' ideas into practice, the book also includes practical tips for educators. Breaks new ground by bringing youth voices to a timely topic-motivation and mastery Includes worksheets, tips, and discussion guides that help put the book's ideas into practice Author has 18 previous books on adolescent learning and has written for the New York Times Magazine, Educational Leadership, and American Educator From the acclaimed author of Fires in the Bathroom, this is the next-step book that pushes the conversation to next level, as teenagers tackle the pressing challenges of motivation and mastery.

The definitive playbook for driving impact as a middle manager Leading from the Middle: A Playbook for Managers to Influence Up, Down, and Across the Organization delivers an insightful and practical guide for the backbone of an organization: those who have a boss and are a boss and must lead from the messy middle. Accomplished author and former P&G executive Scott Mautz walks readers through the unique challenges facing these managers, and the mindset and skillset necessary for managing up and down and influencing what happens across the organization. You’ll learn the winning mindset of the best middle managers, how to develop the most important skills necessary for managing from the middle, how to create your personal Middle Action Plan (MAP), and effectively influence: Up the chain of command, to your boss and those above them Down, to your direct reports and teams who report to you Laterally, to peers and teams you have no formal authority over Anyone in an organization who reports to someone and has someone reporting to them must lead from the middle. They are the most important group in an organization and have a unique opportunity to drive impact. Leading from the Middle explains how.

Aims to enhance middle leaders' expertise and intuition so that they can make informed decisions and communicate them effectively to both staff and students. Never has there been a more crucial time to improve middle leadership. For many years school inspections have focused on data-driven outcomes and the role of senior leaders in driving school improvement; recently, however, the focus has shifted to curriculum and middle leadership. This has left middle leaders under increased pressure to be able to justify their actions and decisions. Instead of relying on generic leadership theories, Middle Leadership Mastery collates perspectives from psychology, sociology, cognitive science and Silicon Valley CEOs to share evidence-informed guidance on a wide range of topics - from designing a curriculum and quality assuring teaching to supporting staff and students in crisis and managing well-being. Adam Robbins draws on his 16 years' experience of teaching in a deprived area to illustrate his points with stories and anecdotes from the front line, demonstrating how middle leaders can better understand their context and deliver the best outcomes from a variety of starting points.

'The New Middle Leader's Handbook' is the definitive go-to guide for all educators looking to take the leap into middle leadership, those wanting to become better middle leaders, or senior leaders seeking an authoritative manual for their school's middle leadership. Innovatively organised into chapters around the school year, taking readers from August to July and covering the full range of problems, challenges and opportunities they face in one of the most important roles in the school, and providing them with a framework to strategically plan and shape their year. Readers can use the book to structure their work into manageable portions while tailoring its content to their own personal school context, and its many activities and resources will provide opportunities for reflection, analysis and creative thinking.Operating as a practical manual and designed for easy reference, the book proposes methods, systems and procedures for: developing a personal leadership style; managing and driving dynamic change; building a successful team and challenging resistance; challenging underperformance of staff and students; using performance management to drive improvement; monitoring the quality of teaching and learning; tracking and measuring progress; preparing for inspection or internal review, including the self-evaluation process; organising meetings and leading professional development, including the use of the coaching model; prioritising workload and maintaining a work/life balance; developing a strategic learning and development plan; creating a culture of positive behaviour, aspiration and high expectations; innovating in teaching and learning; and designing a creative curriculum and curriculum enrichment. In addition, the book will guide those wishing to step up to middle leadership through the application and interview process, providing common-sense advice on the experience and skills required to become a successful middle leader. At its core, the book will be a source of stability for middle leaders that helps them to establish working principles that transcend changes to examinations, inspection criteria or DfE guidance. It offers inspiration and enable a reflective approach to the role. The book is comprehensive and knowledgeable, but crucially, accessible, written in a style that will eschew overly academic theorising, trendy soundbites or patronising waffle. In its final chapters, it looks beyond the first year to provide guidance on long-term strategic planning, career development and bridging the gap between middle and senior leadership. In short, 'The New Middle Leader's Handbook' will be the only book that an aspiring or current middle leader will ever need.