The book focuses on what we know about contemporary educational improvement, transformation, and change. It will provide insights into what strategies work, long term, to build the capacity for principled change at the school and system level. The book will consider what leaders can do to secure principled school and system improvement which fully embraces diversity, equity, and equality. It will also dispel some myths about reform at scale and challenge some prevailing ideas about educational change that, it will be posited, are not helping many young people to reach their potential.
Alma Harris is Professor of Educational Leadership at the Institute of Educational Leadership, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Since September 2012, she has been the Director of the Institute of Educational Leadership at the University of Malaya (UM). In 2010-2012 she was a senior policy adviser to the Welsh Government. Professor Harris holds visiting professorial posts at Moscow Higher School of Economics, Nottingham Business School, University of Wales and the University of Southampton. She is currently Past President of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and School Improvement. Professor Harris has published many books including Distributed Leadership Matters (2013), and Uplifting Leadership (2014) with Andy Hargreaves and Alan Boyle. Michelle S. Jones is Deputy Director at the Institute of Educational Leadership, UM, where she focuses upon academic development and internationalization. In 2008, she became a school effectiveness associate for the Welsh Government and subsequently a professional education adviser assisting teachers' and principals' professional learning in over 2,000 schools. Dr Jones has also been working with government agencies in England, Russia, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia to contribute to the design and delivery of their professional learning programmes.
Foreword by Adrian Piccoli Foreword by Yong Zhao Acknowledgments About the Authors Introduction Chapter 1. Inequality and Inequity Chapter 2. Excellence Over Equity? Chapter 3. Hard Truths Chapter 4. Leading for Equity Chapter 5. Leading Parental and Community Engagement Chapter 6. Leading Professional Collaboration Chapter 7. Reflections and Alternatives References Index
Harris and Jones deftly weave together seemingly polar opposite notions in education-equity and excellence-and provide persuasive arguments that the two are interrelated. System Recall proposes innovative and workable solutions to ensure that equity issues constitute the centerpiece of professional collaboration, policy-making, and educational reform. The key message is clear: poverty need not determine a child's life chances, choices, or destiny if schools provide interventions that mitigate the impact of poverty and inequity on educational outcomes. -- Avis Glaze This important book looks systemic inequity in the face and calls out those things that exacerbate educational disadvantage around the world: punitive accountability regimes, marketplace competition, and a hyper-focus on international large-scale testing. System Recall presents a simple premise: that equity leads to excellence. It calls for those leading schools and education systems to consider culture and context, and provides a clear set of guiding principles. -- Deb Netolicky, Jon Andres, and Cameron Paterson In a time where "education has become the most important global currency," this book is both needed and timely. Only if we make the changes described in this book can we ensure high quality and equitable education for all of our students. This is what excellence looks like. -- Kim Schildkamp System Recall: Leading for Equity and Excellence reminds all of us who are fortunate enough to be in leadership positions that achieving true excellence is only possible by placing ultimate value on equity. -- Huw Foster Evans
