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Leading Educational Change in the 21st Century: Creating Living Schools through Shared Vision and Transformative Governance

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick Howard

    (School of Professional Studies, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, Canada)

  • Catherine O’Brien

    (School of Professional Studies, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, Canada)

  • Brent Kay

    (School of Professional Studies, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, Canada)

  • Kristin O’Rourke

    (School of Professional Studies, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, Canada)

Abstract

This article provides a critical overview of national and international efforts to shift education to what has been commonly called 21st century learning. Governments, non-profits, and corporate consortiums are in large part responsible for education reform designed to re-conceptualize K12 education for the 21st century. The article introduces an integrative transformative educational concept called the Living School that connects K12 educational reform with Education for Sustainability, sustainable community development, and individual well-being. Brief portraits describe schools that reflect Living School attributes. Ambitious initiatives to transform education for the 21st century require enlightened leadership and governance structures for scalable, system-wide reform. This paper offers an alternative vision for educational leadership and governance to support education reform based on a holistic approach to sustainable community economic development. An interdisciplinary model of professional learning to prepare education leaders for an alternative vision of education leadership is proposed.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Howard & Catherine O’Brien & Brent Kay & Kristin O’Rourke, 2019. "Leading Educational Change in the 21st Century: Creating Living Schools through Shared Vision and Transformative Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-13, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:15:p:4109-:d:252890
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laurent A. Parks Daloz, 2004. "Transformative Learning for Bioregional Citizenship," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Edmund V. O’Sullivan & Marilyn M. Taylor (ed.), Learning Toward an Ecological Consciousness: Selected Transformative Practices, chapter 0, pages 29-45, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Katerina Ananiadou & Magdalean Claro, 2009. "21st Century Skills and Competences for New Millennium Learners in OECD Countries," OECD Education Working Papers 41, OECD Publishing.
    3. Catherine O’Brien & Patrick Howard, 2016. "The Living School: The Emergence of a Transformative Sustainability Education Paradigm," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 10(1), pages 115-130, March.
    4. Ron Shaffer & Steve Deller & Dave Marcouiller, 2006. "Rethinking Community Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 20(1), pages 59-74, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tammie Ronen & Dorit Kerret, 2020. "Promoting Sustainable Wellbeing: Integrating Positive Psychology and Environmental Sustainability in Education," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Younyoung Choi & Young Il Cho, 2020. "Learning Analytics Using Social Network Analysis and Bayesian Network Analysis in Sustainable Computer-Based Formative Assessment System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-13, September.
    3. Pedro Vazquez-Marin & Francisco Cuadrado & Isabel Lopez-Cobo, 2023. "Connecting Sustainable Human Development and Positive Psychology through the Arts in Education: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, January.

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