Leading for School Inclusion and Prevention? How School Leadership Teams Support Shy Students and Their Teachers

Abstract

School shyness may have immediate and long-term detrimental effects. Drawing on cultural-historical understandings of motivated actions and conceptual and material tools, the study examined how ten school leaders in three Norwegian elementary schools interpreted and responded to the demands on the school in their work with shy children. Data comprised individual interviews and concluding school-based group conversations with leaders. The schools were recognized as enabling teachers' responsive work with shy children in classrooms and presented a useful tension between central direction by school leaders and the professional discretion that enabled teachers' responsive pedagogies. The leadership teams' focus was school inclusion through adaptive pedagogies. This strong focus on inclusion emphasized classroom-based Tier 1 universal interventions. There were Tier 2 targeted interventions with shy children undertaken by social teachers, but they could seem ad-hoc by depending on teachers' capacity to identify the need for them. The implications for school leadership are discussed.

Improving Classroom Communication: The Effects of Virtual Social Training on Communication and Assertion Skills in Middle School Students

“…Additionally, when examining recent trends in student social-emotional learning, it was found that self-efficacy, social awareness, and, to a lesser degree, selfmanagement decrease after Grade 6 (West et al, 2020). Furthermore, teachers are recognized within the school setting as first identifiers and responders to the social needs of students, yet several studies point to a lack of help from school policies or clear lines of support once educators have observed social difficulties (Solberg, et al, 2020;Nyborg, et al, 2020). As such a process to accurately identify and then refer for social support in middle school may be lacking.…”

“Incluirnos Todos”: Estudio de un Caso Chileno sobre Liderazgo Escolar Inclusivo

“…El primero de ellos tiene que ver con la posible tensión entre liderar la escuela para mejorar su eficiencia o para alcanzar mayores niveles de justicia social, y con la forma en que los directivos priorizan una finalidad sobre otra (DeMatthews et al, 2021) encarnando distintas miradas sobre el liderazgo inclusivo en su práctica cotidiana. Como segundo elemento, resulta importante preguntarse qué competencias se vuelven relevantes cuando los líderes buscan atender a la inclusión más allá de las etiquetas médicas, tal como ha ocurrido en experiencias en las que la pregunta ha sido dirigida a estudiantes que presentan otras características distintas, e igualmente legítimas (Solberg et al, 2021). En este sentido, la predominancia que las NEE han tenido en la política chilena podrían restringir las posibilidades de ejercer el liderazgo inclusivo, por lo que se requiere incorporar sentidos más amplios de inclusión para visualizar formas más diversas y complejas del acto de liderar.…”

Ledelsesstrategier for utvikling av inkluderende undervisning

“…I den internasjonale forskningslitteraturen kommer det frem at der ledelsen organiserer seg i lederteam som har søkelys på å drøfte inkluderingsprinsipper, både på skole-og kommunenivå, så kan dette ha en positiv virkning på utvikling av laerernes undervisningspraksis (Galoway & Ishimaru, 2020;Solberg et al, 2020). DeMatthews (2020) viser også til betydningen av at lederteamene arbeider proaktivt for å identifisere, diskutere og løse skoleomfattende utfordringer.…”

“…Den organisatoriske tilretteleggingen av laerernes utviklingsarbeid for å styrke deres didaktiske kompetanse er fremtredende. Denne oppmerksomheten knytter også an til skolelederes anerkjennelse av laerernes autonomi og didaktiske kompetanse (Galoway & Ishimaru, 2020;Solberg et al, 2020;Woodcock & Woolfson, 2019). Vi ser samtidig at ledere både på kommune-og skolenivå er opptatt av å styrke laerernes kunnskap gjennom kompetanseutvikling, og dermed styrke det kunnskapsmessige skjønnet.…”