September 2024
Our collective power expands when we support each other to foster the unlimited potential of each and every student.
Create Inclusive Learning Spaces to Foster a Sense of Belonging
The journey matters as much as the destination.
Driving toward equitable outcomes for each and every student is the uncompromising destination for educators in the 21st century. How we get there matters. Community that offers a sense of belonging and inclusiveness is the roadmap to the destination. Fostering practices that empower widespread leadership is the journey we all must be on to reach the destination of equitable outcomes.
Unfortunately, in education and the world around us, differences among us are often ranked, valued, and judged. Yet, these differences are crucial to transforming systems, empowering us to reach the destination of equitable outcomes for students rather than propagating existing outcomes. To CLEE, leading people on the journey toward this destination means using Facilitative Leadership to leverage our differences as strengths, powering change and creating a sense of belonging and inclusivity. The power is in our differences.
In order to create schools that embrace differences as assets and foster a sense of belonging for students, adults must create inclusive learning spaces for themselves. Learning from seeing what is possible is transformative. When you experience a new way of working together as colleagues that invites and celebrates our differences, you want to build that with all of your colleagues and for each and every student in your school.
Donna Braun, CLEE Executive Director
We will model inclusive learning spaces at the Fall Meeting this November 7-8 in Rhode Island. Participants will spend time in spaces that are designed to engage everyone in transformational learning by giving and receiving feedback on the work that is most important to each person. Join us to spark changes in yourself and your work to bring back to your colleagues and students.
Instructional Rounds – Make Time to Visit Classrooms for Deeper Learning
Classrooms are the heart of schools, but how much time do we get to spend in them as leaders?
Intention is important and Instructional Rounds are intended to deepen collective practice. Instructional Rounds are facilitated classroom observations done in a community of practice. Feedback is focused on using data and a focus question.
These visits also show students and teachers that they are valued, with leaders investing time in their classrooms. The objective is not to monitor or “catch” someone. Rather, these are times for leaders to gather data, check their own assumptions, and reflect on successes occurring every day.
Janelle Clarke-Holley, Senior Director of Program Implementation
Instructional Rounds create synergy between district goals, school improvement, and classroom practice by deepening collegiality and offering relevant and actionable next steps for school leaders. Classroom visits can benefit district leaders, school improvement teams, and school leaders. Leadership time can quickly get eaten up with logistics and transactional needs early in the school year, so it is important to invest time in Instructional Rounds now. Work with CLEE to launch Instructional Rounds in your community as a further way to continuously improve school or district.
Join Me at the Fall Meeting! – Gene Thompson-Grove
Gene Thompson-Grove, Facilitator/Coach Transformational Learning for Equity and Excellence, Rhode Island
The Fall Meeting originated with our colleagues at SRI as an annual gathering of learning with the entire community. We are pleased to bring this event back to give educators the opportunity to share and learn from colleagues all over the world.
Fall Meeting is where I connect with old colleagues and make new ones, expanding my network.
It is where my thinking is challenged and deepened, where I recommit to my beliefs and to working for a reimagined education system centered on equity and justice.
I bring work that I know will be carefully considered and unpacked by similarly committed educators with diverse perspectives. I go to the meeting certain that I will learn in ways that I can’t imagine beforehand.
Join our international gathering that is not just another sit-and-get conference. We learn from each other by giving and receiving feedback and sharing important dilemmas. We each bring and share our own expertise and passion to create more equitable outcomes for each and every student.
CLEE Community of Practice – Reenergize your Practice by Collaborating with Colleagues
Do you want to feel more connected to educators outside of your everyday setting? Do you want to see how your practice can grow from receiving powerful feedback? We know the best way to transform educational leadership and practice is in community with colleagues, but that is not always available, or you may just want more!
CLEE is here to help with a virtual Community of Practice (CoP)! Gather with a community of colleagues in a convenient setting (your laptop) and learn from peers from across the country sharing their experiences and expertise through feedback rounds. Our best practices are best when shared!
Support Your Initiatives with Professional Learning
CLEE Fall Meeting is an in-person national gathering that taps the vast expertise of the field to provide an immersive experience over two days. Learn More
CLEE’s Community of Practice is a virtual group of colleagues that meet four times a year to provide quick and actionable feedback and learning. Learn More
Facilitative Leadership Institute are virtual sessions to develop your facilitation skills and improve your ability to lead and engage in transformative adult learning. Learn More
Each month, CLEE offers a question or two to help you reflect on what you are experiencing. Thinking about the importance of questioning and what your answers mean is one more step in your growth as a leader for equity.
Join CLEE on social media to follow the monthly questions and share your answers.
What practices make you feel like you belong and are included in a learning space? How are you enacting those practices in learning spaces for adults and students?
Resource Books!
The Resource Book is a selection of protocols curated into a spiral-bound book and organized into sections, ideal for both new and experienced practitioners who want easy access to our most popular tools.