Leading Learning Conversations
Instructional leadership foundations for principals, coaches, and teacher leaders
Principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, and teacher leaders in their first five years of leading adults.
Most of what happens in a school happens in conversation: the hallway check-in, the post-observation debrief, the grade-level meeting that goes sideways. This course is about getting better at the conversations that move instruction.
Across three modules you'll listen to practitioners, read short pieces of research, watch leaders in action, try a tool, apply it to a case from a real school, and take one next step with your colleagues.
Every module follows the same rhythm: Listen, Read, Watch, Try It, Apply It, Next Step. Plan on about two hours per module, in whatever chunks fit your week.
What you'll work through
Conversations That Build Trust
Leaders examine how everyday conversations either build or erode the trust that instructional change depends on.
- OverviewWelcome to Module 15m
- ListenWhy trust comes first12m
- ReadFour behaviors that build trust15m
- WatchEvery kid needs a champion12m
- Try ItThe trust audit20m
- Apply ItThe Tuesday debrief20m
- Next StepOne conversation, one shift15m
Feedback That Lands
Leaders practice giving instructional feedback that teachers can actually use, and notice what gets in the way.
- OverviewWelcome to Module 25m
- ListenWhat teachers say about feedback12m
- ReadFeedback vs. evaluation15m
- WatchWatching a debrief15m
- Try ItScript the first three minutes20m
- Apply ItWhen it goes sideways20m
- Next StepFeedback I'm going to give15m
Meetings Worth Having
Leaders redesign one recurring meeting so that it moves instruction instead of just filling time.
- OverviewWelcome to Module 35m
- ReadThree kinds of meetings12m
- WatchA PLC that works15m
- Try ItRedesign one meeting25m
- Apply ItThe leadership team that never decides20m
- Next StepWhat I'm taking with me15m