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Learning texts

This publication contains a collection of papers written by leading educational writers and thinkers about learning and leadership, focusing on issues which can be used to stimulate debate about learning in your school.

The National College for School Leadership argues for the importance of leadership for transforming learning, focusing on the creation of school settings that support and facilitate learning for students, teachers and leaders. Leadership is expected to be learning-centred, headteachers and deputies are expected to be the lead learners in their schools, and increasingly all leaders are seen as having a responsibility for supporting the learning of both pupils and adults with whom they work.

The articles offer many contrasting perspectives on the concept of learning and the implications this raises for leadership, but there are also many issues that are common to them all.

Factors affecting learning

A range of factors are identified which, it is suggested, contribute to improved pupil learning. Pollard argues that learning is influenced by emotional, physical and social factors as well as the cognitive and intellectual concerns that dominate much of the current debate. MacGilchrist, Conner and Watkins all emphasise the extent to which motivation and self-esteem are probably amongst the most significant factors in determining the extent to which learners engage with their learning in school.

Implications

The ideas raised in this publication will provide a knowledge-base from which to start the process of reflecting and building. A number of themes have been identified with a set of associated questions, which could be used to stimulate discussion.