To all ISLDN Colleagues:

The International School Leadership Development Network took another significant step forward recently when members met during a four-hour workshop at the UCEA Convention in Pittsburgh. Following our meeting in BELMAS in July the network has now formed into two sub-groups, one focused on leadership in high need schools and the other on social justice leadership.

Clearly, not everyone who has expressed interest in the project was able to be present in Pittsburgh. Those there were mindful of this and have continued to develop the project in ways that remain open and flexible.  As coordinators, we recognise that not everybody will be able to attend all the conferences where we can meet – the challenge is to develop working practices that allow everyone to participate. The network is currently looking at a range of web 2.0 tools to help maintain communication between conferences.

However, we recognise that we are now at a point where we need to firm up the membership of the two sub-groups so that we can make sure we are able to communicate effectively. Some limited communication will go to everyone in the network, but we now believe that most communication from now on will be within sub-groups. Therefore, as the work of these groups is becoming more defined, we are now asking members to make a clear commitment to one of the two groups.  If you have not yet expressed an interest in a group, and you wish to do so, please can we ask you do this by 31st December 2011? Thereafter, membership of the groups will be based on those who have indicated their interest in working in these areas.

We apologise if this sounds somewhat bureaucratic, but we are now at a point where we need to develop clear group identities in order to make progress on the important issues we are focusing on. Although groups will almost certainly expand and develop in the future, we think that at this planning stage there are important benefits from each group having clear and stable memberships.

For your information, we have attached a fuller report of the outcomes of the conference session. Pittsburgh Report011211

Please get back to us if you have questions about any of the above. After Pittsburgh we have a clear sense that the project has taken a significant step forward and we are keen to maintain this momentum. We very much look forward to working with you over the coming months as both projects develop further.

Bruce Barnett (UCEA)
Howard Stevenson (BELMAS)