Full Interview: Bruce Wellman

In this hour-long interview Jon Saphier and Bruce Wellman delve into both leading and being a productive member of a team.

From leading: “I don’t know many principals who actually visit team meetings, observe and give feedback to their team leaders as part of their supervisory practice.”

There is a big flag for leadership prep programs. Not many principals do that because we don’t make it a priority or train them to do so with feedback that is timely, appropriate and helpful. This is a giant gap in instructional leadership preparation, because teams (grade level and subject specific) are prime sites for teacher learning and improving instruction if they function at a high level.

To productive group membership: “Within school variation is greater than between school variation. Now how do you break that down?”

Bruce also tackles this with some powerful ideas. Overcoming this hang-up breaks the dam of getting teachers in each other’s room and learning from one another. 

Watch the whole thing at once, or pick and choose the parts that interest you the most.