CRL Learns Book Study

When: Monday, February 15
Time: 2:45 – 4:00 p.m.
Where: JRP Hall Room 247

Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy
By: Michael Fullan

The CRL Learns lunch-time book study sessions are informal discussions in which KU staff and students come together to discuss new books relevant to education over lunch. In February, our book study will be Michael Fullan’s newest book: Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy. This very short book summarizes more than 30 years of study of the issue of educational change.

If you are interested in participating in this book study, please e-mail chatton@ku.edu or phone Carol Hatton (785-864-0629) to reserve your copy of the book. The Kansas Coaching Project at the Center for Research on Learning will provide copies of the book and cookies for all participants.

The next CRL Book Study will be over the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. The event will take place on February 13, 2009 at 3:00 p.m in room 247 JRP. To reserve your copy of Blink, e-mail Carol Hatton (chatton@ku.edu) by January 21. Carol will order the books, and we’ll let you know where to pick up your copy when they arrive.

Watch the video of the event:
[See post to watch Flash video]

From Publishers Weekly:

Best-selling author Gladwell (The Tipping Point) has a dazzling ability to find commonality in disparate fields of study. As he displays again in this entertaining and illuminating look at how we make snap judgments—about people’s intentions, the authenticity of a work of art, even military strategy—he can parse for general readers the intricacies of fascinating but little-known fields like professional food tasting (why does Coke taste different from Pepsi?). Gladwell’s conclusion, after studying how people make instant decisions in a wide range of fields from psychology to police work, is that we can make better instant judgments by training our mind and senses to focus on the most relevant facts—and that less input (as long as it’s the right input) is better than more. Perhaps the most stunning example he gives of this counterintuitive truth is the most expensive war game ever conducted by the Pentagon, in which a wily marine officer, playing “a rogue military commander” in the Persian Gulf and unencumbered by hierarchy, bureaucracy and too much technology, humiliated American forces whose chiefs were bogged down in matrixes, systems for decision making and information overload. But if one sets aside Gladwell’s dazzle, some questions and apparent inconsistencies emerge. If doctors are given an algorithm, or formula, in which only four facts are needed to determine if a patient is having a heart attack, is that really educating the doctor’s decision-making ability—or is it taking the decision out of the doctor’s hands altogether and handing it over to the algorithm? Still, each case study is satisfying, and Gladwell imparts his own evident pleasure in delving into a wide range of fields and seeking an underlying truth.
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Our first book is Michael Fullan’s Six Secrets of Change.

From Publishers Weekly:

Fullan (Leading in a Culture of Change) argues that the world is too complex for any theory to possess unassailable certainty, and leaders should shy away from relying on a single blueprint for success. Instead, good leaders should use theories of action to guide their decisions, but remain open to new data that may direct further action. Fullan advocates adopting theories that travel—practical insights that travel across sectors, geography and culturally diverse situations and point to actions likely to be effective given the circumstances. To help managers navigate change, Fullan share six secrets designed to help with large-scale reform: Love Your Employees, Connect Peers with Purpose, Capacity Building Prevails, Learning Is the Work, Transparency Rules and Systems Learn, and provides guidelines for making these secrets work. Although the six secrets are hardly radically new ideas and are presented as a bit of a panacea, Fullan’s practical guide is a lucid and encouraging book, likely to appeal to and assist managers at all levels.

View videos of Michael Fullan on the next page or jump to page 3 to view materials from the book study event.

The Book Club meets to discuss various books and other publications that are of special interest to educators.