Leading the Learner–Centered Campus: An Administrator′s Framework for Improving Student Learning Outcomes (The Jossey-bass Higher and Adult Education Series) - Hardcover

Harris, Michael; Cullen, Roxanne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470402989 ISBN 13: 9780470402986

Publisher: Jossey Bass, 2010

Synopsis

The Learner-Centered paradigm on campuses has grown into an institution-wide effort led by administrators at all levels, working to make their campuses into learner-centered environments. Stepping into that movement, this book shows campus leaders how to translate theory into practice. Outlining how the roles of academic leaders must change in a learner-centered academic environment, the authors explain the varied processes to be followed as all levels of administration transform practices from an instructional leadership mode to a learner-centered leadership mode. The book is a powerful tool for improving higher education for everyone from presidents to department chairs.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Harris is the provost and vice president for academic affairs and a professor of public policy at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. Roxanne Cullen is a professor of English at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, where she has also acted as associate vice president for academic affairs.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Leading the Learner-Centered Campus

"This book moves far beyond previous thinking about change. Many in higher education want to create more learner-centered campuses but grapple with how to do it. Harris and Cullen show us how to lead the change to more learner-centered campuses-and offer very practical tools for getting there from here. Every campus that takes student learning seriously should be having the conversation that this book advances and supports." -John Tagg, author, The Learning Paradigm College

"This is a dynamite text for all leaders in higher education who want to implement change. It starts with a deceptively simple idea-that change needs to be 'learner-centered,' not just in the classroom, but in every aspect of a campus. Achieving that end is far from simple, but the authors make clear that it's well within reach if readers pay close attention to the wisdom in this book." -Thomas Ehrlich, senior scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and former president, Indiana University

"At a time when most of higher education is seeking effective ways to maximize the value of student-centered learning, Harris and Cullen provide a comprehensive road map for completing the kind of paradigm shift that can accomplish just that . . . This book merits the attention of everyone with a stake in the future of higher education." -Anthony J. Diekema, former president, Calvin College

"If higher education is going to provide what students will need in the twenty-first century, it'll have to complete the transition from teaching to learning that Barr and Tagg proposed back in 1995. Leading the Learner-Centered Campus is an indispensable resource for professors and administrators who are committed to the success of today's college students." -Jeffrey L. Buller, author, The Essential College Professor, The Essential Academic Dean, and The Essential Department Chair

From the Inside Flap

Leading the LEARNER-CENTERED CAMPUS

Institutions of higher education are being challenged on all fronts and are attempting to change their ways of doing business in order to answer calls for accountability, transparency, access, and relevancy. There have been many incremental changes in response to these challenges, but incremental change is not enough. In order to respond to our rapidly changing environment, we need comprehensive change, a change in paradigms. As campus leaders face increasing pressure to show that their institutions are doing all they can to achieve successful student learning outcomes, the need for moving beyond learner-centered teaching to learner-centered campuses will become increasingly crucial.

Leading the Learner-Centered Campus offers an approach for campus leaders who are willing to take on the challenge of reenvisioning their own practices in order to make the shift in paradigms complete. The book provides leaders with a framework for examining their work and offers specific strategies for beginning the task of critically studying habitual practices in order to make every aspect of their work intentional, with the ultimate aim of bridging the disconnect between institutionally espoused values and campus leaders' true operating values.

This book seeks to change the learner-centered paradigm from an effort by individual faculty working alone in their classrooms to an institution-wide effort led by administrators at all levels working to make their entire campuses into learner- centered environments. The authors translate theory into practice, carefully outline how the roles of academic leaders must change in a learner-centered academic environment, and show how to make learning the focus of the institution throughout its varied processes. For everyone from department chairs to college presidents, Leading the Learner-Centered Campus will prove to be a powerful tool for improving higher education.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey Bass
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470402989
• ISBN 13: 9780470402986
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224