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Big Wins, Small Steps
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Big Wins, Small Steps
How to Lead For and With Creativity



May 2016 | 160 pages | Corwin

Don’t sink your school’s creativity—encourage it to set sail!

Do today’s schools stifle creativity? Some think so. Whether or not that assessment is fair, educational leaders need to innovate, implement creative leadership and cultivate possibility thinking.

This book is the definitive resource for making creativity a schoolwide core value. Introducing the groundbreaking Small Steps Approach to Instructional Leadership (SAIL) framework, Ronald A. Beghetto shows how big wins come from small, completely doable steps, and all creativity needs is a little nudge from you, the instructional leader. Content includes:

  • “Creative leader checklists” summarizing actionable points in each chapter.
  • The keys to removing the most difficult creative barriers
  • How to sit with uncertainty instead of letting it derail innovation efforts
  • When to “flow like water”, and when to “stand like a mountain” as you re-focus your school towards creativity 

Implementing these principles will produce positive effects that resonate in every aspect of your school. 

Watch this video from Ron Beghetto on "Responding to Uncertainty."

Check out the PCR Interview for Big Wins, Small Steps.


"Ron Beghetto's engaging work on creativity has profound implications for schools, and for the staff and students within them." 
Larry Rosenstock, CEO
High Tech High


“Creativity has become the holy-grail in education. Beghetto presents an authoritative, accessible, and unpretentious pathway toward creative leadership. Insightful, practical, and based on solid research, not popular myth.”
Yong Zhao, Author of World Class Learners

"Creativity is needed to negotiate a complex world. Big Wins, Small Steps invites educators to teach creativity by first practicing deliberate creativity one small step at a time."
Beth Miller, Executive Director
Creative Education Foundation


 
Preface
 
Chapter 1. Respond Creatively: A Small-Steps Approach
 
Rethinking Creative Leadership
 
Responding to Uncertainty
 
Introducing the SAIL Framework
 
Chapter 2. Sit With Uncertainty
 
The Creative Potential of Uncertainty
 
Sit With Uncertainty: Principles of Practice
 
Putting the Principles in Practice
 
Chapter 3. Engage in Possibility Thinking
 
Possibility Thinking: A Different Way of Reasoning
 
Engage in Possibility Thinking: Principles of Practice
 
Putting the Principles in Practice
 
Chapter 4. Prune Possibilities
 
The Power of Pruning Possibilities
 
Creativity and Criticism
 
Prune Possibilities: Principles of Practice
 
Putting the Principles in Practice
 
Chapter 5. Take Measured Action
 
The Power of Small Data
 
The Progress Principle
 
Take Measured Action: Principles of Practice
 
Putting the Principles in Practice
 
Chapter 6. Reclaiming Your Creativity as an Instructional Leader
 
A Dozen Action Items for Instructional Leaders
 
Creativity Resources
 
Appendix A: Creative Leader Checklists
 
Appendix B: Ground Rules
 
Appendix C: Heuristics for Possibility Thinking
 
Appendix D: Action Items for Instructional Leaders

"In a world in which change comes at alarmingly faster rates each year (or so it would seem), it is refreshing to have a source that encourages us to take small steps within the context of our current efforts in instructional leadership which will lead to greater gains. This book is a great companion for any educational leader who wishes to model creative leadership within their building."

Rich Hall, Director of Elementary Education
Henrico County Public Schools

"Big Wins, Small Steps gives Principals, Teachers, & Instructional Leaders a framework to reference when looking out how to increase the creative spirit in our schools, and what steps we can do to support our students."

Kristopher Kwiatek, Principal
Kadena Middle School

"I suggest that all school leaders consider this book as Ron Beghetto's engaging work on creativity has profound implications for schools, and for the staff and students within them." 

Larry Rosenstock, CEO
High Tech High

"At a time when creativity has become the holy-grail in education, Beghetto presents an authoritative, accessible, and unpretentious pathway toward creative leadership and leadership for creativity. Insightful, practical, and based on solid research, not popular myth.”

Yong Zhao, Author
World Class Learners

"Creativity is a process. It is an intrinsic skill -- the key skill needed to negotiate a complex world. Big Wins, Small Steps invites educators to teach creativity by first practicing deliberate creativity. This practical guide will cultivate your creativity one small step at a time."

Beth Miller, Executive Director
Creative Education Foundation

Purchasing options

For large school/district orders, volume discounts, availability and shipping times contact customer service at 800-233-9936
or order@corwin.com.

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ISBN: 9781483385464
CAD$ 41.95

For large school/district orders, volume discounts, availability and shipping times contact customer service at 800-233-9936
or order@corwin.com.

For instructors

This book is not available as an inspection copy. For more information contact your local sales representative.

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