Renegade Leadership
Creating Innovative Schools for Digital-Age Students
- Brad R. Gustafson - Greenwood Elementary School (Principal), Adjusting Course, LLC (Owner)
Foreword by George Couros
Get ready to be a renegade with this how-to leadership guide.
We’re all looking for the next best app and what’s just beyond the tech horizon. But why don’t we have the same progressive appetite for pedagogy that we have for technology? Renegade leadership may just be the answer we’ve been searching for.
Merging best practice with innovation, renegade leadership demands a call to action in the digital age by creating student-centered instructional leadership that connects equity, culture, and technology. After reading this book, you will learn how to:
- Apply transformational tenets of connected pedagogy to your work
- Increase your leadership capacity in curriculum, instruction, cultural proficiency, and school improvement
- Lead staff meetings, plan personalized professional development, and improve student learning through more responsive teaching practices
Using the latest research, vignettes from educational leaders, and profiles of inspiring renegades, this book challenges you to lead in the digital age. The only real question is…are you ready to become a renegade?
Don’t miss the free podcasts, flipped book study, and more on the Renegade Leadership website.
"Renegade Leadership is so crucial to the work that we do in education. Why can’t schools be the place that other organizations look to for innovation?"
George Couros, Innovative teaching, learning, and leadership consultant and Author of The Innovator’s Mindset; Alberta, Canada
"Dr. Brad Gustafson provides invigorating, concrete examples of strategic thinking and skills for educational leaders to fill the vacuum that exists in many educational settings. Gustafson asserts that leadership and change in education are irrevocably intertwined."
Jon Corippo, Director of Academic Innovation, CUE
"Renegade Leadership demonstrates what student-centered schools look like in the digital age. When we get relationships and pedagogy right, we can transform the very nature of learning. This is a book our students desperately need us all to read."
Erin Klein, Scholastic Top Teacher and Michigan Teacher of the Year
Supplements
It is important that we start to think differently about leadership. Renegade Leadership is so crucial to the work that we do in education. If we do change right, schools can be a place where we are not just trying to catch up to the innovation around us, but we can be leading it for the entire world. Think about it . . . why can’t schools be the place that other organizations look to for innovation?
"Renegade Leadership is a gold mine of inspiring stories, practical ideas and authentic examples of school transformation. It's a book that all educators should read, as we can all be leaders in improving schools no matter what our title or position."
"Renegade Leadership demonstrates what student-centered schools look like in the digital age. When we get relationships and pedagogy right, we can transform the very nature of learning. The vulnerability of Brad Gustafson's open sharing combined with his practical advice make this an incredible classroom resource. This is a book our students desperately need us all to read."
"WOW! Renegade Leadership is loaded with great ideas that any educator could adapt in their own space. I particularly loved the concrete examples of innovation happening in Brad’s school; from the drone challenges, and community service group, to the live-streaming of events so students with sensory issues can join from their classrooms. This book offers a glimpse into the future of best practice. The pedagogy is presented by a practitioner who understands the importance of purpose and higher-level learning. I am so inspired by this text and cannot wait to try some of the ideas in our own district. This is a MUST READ for all educators and especially educational leaders!"
In Renegade Leadership, Dr. Brad Gustafson provides invigorating, concrete examples of strategic thinking and skills for educational leaders to fill the vacuum that exists in many educational settings. Gustafson asserts that leadership and change in education are irrevocably intertwined. Renegade Leadership is there for everyone to partake - you just have to decide to commit.
"Dr. Brad Gustafson’s compendium of workable ideas will provide school leaders with guidance and the best PD they will have had for a long time. Readers will be moved by his contagious enthusiasm as he shares the great ideas that worked in his school."
"A great combination of discussion on pedagogy, professional learning, digital age instructional leadership, culture, and relationships – this book provides so many opportunities for reflection as well as turnkey strategies that will impact the cultures of our schools. The power of the instructional leader is captured in inspiring ways; I found myself wanting to put this in the hands of all my principals for immediate use in their buildings."
"The concept of renegade leadership is an idea whose time has come in an age of educational volatility and insecurity."
"Engaging, sincere. Creative ideas are presented within every chapter as well as rich possibilities for innovating student and staff learning . . . This text contains content with the potency of a time machine many school leaders dream of having: take me to relevant, simple yet profound ideas to bring instruction and curriculum at my school into the new realm of learning to prepare students for their world."
“Be prepared to be inspired! I’m a huge fan of Brad Gustafson because of the energy and passion he puts into his leadership. In Renegade Leadership: Creating Innovative Schools for Digital-Age Students, readers will feel that energy and passion in each and every page. Gustafson offers a step-by-step how to guide for school leaders. Read, learn and innovate!”
