Higher Purpose in Leading Deeper Learning

This study considers the leadership behaviors and cultural conditions necessary for deeper learning to thrive amidst the many challenges faced in the pursuit of deeper learning in schools.

Multiple school leaders at the district, secondary, and elementary levels were interviewed to identify themes, patterns, and relationships related to effectively leading deeper learning. A deeper learning positive deviant case study was then conducted to reify and enrich the findings from the leader interviews. We find that leading deeper learning does require behaviors and cultural conditions that are unique in the world of traditional education. We also discover that in the case study, the principal’s ability to delineate and establish the school’s higher purpose was integral to deeper learning’s success.