The keys to the Treasure Within, learning and leaderschip in schools

Schollaert R. The keys to the Treasure Within, learning and leaderschip in schools. Antwerpen, Garant, 2004, 228 pp. (ISBN 90-441-1712-2)

This book is the third volume in The Treasure Within trilogy on quality in education. The two previous volumes may have raised the unrealistic expectation that in this third publication, the true nature of quality in education would finally be unveiled, once and for all. The informed reader will not be surprised to find out that this is not altogether the case.

What this book does do, however, is pulling together, expanding and deepening the understanding that had gradually emerged in the two previous volumes. What is becoming clearer by the day is that the quality of a school ultimately depends on the quality of the learning that takes place within its context: student learning in the first place, but also teacher learning and institutional learning. Supportive of this first key feature are the quality of the relationships among the various stakeholders in the school, the quality of leadership, the quality of the external support and the quality of the educational system in which the school is embedded. The interaction between all these creates the conditions essential for excellence and equity in a school.

The practices of The Treasure Within network partners are informed by the principles that emerge from research findings, whilst at the same time feeding on these principles. In doing so, The keys to The Treasure Within is a happy marriage between theory and practice.