Inside the Team: Questions and Answers Facing Teacher Leaders

Inside the Team: Questions and Answers Facing Teacher Leaders is a book for K-12 teachers and leaders who face dilemmas leading teams of peers. With little formal training, few venues for professional conversation, and more responsibilities to lead groups of peers, teacher leaders are seeking answers and direction that will help them build strong professional teams to support student learning. Inside the Team acknowledges a number of changes that are having a profound impact on schools today. Technology, copious information accessible via the Internet, a focus on standards and test scores, fewer teachers with more students, and the never ending cycle of change all impact teaching and learning. Teacher leaders and teams have been asked to step up and shoulder more of the responsibilities to make schools work. However, good intentions aren’t enough. Using Q/A scenarios and building context for leadership in practice, the authors provide answers, useful, practical tools, resources, models and conversation starters that move teams forward.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Jack Berckemeyer Preface Acknowledgements Chapter One: Perspective Chapter Two: Leadership in Action Chapter Three: Dynamics and Teams Chapter Four: A Focus on Practice Chapter Five: Shifts and Changes Appendix: Tools to Use References About the Authors

About the Author :
Jan Burgess spent 24 years in school administration as an elementary and middle school principal, following eight years as a teacher and counselor. Her work with teachers and teacher leaders over those years framed her understanding of shared leadership, what it takes to create a culture to sustain learning, and how teaching practices impact learning. Donna Bates has over 30 years of elementary and middle level teaching experience. During her years of teaching, Donna served as an elementary team leader, middle level curriculum leader, teacher association president and was a participant on a number of district and state committees.

Review :
In this timely book, Burgess and Bates address the complex and often unspoken dilemmas that teacher leaders face in this intense culture of accountability and standardization. With a realistic understanding of the challenges, a strengths-based view of teachers, and a steadfast focus on student learning, the authors offer practical suggestions and concrete tools that will empower leaders to develop a collaborative path forward within their unique context. Grounded in authentic teaching and transformative learning, this book is a wonderful resource for team leaders, instructional coaches, principals, professors, and other teacher leaders. This book provides teachers in leadership positions with practical tools, answers to typical questions, suggestions as to how to handle the kinds of challenges they will encounter, strategies to deploy to improve their own performance, and conversation starters to use with their colleagues. Teacher leaders, as well as teachers who aspire to be leaders, will find this book’s format easy to follow and its information extremely useful and relevant to their important roles in schools. I think it is a must read and resource for all current and future teacher leaders. Burgess and Bates provide another great resource for principals and teacher leaders. Inside the Team presents relevant and real-life dilemmas that teacher leaders face each day, while providing tangible solutions to help respond to these challenges….Burgess and Bates truly have a pulse of the unique challenges facing teacher leaders in education today. Inside the Team draws upon 60+ years of experience to solve critical challenges that often stall our ability to move collaborative teams forward. This book provides teacher leaders with relevant tools they need to lead with integrity.