Reviewed
by Susan Graham, NBCT
Middle School Family and Consumer Sciences
Stafford County, VA

Each year on the Fourth of July, after the fireworks are over,
I have my annual viewing of the movie 1776. Each year I am
surprised that William Danielson as John Adams moves me to
tears as he stands in the bell tower and questions himself,
asking "Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody
see what I see?"

Being a teacher is really hard work. Being a teacher leader involves
not only the hard work of teaching, but leadership adds an
element of loneliness and self doubt to the equation. Sometimes
it results in euphoria when we see ourselves as brave pioneers
taking education where no man or woman has gone before. But
some days it bring the gnawing fear that we are investing
our hearts and lives in a self-deluding and futile quest.

In Uncovering Teacher Leadership: Essays and Voices from the
Field, editors Richard Ackerman and Sarah Mackenzie understand
this struggle and find a way to capture both an objective
and a highly personal take on leadership. Drawing on writers
with a variety of teacher leadership expertise, this substantive
book (416 pages) provides a valuable framework of what has
been explored, and some systematic structures to analyze what
teacher leadership is, how it is developed, and how it can
be utilized.

Uncovering Teacher Leadership provides case studies that put flesh
on the bones of research and theory. But it is the teacher
voices — including several from among the membership
the Teacher Leaders Network — that leap from the pages
and give life to this book. These are personal stories and
reflections on success and failure, celebration and self doubt,
fear and anticipation by teachers who live on the front lines.
In each section of the book, the editors begin by introducing
a theme that unites the readings and end with questions for
discussion -- making this an excellent choice for a Professional
Learning Community group book study.

Part I: Looking at Teacher Leadership addresses the effort
to define teacher leadership and includes essays from Roland
Barth and excerpts from Marilyn Katzenmeyer and Gayle Moller's
seminal work on teacher leadership, Awakening the Sleeping
Giant (Corwin, 1996 & 2001). This analysis becomes personal
through the voice of TLN's Laura Reasoner Jones. In her essay
"I'm Not Like You," she explores the experience of realizing
that in incremental steps she has become a teacher leader
and in the process she has arrived at a different place outside
the comfort zone of some of her colleagues.

Identifying teacher leaders and how they move into leadership roles is
the focus of Part II: Teacher Leaders Everywhere. TLN
member Nancy Flanagan sets the tone for this section in "Diamonds
in the Souls of Her Shoes," as she addresses the issue of
teaching as a true profession and what we, as teachers, need
to do to reframe that perception both from the public viewpoint
and within our profession.

Reading Part III: The Heart of Teacher Leadership, reminded
me of our discussions in the Teacher Leaders Network virtual
community about the balance of science and art in teaching.
That dynamic tension often leads us into an exploration of
the concept of teaching's "heart" - the indefinable passion
and commitment for the work we do. It is encouraging that
Ackerman and Mackenzie recognize this nebulous quality as
a critical factor in teacher leadership, and it was fascinating
to hear such distinct and divergent voices from teachers.
TLN member Bill Ferriter, in "Education's Glass Ceiling,"
takes us to the center of the struggle to make an impact without
leaving the classroom. What struck me most about this section
was the widely varying views of teacher leadership. Leadership
emerges in the form of visionaries, field marshals, diplomats,
the contemplative, the enthusiastic, the wounded, the weary,
and the resigned. What is consistent is this message: Leadership
is risky business with great potential rewards but also with
potential hazards.

Part IV: Keeping the Teacher in the Leader addresses the paradoxes
of making teacher leadership work. How do we address Ferriter's
concern about moving teachers toward leadership without removing
them from the classroom and making them administrators? How
do we encourage collegiality when, as Laura Jones puts it,
our co-workers say, "I'm not like you," and may be suspicious
or fearful of a colleague who embraces new ideas and challenges
the status quo? How do we convince administers that teacher
leaders are an asset to work with, not a problem to work around?
Ackerman and Mackenzie do not attempt to offer one-size-fits-all
solutions. Instead they provide some case studies and essays
of how teacher leaders have attempted to balance their sometimes
conflicting demands.

The final segment, Part V: Nurturing the Teacher Leader,
addresses the price that teacher leadership may extract from
its practitioners and the need to encourage and support them
along their journey. The common thread in this section was
the need for interaction with other teachers. TLN member Deborah
Bambino, a leader in the National School Reform Faculty, describes
how powerful teacher-driven models like Critical Friends Groups
can begin to redefine teacher leadership. Acknowledging my
personal prejudice, I found that John Norton and Barnett Berry's
contribution, "America's Teaching Profession and the Teacher
Leaders Network," addresses what I personally know to be true
for myself and for most adult learners — teacher leadership
requires project based active learning. For practicing teachers
to invest in the hard work of learning to become leaders,
there must be outcomes that provide useful product, personal
fulfillment and impact on student learning. On a personal
note, I am often startled by the reach of the collective voice
of our relatively small TLN community. I am amazed at the
depth and power that individual voices have attained in this
nurturing virtual environment where we discuss leadership
and other professional issues 24/7/365.

As I reflect on what I have gleaned from this book, I realize
that Ackerman and Mackenzie recognized and honed in on what
I see as foundational for all good teaching, then applied
it to teacher leadership. They surface knowledge found in
research, in case histories, and in attributes that are embodied
in the voices of teachers.

The power of Uncovering Teacher Leadership: Essays and Voices
from the Field is that it is not a "how to" book. As the
essays reveal, while there are common threads and themes,
teacher leadership in practice is specific to circumstances
and individuals. How teachers lead will be determined by their
skills, the needs of their setting, and the constraints of
their personal and professional world. This book is a nuanced
tool, a "what do you think" book, that encourages teacher
leaders or leaders of leaders to develop rather than implement
leadership. I understood the perspective best after reading
the final essay, Ackerman's "Leading from the Back" where
he says

Successful
leadership ultimately develops in the service of others.
The notion of leading from the back is often undervalued,
misunderstood, and seemingly paradoxical. Yet behind
this paradox lies one of the mysteries of genuine achievement.