Reviewed
by Jan A. Yow, NBCT
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Collaborative Teacher Leadership grew out of a Masters in Collaborative
Leadership program at San Jose State University in California.
The authors, two educational leadership professors, wanted
to document the work written by their students as they struggled
to enact collaborative teacher leadership.

Collaborative Teacher Leadership's appeal comes from its authors' abundant
infusion of real teacher leader stories. The authors extend
teacher leadership into a collaborative and collective activity
and include narratives written by current classroom teachers
and leaders to demonstrate how they enact collaborative teacher
leadership in their schools and communities. Each contributing
teacher is described in the back and email addresses are listed.

The book is meant to make collaborative teacher leadership a reality.
I found myself writing the names of teachers I knew in the
margins whose stories were similar. I even contacted a teacher
to tell him about how teachers in the book had dealt with
a challenge similar to one he is facing.

Written clearly, each chapter begins listing the main points and ends
with essential questions to reemphasize the main points. Written
to be read collaboratively, each chapter includes reflective
questions throughout to help readers see how they might enact
this work in their own personal school settings. Each chapter
includes a list of resources to further explore discussed
issues or find support.

While the entire book was informative, the final chapter and conclusion
made the most impact. The final chapter, "Courageous Followers
and Leaders," spoke explicitly about the difference between
managing change and managing transition-a distinct difference
I had never considered. The authors make the point that in
managing change, leaders must also manage transition, which
includes honoring past experiences, acknowledging losses,
and expecting and accepting grieving. Like every chapter,
here the authors not only write generically about managing
transitions but also include narratives written by teachers
about actual events where they managed transition.

The writing in the book's conclusion is, again, admirably straightforward.
The authors close by stating explicit activities that ensure
the reader "gets" the authors' points. It is clear the authors
did not write this book solely for a publication — they
want Collaborative Teacher Leadership to change the
practice of schools and student learning. Their view is well
summed up in this observation on page 168: