Abstract:

Bill Ferriter, a North Carolina NBCT, says that once accustomed to the unusual fictional fable that Kain uses in this book, he found it a worthwhile read with ideas applicable to his own teacher team.

Citation: Kain, D.L. (1998). Camel-makers: Building effective teacher teams together. Westerville, OH: National Middle School Association.

Full Text:

Daniel L Kain
1998 (110 pp./paperback)
National Middle School Association
ISBN: 1-56090-151-9
$13.20 (online price)

Reviewed by Bill Ferriter
Wake County (NC) Public School System

I won't lie—I love the team of teachers that I work with.
Over the past year, we have worked hard together in a school
founded on the principles of a learning community. We've designed
systems for common planning, grading and reflection. We've
looked at our instructional practices in an attempt to identify
those that work the best. We're beginning to experiment using
data to drive our decision-making. It has been a truly satisfying
professional experience.

But we've stumbled over the past month. We've had disagreements
over how our team should operate and what direction we should
be heading. Feelings were hurt and an overwhelming sense of
failure and fatigue overtook what had once been a dynamic
and powerful group. Through it all, I openly wondered whether
or not effective teaming was even possible within the traditional
structure and culture of a public school. More importantly,
I wondered if the effort was really worth it.

That's when I stumbled across aconversation about
teaming on the MiddleWeb website. In it, John Lounsbury—widely
recognized as a leading force behind the middle school
movement—recommends Daniel Kain's Camel-Makers: Building Effective
Teacher Teams Together as a valuable resource
for teachers interested in the potential
of professional collaboration.

I picked up the book right before Thanksgiving from the National
Middle School Association's website, figuring I'd give it
a look over the long holiday weekend. "Maybe I'll find something
we can build on," I thought. "Anything is worth a try at this
point!"

When it arrived, I was initially worried by the book's unique format.
Described as a "modern fable for educators," Kain creates
a fictional tale describing the work of the committee that
first converted a horse into a camel. Each chapter opens with
minutes from a fictional meeting between Melchuzar, Dina,
Sichem, Berodak and Rachel—the committee's eager members—followed
by commentary from the also-fictional Dr. J.S. Drapolemac,
"one of the most renowned authorities in the field of human
cooperation." Used to texts written in a more "traditional"
format, I wondered if I would find Kain's book worthwhile.

As I started to read, however, I was instantly engaged. The meetings
Kain creates—and the challenges faced by his fictional
committee—bore an uncanny resemblance to the challenges
faced by my own team!

There are struggles to establish a collective purpose and team norms.
There are struggles with leadership and with interpersonal
conflicts. There are moments of celebration and success mixed
with moments of failure and discouragement. "Seeing" my colleagues
and our trials in the actions and words of fictional characters
engaged in collaborative work quickly eased my mind, helping
me to understand what we were going through as a group.

Most significant, however, are "Drapolemac's" commentaries at the
end of each chapter. In each, Kain analyzes the interactions
between his fictional characters, pointing out strengths and
weaknesses. He then goes on to summarize pertinent research
on teaming from the business and educational community. Finally,
he offers practical activities that middle-grades instructional
teams can complete to function more effectively and efficiently.

All of the ideas presented are easy to understand and to implement.
While reading, I found myself annotating often. My copy bears
the marks of a well-worn friend: stars, underlines, dog-eared
pages, comments, and questions for my team to consider. Every
chapter was empowering, describing group dynamics and development
in meaningful ways.

In the end, there is little doubt that Camel-Makers was
a worthwhile read for me. I walk away from it with a sense
of assurance about my learning team and with a set of steps
that we can take to strengthen ourselves. Kain and his fictional
characters have given me the confidence that we will feel
success again.

I would even argue that Kain's work is a worthwhile read for
any group of teachers working together as a team. Learning
to collaborate in significant ways can be incredibly challenging
for teachers who are typically accustomed to working in isolation.
Camel-Makers: Building Effective Teacher Teams Together
is a valuable tool that can help to make this powerful transition
possible—in the middle grades or any other grades!

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