It's Your Turn: Teachers As Facilitators - A Handbook

This is the book for teacher-leaders who run meetings, lead data-teams, and chair grade level and department groups. Based on over 400 interviews with teachers, teacher leaders, and their supervisors from a diverse set of U.S. and International schools, this book responds to the tensions identified by teacher facilitators and provides practical strategies and tools organized by Five Mindsets.

See groups as they could be. Groups no matter how high or low performing, rise to the expectations of their leaders and the quality of the feedback they receive about their processes and performance results.

Groups grant consent. Successful group leadership emerges from congruent verbal and nonverbal tools that frame direction giving and shape respectful group member interactions.

Prepare...do not attach. Skillful facilitators plan carefully and remained poised to modify group processes when conditions require flexibility, spontaneity, and improvisation.

Diversity enriches. Effective groups learn ways to tap the potential of their mix of perspectives, experiences, and cultures to achieve positive results.

Never let a conflict go to waste. Mindful facilitators establish procedures and protocols for navigating the inevitable conflicts that arise within working groups.

About The Authors
The authors bring decades of practice facilitating groups and teaching others to confidently facilitate their own meetings. Their personal and collective experiences working with a spectrum of meeting types from routine processes to emotionally charged topics inform the resources and approaches they present in this book.

Dr. Robert Garmston, is Emeritus Professor of Educational Administration at California State University, Sacramento. He is Co-Developer of Cognitive Coaching with Dr. Art Costa and Co-Developer with Bruce Wellman of Adaptive Schools.

Carolyn McKanders writes from her experience as an urban teacher, social worker, staff development specialist and international consultant. She is Co-Founder of The Center for Adaptive Schools supporting collaboration and group facilitation.

Robert Garmston and Carolyn McKanders
Burlington, VT: MiraVia, LLC, Copyright 2022
Softcover ISBN 978-0-9981770-5-2 pp. 128