The Magic Book, Alexander Torin James

What if the voices of our teachers were heard equally in today's public discourse? Teachers work with children everyday and have always understood intuitively the materials and curriculum needed. Teacher research, however, allows teachers to go beyond intuitive understanding to a level of documented inquiry that can stand the light public scrutiny in publications, news media, workshops, and town meetings. In Silence Is Complicity, Dr. Finser offers teachers the tools needed to speak out and be heard, empowering their advocacy for educational change. With first-hand experience and earned knowledge, teachers have the real authority to mandate the needs of their students.

It's time to give teachers the necessary tools for a greater voice in educational matters. Teacher research, as outlined in this book, can support a dynamic counter-movement that empowers teachers, parents, and communities to say, "Politicians, back off "

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Standards Set by the Federal Government: Who Has Been Left Behind?
2. Back Off, Big Brother
3. Introduction to Research
4. Perceptions of Obstacles to Teacher Research
5. Reinventing Research: New Concepts, New Approaches
6. Why Do Research?
7. Seeing, Feeling, Finding Your Question
8. Thoughts on Research Methods
9. Organizing a Research Project
10. Sharing Research
11. A Collaborative Model for Teacher Research
12. Why Do Research? (Revisited)
13. Research as Teacher Empowerment

Appendix

A leader is like an orchestra conductor, setting the tempo but knowing that real music will arise only when each member is playing the appropriate instrument and the right part. This book is for leaders and administrators in Waldorf schools, Camphill communities, farms, clinics, and other not-for-profit initiatives. The themes are broad--personal, interpersonal, and organizational--and intended to stimulate discussion and awareness in a way that promotes self-reflection that leads to both inner and professional growth.

In the end, we are servant-leaders, doing what needs to be done for the sake of real human beings in our care. We need the tools and insights vital to accomplishing our highest ideals. Leadership is not just a job but also a calling.

C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgments

PART ONE: HOW TO BECOME THE LEADER YOUR ORGANIZATION NEEDS

1. Introduction
2. Breathing
3. Management and Leadership
4. Facilitation
5. Decision-making: A Litmus Test for Leaders
6. Agreements
7. Role Clarity
8. Strategic vs. Tactical Leadership
9. Taking a Break
10. Authority, Influence and Power Dynamics in Waldorf Schools
11. Peter Drucker
12. The Double: The Shadow Side of Groups
13. Organizational Trauma
14. Reframing
15. Humor
16. A Number Exercise
17. Our Karmic Companions
18. Role-Plays and Adult Learning
19. Human Resource Management
20. Time
21. Your Deficit Can Become Your Abundance
22. Email and Time Management
23. Leaders as Speakers
24. Betrayal and Forgiveness
25. Working with a Board
26. Seek and You Will Find
27. Administrators as Knights Templar of the Twenty-first Century

PART TWO: VOICES FROM THE FIELD

1. The Artistic Meeting: Creating Space for Spirit by Holly Koteen-Soule
2. Eurythmy in the Workplace Based on Conversations with Barbara Richardson
3. Pausing by Claire M. Stanley, PhD
4. The Birth of the First Waldorf School by Milan Daler
5. Implementing Threefold Structure in a High School Community by Rea Gill
6. Public Waldorf by Rainbow Rosenbloom
7. Dialogue and Restorative Circles by John Cunningham
8. Sleep by Lynn Jericho
9. The Role of Teacher-Artists in the Sevenfold Waldorf School by Reg Down
10. The Wisdom of Geese by Angeles Arrien
11. Wellsprings of the Art of Education by Christof Wiechert
12. Advice for Administrators by Siegfried E. Finser
13. Poems and Verses for Leaders

Epilogue: Social Architecture as a Foundation for Collaborative Leadership
Appendices