An ASCD Study Guide for Adventures in Teacher Leadership: Pathways, Strategies, and Inspiration for Every Teacher

Most of the questions contained in this study guide are ones you can think about on your own, with a colleague, or in a study group with others who have read (or are reading) Adventures in Teacher Leadership.

Chapter 1. Building Bridges: Using Communication Channels to Strengthen Ties, Create Networks, and Sustain Relationships

1. How might you use some of the key communication techniques used by the teacher leaders profiled?
2. What can you learn from the obstacles that these teachers faced in creating networks and building lasting relationships?
3. How did these teacher leaders sustain relationships, once established? How might you apply their approaches to your relationships?
4. Whom do you need to communicate with, and why?
5. What communication challenges can you identify at your school?
6. What ways have you facilitated (or could you facilitate) better communication channels in your own work?

Chapter 2. All Aboard: Using Collaboration and Critical Friendships to Empower Everyone

1. How did the teacher leaders in this Chapter build collaborative communities among peers? What lessons can you take away from these teachers in building relationships beyond your classroom?
2. How can you, as a teacher leader, empower others to lead?
3. What specific skills or talents do you notice great collaborators have?
4. What obstacles are currently keeping you from collaborating with your peers? What are some ways you might overcome those obstacles?

Chapter 3. Travel Routes: Pathways for Creating Effective Professional Development

1. How did the teacher leaders in this chapter build a community of trust among colleagues?
2. How did these teachers develop avenues for delivering professional learning?
3. What will you need to learn about facilitation skills in order to deliver meaningful professional learning?
4. What are the biggest challenges your school faces in producing effective and meaningful PD?
5. What are the hallmarks of effective PD, and how can your school bake those qualities into what it delivers?

Chapter 4. Map Reading 101: Understanding and Using Research and Data to Strengthen Your Work

1. What does action research look like in your school? How do you envision it looking?
2. How can you help teachers overcome fears about sharing assessment data?
3. What are simple techniques that you can implement in your school to expose teachers to research in a nonthreatening way?
4. How have you used research and data to improve your own practice or leadership initiatives?
5. What questions are you struggling to answer? How might you use research and data to begin answering those questions?

Chapter 5. Staking Your Claim: Using Advocacy to Amplify Your Voice, Strengthen the Profession, and Drive Change

1. How did the teacher leaders in this chapter build relationships with key policymakers? What did they do that might help you build your own relationships with policymakers?
2. What do you need to help your principal understand about effecting change?
3. How can you differentiate between change for the sake of change and change that is impactful?
4. Stories can change minds, hearts, and policy. What narratives can help you drive your advocacy?
5. Who needs to be on your advocacy team, and why?

Adventures in Teacher Leadership: Pathways, Strategies, and Inspiration for Every Teacher was written by Rebecca Mieliwocki and Joseph Fatheree, with an Introduction by Katherine Bassett. This 126-page, 7″ × 9″ book (Stock #118033; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-2716-6) is available from ASCD. Copyright © 2019 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.