Creating a Culture of Support for Teacher Leaders:
A Vision for Change and Hope

Creating a Culture of Support for Teacher Leaders: A Vision for Change and Hope is a follow-up to Out of the Dark.  This book opens in chapter 1 by presenting a democratic theory of educating our students by Rosemary Gornik, Ph.D.  I then present a culture map in chapter 2, to illustrate the components that support a needed change in the culture of schools.  Five administrators then share their experiences, both past, and present, as they journey through supporting teachers in their building/district.  They chronicle both success stories and “lessons learned” from the field as they present their interpretations of a democratic theory of education into present-day practice. 

This book was inspired by a team of teachers who that took the time from their busy lives to edit my book Out of the Dark.  When I wrote the book in 2016, we called ourselves “The Book Club.” As I finished each chapter, the “Book Club” would meet at a favorite restaurant, go over the most recent chapter, and the teachers would provide me with valuable wisdom from the classroom.  When they read chapter 5 of Out of the Dark, they said overwhelmingly that they could not create a Platform for Curriculum Development (PCD) without the support of their administrator.  The teachers felt that they could change and create a democratic culture in their classroom, but without the support of their administrator, that spirit would not go beyond the classroom walls. That valuable feedback prompted my co-editor and me to spend two years working with already busy administrators to contribute their stories.  We present to you, the brave teachers and administrators in the field of education, this labor of love.