The Case for a Teaching Community
If you are a teacher, or have ever been a teacher, you have undoubtedly heard the adage “just shut the door and teach.” This well-intentioned advice usually comes from veteran teachers who have grown frustrated with their administration or district leadership and have only found solace and comfort in the control they have within their own classrooms. Likely, many of these teachers are doing the best they can under less-than-favorable teaching conditions.
The problem with this advice is that teachers end up working in isolation and eventually burnout or become cynical. They may never find a cohort to build a voice of resistance to inequitable, inhumane, or unjust working conditions. Also, as bell hooks discusses in her book, Teaching Community, this isolation limits teachers from celebrating and embracing one another’s teaching successes. This is not only disheartening for teachers (who pour hours and hours of their lives into their practice), but detrimental to students (who benefit from seeing their teachers acknowledge and honor each other) and to teachers (who are more likely to recognize their work as meaningful when celebrated). In the preface to Teaching Community, hooks poetically asserts that “when we hide our light we collude in the overall devaluation of our teaching profession” (xi).
Unfortunately, many of our schools and unions have not quite recognized this vital need for deep teaching communities. As a result, K-12 teaching is perceived as a trifling profession yet to be taken seriously. As Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire demonstrate in their book, Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School, this unchallenged narrative fuels and invites predatory practices from private organizations that delegitimize public education for profit. This profit motive is antithetical to a democratic design, wherein citizens must be educated to “participate in civic life, vote wisely, protect their rights and freedoms, and resist tyrants and demagogues” (Kober et. al, 2020).
For a public education that embraces democracy, it is time for educators to take charge of the broken narrative. We need to tell a different, more accurate story. We need to have robust conversations about the necessity of teacher collaboration, celebration, and belonging. We won’t be capable of dismantling the narrative if we simply “close our doors and teach.” But together, we can not only dismantle the old narrative, we can rewrite the new.
The positive effects of a teacher community are clearly supported in a 2017 national study of over 400 schools on educator collaboration in public schools. Researchers found significant correlation between teachers that engaged in collaborative processes such as “decision making; goal alignment; and teacher discretion, voice, and psychological safety” with lower rates of turnover, higher student performance in English Language Arts and math, and an increase in professional engagement. Notably, researchers found that teacher turnover was significantly lower when collaboration was widespread even in districts with high rates of concentrated poverty. This suggests that a robust teaching community can even alleviate stressors found in high-poverty schools.
This study does not imply that only some schools benefit from a teaching community. All do. Teaching is difficult on various levels and at various times. Teachers don’t have the luxury to hide behind computer screens or take extended breaks. Teachers are the classroom, trying to keep it together with students in all the glory and messiness of our learning environments. We make decisions as small as “Yes, I can take on that extra hall duty,” and “No, you should not eat those pencil shavings,” to ones as consequential as determining a grade, breaking up a physical fight, or calling a crisis hotline. All of this happens on any given day. Oh, and then there’s teaching grade-level standards, planning engaging lessons, and assessing student work.
Even the most veteran teachers struggle. I have been at this work for fifteen years, and on many days, I’m hanging by a thin thread. My small acts of creative noncompliance—overlooking dress code, excusing tardies, delaying grades, involving students in the development of curriculum and assessments—could come under fire if misunderstood. I also feel the collective fear that many teachers are experiencing about the content they teach. Although my state currently has no policies prohibiting books or historical content, I feel the chilling effect of these policies popping up around the country. Without clear support from administrators and thoughtful collaboration with our colleagues, this fear manifests as silence, stifling the important work we need to do as educators.
A lackluster or noxious school community can wreak havoc on a teacher’s personal life, professional effectiveness, and commitment to the school. When our staff culture is tepid or toxic our students will suffer. Teachers need to be each other’s biggest supporters and allies. I believe that this tumultuous moment in education demands a community where staff feel supported, challenged, and inspired to do what they do best. Teach.
If you already have this community, you are fortunate. Write about it, share what is going well. We can never have too many voices celebrating our profession. Don’t be modest in sharing your accomplishments. For those struggling to find a healthy and uplifting professional community, reach out beyond your small circle to thrive and feel inspired in your field.
What follows are my top four methods for building and maintaining a teaching community. Of course, there are other methods, so find your own and share with the rest of us in whatever capacity works best. Sharing through conversation is how we will grow as a larger community of teachers that support and care for one another.
Find a community online
Twitter is a great place to find forward-thinking educators that dive into the questions and issues in our profession and look for solutions. Follow educators that have inspired you in the past and see where this leads you. I gave Rick Wormeli a shoutout about his idea around using analogies in teaching and he actually responded! Since then, Twitter has been my #1 place for inspiration. A quick plug for Teachers Going Gradeless community gatherings, an online space for educators to connect informally throughout the year.
Share your work
We need more educators that are willing to write and speak publicly and thoughtfully about our profession. The first time I did this I was absolutely terrified. As soon as the post went public and began circulating around social media, I wanted to hide. The vulnerability of exposing your thoughts in writing for the public to see is a risk, but it is a risk completely worth taking. Begin by finding organizations that you align with and see if they are looking for guest contributors to their blogs. I found Teachers Going Gradeless and Human Restoration Project. Both platforms invite educators to share their writing, and there are many more!
Find your people
Begin with the colleagues you work with directly. If the people in your department or close working team are causing you distress and change seems implausible, find other staff in your school to connect with. Begin an informal teacher discussion group that meets regularly to discuss successes, challenges, and new ideas. When I was determined to change my former practices, I knew I needed other teachers to discuss pedagogy and assessment in order to overcome the potential systemic, mental, and emotional barriers that would pop up along the way. I sent personal emails to a handful of teachers and learning coaches that I admired in my school and asked them to join me for a biweekly meeting. Some weeks it was successful and others only my learning coach showed up, but I never left one of those lunches feeling burnt out or frustrated. In fact, these conversations became something I looked forward to; they were energizing and professionally affirming. I owe much of my success with my students last year to those colleagues and to my learning coach, who became my biggest cheerleader.
Celebrate your colleagues
Whenever the opportunity presents itself, celebrate your colleagues. Let them know when a student, administrator, or parent speaks highly of them. Let them know you notice them interacting with students and be open to witnessing where they excel as teachers. Then find a way to celebrate that excellence, even if it’s as simple as a smile or note on their desk. Paying close attention to and embracing others’ greatness creates an environment where people feel seen and appreciated. It also mitigates unnecessary competition that holds us back as opposed to pushing us forward.
A teaching community does not need to consist of likeminded educators. Professional dialogues, when centered around pedagogy and craft, occur in spaces that are open to debate and critical questioning. I have a few colleagues—a brilliant art teacher in particular—who challenge me to think differently and see varied perspectives. These teachers have augmented my teaching practice in ways I could not have done independently. That being said, there also needs to be an authentic respect for one another. Not a banal or trite “respect” that we think we should have for the people we work with, but a deep trust in those that are in the community. Without that sense of trust, community will inevitably fall apart.
As educators, we know how important it is to foster a sense of connection and community in our classrooms in order for students to feel like they can take the healthy risks needed to learn. This is why many of us have changed our assessment and grading practices and spend ample time building a comfortable and safe climate in our classrooms. We know our students thrive in cultures that welcome, embrace, and challenge them. Let’s aim to model this understanding as we work to create our own prosperous communities with our colleagues and peers.
Lisa Wennerth teaches English Language Arts at Windsor High School in Northern Colorado. She also facilitates an online course for educators on connecting students to poetry through podcasts. When she is not teaching, she spends time running, biking, and hiking in the Rocky Mountains with her daughter, husband, and Great Pyrenees.
