Here is what Bill Ferriter had to say about his own book on his blog, The Tempered Radical:
"What you’ll see if you decide to pick up a copy is that we’ve started each chapter with the story of Steve—the fictional principal of Central Middle school—and his colleagues who are working to restructure their traditional school as a professional learning community.
The stories that we include detail common PLC challenges—setting vision, overcoming conflict, wrestling with data—in an approachable narrative that will resonate with readers simply because they are drawn from real experiences that Parry and I have had in our work as both members and leaders of learning communities. Through Steve and his peers, we’re able to share first-hand accounts of what life really looks like inside a developing PLC.
Our stories are followed by research on organizational theory that explain the hows and whys of change in human organizations and sets of practical recommendations on action steps that teams in different stages of collective growth can take to move forward together. We draw explanations from noted thinkers like Philip Ball, Clay Shirky, Roland Barth, James Surowiecki and Kerry Patterson.
Readers learn about the ways that technology can decrease transaction costs, how phase transitions in physics—think water moving from room temperature to boiling—can can offer insight into change in school communities, and why the collective intelligence of multiple thinkers always produces better results than individuals working alone.
Each chapter ends with sets of handouts—which are all posted online at Solution Tree’s website—that can be used to structure the work of learning teams. You’ll find everything from surveys designed to collect information on team development and trust between colleagues to tools for helping teachers to make good decisions and to resolve conflict with peers."
