Share responsibility. Teacher leaders can collaboratively generate an assessment or lesson at a meeting before the discussion of the results so that all team members take responsibility for the outcome. Teachers are more apt to speak honestly about a lesson or assessment they had a hand in creating, rather than if one of their colleagues did it alone. In addition, sharing in the decision making lessens the natural instinct for an individual teacher to defend his or her choices when he or she gets poor results. Collectively, the team can more easily move toward solutions. 

Go first. If a team is taking turns presenting data, the teacher leader can offer to share his or her students’ work for team feedback first. If colleagues are offering mostly praise, the teacher leader can invite more specific, constructive observations such as, “Thank you for your positive comments. I’m concerned about the student’s problem here (indicate in data). What do you think I might do differently?” 

3 Respond in the moment

Even if circumstances do not permit a teacher leader to be proactive, the teacher leader can still initiate slight moves in an existing conversation to shift to more rigorous collaborative discourse. Here are some suggestions:

Follow the team’s lead and go deeper. Although sharing successes and praise is not the ideal end result, it does put people at ease and can be a good launching point for a teacher leader. As people voice positive feedback, the teacher leader can probe them to think more critically about specifics by posing questions: “What do you mean by ‘good’? Where in the student work do you see an example of this?” or “What specifically worked? How do we know? Why do we think it worked?” and “How can we replicate success with this student? How can we help other students in all of our classes achieve similar success?” 

Focus on the dilemma, not the teacher. Many protocols ask the presenting teacher to set forth a dilemma for the team to discuss, thereby creating a nonthreatening lens through which teachers can look. If the presenting teacher does not identify a concern, it could be because he or she is concerned that others will judge his or her teaching. To overcome this, a teacher leader can gently probe, “Why did you choose to share this student’s work with us?” or “What concerns do you have about this student’s work?” By writing the presenting teacher’s dilemma on chart paper or repeating it for the team, the teacher leader can revert to the teacher’s question, focusing the team to discuss the dilemma and not the teacher. For example, the teacher leader might say, “Can you find places in this student’s work that confirm the presenting teacher’s dilemma?” 

Focus on students. To invite rigorous collaborative discourse, a teacher leader can focus the discussion on student learning instead of instruction. For example, instead of asking, “What could the teacher do differently?” the teacher leader might ask, “What does this student need instructionally?” “What strengths and needs do we see in this student’s work?” “What evidence in the student work demonstrates student understanding or confusion?” or “What next steps does this student need?” Focusing the discussion on students reduces any concerns of blame or judgment, and encourages the team to look more analytically, discuss more openly, and problem solve collaboratively.

Model curiosity, observation, and honesty. Whenever individuals have a difficult conversation, it is best to begin from a stance of curiosity (Stone, Patton, & Heen, 1999). If the teacher leader can model wonder, data-based observations, and honest feedback, other team members will have unspoken permission to do the same. For example, if the team has been working on descriptive writing and sees some successful uses in the student work, the team leader can comb through the work looking for places that raise questions. The teacher leader might say, “I notice the student has a lot of descriptive language throughout her writing. She uses it effectively in paragraph two, but it seems repetitive in paragraph three. I wonder if this student knows when to include detail and when to go without.” The wondering brings the discussion to a safe but more critical level, allowing for others to build on the teacher leader’s observation or feel comfortable expressing their own observations.

Redirect. If all efforts to move the conversation beyond the culture of nice fail, the teacher leader may opt to redirect. For example, the teacher leader might say, “I’ve heard a lot of positives about the student work and teacher’s instruction. With the time remaining, let’s look to see if there are specific areas in which the students can improve. For example, I notice in paragraph two of the student essay … (state positive), but then (identify problem). Does anyone else notice places where the students have this or other specific areas of need?” 

4 Follow up

If team discussion about teaching and learning never moves beyond the culture of nice, individuals may gossip or vent after the meeting about what they really think. This behavior will breed a culture of not-so-nice, which will destroy any steps a team has made toward rigorous collaborative discourse. A teacher leader’s response following team collaboration can take a pulse of the culture and sustain progress. 

Debrief. At the end of each meeting, have the team do a quick fist-to-five, in which team members raise up to five fingers indicating their assessment of the level of rigorous collaborative discourse achieved. Be sure to define it first. For example, a person would hold up his or her fist if he or she felt the team never moved beyond the culture of nice, one finger if there was an attempt at rigorous collaborative discourse, two fingers if it was somewhat achieved, etc. If major discrepancies in numbers occur, briefly invite people to voice their reasons and set a goal to improve at the next meeting. If someone voices a significant comment that could affect the team’s future dynamics — for instance, if someone voices that they felt personally attacked — then mention that “this issue may need more time than we have allotted” and ask permission of the team to schedule time for a deeper debrief at the next meeting.

Give exit tickets. Three useful questions teachers can answer on a half-page of paper as they leave are: What new thinking do you have? How might you apply it? How can the team and teacher leader support you?

Check in individually. Follow up with one-on-one conversations to assess teachers’ perceptions of how well the team engaged in rigorous collaborative discourse and how comfortable team members felt moving beyond the culture of nice.

Time and courage

Teacher leaders who set goals, norms, and use protocols with their teams but skirt around the culture of nice will never achieve rigorous collaborative discourse. It takes skill to recognize the signs of a dysfunctional culture and courage to respond in ways that will lead to incremental shifts in thinking and behavior. Not every team member will shift at the same time, but every time a team leader experiences a moment of discomfort or uncertainty, that leader can be assured that he or she is shifting culture.