The Adaptive School: A Sourcebook for Developing Collaborative Groups

by Robert J. Garmston, Bruce M. Wellman

This 3rd edition of the award winning Adaptive Schools Sourcebook provides both a theoretical and practical guide for groups and teams to develop and focus their collaborative energies to improve teaching practices and enhance student-learning outcomes.

In five Becoming Adaptive, Collaboration Matters, Meetings are Teachers’ Work, Resources for Inquiry, and Conflict, Change and Community, the authors draw on decades of personal experiences in schools and research from multiple disciplines to present powerful tools and useful templates for structuring the work of productive professional communities in schools.

Readers will learn ways to develop and sustain the fundamental elements for enhancing social capital in distinguishing between dialogue and discussion, establishing seven norms of collaboration, automating language patterns for inquiry and problem solving, facilitating groups and data teams, engaging in productive conflict, and building community. The book offers links to video clips demonstrating key skills, inventories for assessing groups, instruments for assessing personal skills, and a collection of over 150 meeting strategies and facilitator moves for engaging group members in productive interactions.

Genres: Education, Leadership, Teaching, Nonfiction

358 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Robert J. Garmston is an educator, author, and cognitive theorist. He is Professor Emeritus, School of Education, at California State University, Sacramento.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just maybe the most boring book on earth, but speaks absolutely incisively about systems within a school and how to make things work. Best part is the stuff about making meetings meaningful and running one successfully. Niche target audience for sure.

[Ian McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate to complete the Adaptive Schools training with this book and it has taken a month or so after the sessions to complete the reading. The book *is* dry and it will take investment of time and intellectual capacity. Garmston and Wellman organise plenty of accessible resources here for education professionals to best support work in collaborative at all levels. I found time and again that my thinking went towards application of these strategies in interactions with students and collegaues and in the groups I am tasked to lead. Such simple content can be applied quickly and easily. Alongside the numerous strategies an excellent website exists which outlines all and provides further detail - I am sure this is also more up-to-date for educators. The book explains the ethos behind collaboration and provides a very clear rationale. This is followed by clearly explained practical steps for teachers and school leaders to take to improve the effectiveness of collaboration. Perhaps best was the continued focus throughout on the idea that improved collaboration between teachers and school administrators will lead to healthy learning environments for students. Ultimately, our main goal...

[John Collings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went through the Adaptive School training four years ago, and it always stuck with me as a great way of creating collaboration within schools. The only problem with the training was that it was hard to maintain the philosophy of the ideas presented there as time wore on and work started to bog me down. I always wanted to revisit the ideas, and this book is a great way of doing that. Not only dis it reacquaint me with what I learned at the training, it went deeper into why the philosophies were created in the first place, and how to apply them to my teaching and interaction with other teachers in my department and school. The thing that surprised me the most was that even though the text was definitely geared towards schools, it could be applicable in other situations as well. Currently, I am using it in my classroom as I teach my students how to be more collaborative through the implementation of a large project. I am seeing students work together brilliantly at this time, and they are appreciating that I am supplying them some knowledge about how to be collaborative instead of just telling them to be collaborative. It is a great program, and I would recommend it for anybody that finds themselves in a collaborative situation.

[Adrienne Michetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm finally marking this one as "read" as I have gotten to the point where I've been using the library copy for so long that it's covered in my sticky notes, and I just went to buy my own copy. I have used every chapter, and many, if not most, of the protocols here. It's been the single most influential professional learning text in my growth as someone leading teams toward common goals. My only complaint (and hence the 4 stars instead of 5) is the organization of the activities and protocols. It is impossible to FIND anything in this book! I suggest the editors get some librarians in here to seriously do an autopsy on the contents so that it can be repackaged in a way that makes searches easier. This is a reference book, not a book to read from beginning to end!

[Shyanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for anyone who supports collaborative groups, is a leader in a complex system, or is looking for ways to better support their colleagues. I cannot stop referencing this book as a PLC Coach!

[Mel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you need to lead a successful team / create a culture of trust and cognitive conflict in your teams.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite textbook in the world. But it has great concepts and proven ideas

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

You already know the story of the early European explorers. How they left behind the familiar in order to move towards the mysteries of the new world. Garmston and Wellman will apply the metaphor of the explorer's journey to US schools as they face the unknowns brought about by student/staff demographic shifts, political change, new scholarship and research, and increased use of technology. Just as in Columbus' day, maps are incomplete and archaic "fight or flight" responses interfere with our ability to establish the types of institutions that will be sustainable in the new environment. Garmston and Wellman express that they themselves are actively "exploring" new ways of thinking about schools. Their influences are from quantum theory, constructivist psychology, and personal experiences during years spent as administrators, educators, consultants, etc,.

They take as their basis information gleaned from "the New Sciences." One point is that based on the world revealed by the New Sciences, our world is one where chaos and order are parts of the same system, and that unpredictability, as in weather systems, is a fundamental part of school systems. Another point, drawn directly form the second law of thermodynamics, basically says that all we can do is create school systems which essentially fake control over the chaos. We can establish predictability and order only if we are willing and able to put in ongoing work. They also explore the idea of rejecting unexamined beliefs, values, and assumptions in favor of those that have been illuminated by the light of inquiry. Ultimately all of this has as its concern energy and how it flow or is exchanged within the system. Since schools have to deal with both "things" and "energy," they urge school leaders to pay attention to both, but leaders, as opposed to managers, must deal in energy and become "systems thinkers" if they are to be effective reformers.

For good or for bad, the Adaptive School has enormous amounts of information contained within. The appendix seems like it might be unusually useful. Sometimes though, a single chapter feels so dense that one wonders whether am entire book devoted to the chapter's concepts would be more appropriate. Especially with effectiveness as a central theme, considerations of information overload for the reader might have been a concern for the authors as they structured the books contents. The tables and figures are very useful, however visual learners might get mired down trying to picture concepts which integrate often wildly diverse ideas, as the majority of them are presented textually only. Plus, key concepts can be hard to separate out from the rest, even for readers without any visual preference.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

In another of the "Your job is no longer an experiment, so now it's time to get you trained on our initiatives" experiences I've been lucky to have this summer, I've found this book to be a universal guide for both a facilitator and participant. I now have the lucky task after my four days of in person training of disseminating the information and becoming an "Adaptive Facilitator" so to speak, but it's well worth the look and well worth the time spent in training.

Focusing on the Norms of Collaboration and moving beyond into using them to run successful meetings, I've found Appendix A (a complete list and lesson plan for each of the strategies discussed in the training) an invaluable tool in prepping my Professional Development for teachers for the upcoming school year.

The best were the things I'm already doing. Anytime a trainer can get affirmation that they're doing the right thing... :)

I should note I'm using the second edition, but at the time of my rating, that is not available in GoodReads for some reason.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Adaptive School by Robert J Garmston and Bruce M. Wellman is a beautifully organized resource for education professionals who work in collaborative groups and who want to do so effectively. It explains the ethos behind collaboration and professional communities and then explains clearly the practical steps teachers and administrators can take to effectively collaborate in the best interest of students to produce a productive, healthy learning environment where teachers employ best practices. The book includes extensive appendices and a CD-ROM to facilitate school leaders who seek to create professional learning communities.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a second edition of this book that I have not yet purchased. The original is full of ideas for engaging students through the use of protocols and differentiated instruction.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice on how to create a more collaborative workplace. Much of the information is applicable to any setting, not just a school. Dry in some places but never blatantly unreadable.

[Kim Kanofsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much too technical, however, the ideas in the back appendices are amazing! Talking this book out with a group helped me digest the material as well.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for facilitators! It's my go-to for every presentation/staff meeting!