Chapter 4: Mandates Revisited: One Coordinator’s Story of Cultivating Collegiality and Inquiry Through a Professional Learning Community

Mandates are commonplace in the field of education. Efforts to continually improve education are essential, yet these reform efforts have also led to a type of fatigue that can be extremely draining. As a former elementary school teacher, this fatigue in schools was often evident to me, and I saw how it propelled some teachers to respond in compliance rather than defiance because they believed their professional expertise was often overlooked or their perspectives were not considered during decision-making processes. Transitioning from a K–12 setting to working in higher education as a teacher educator and leader afforded me the welcomed opportunity to collaborate with colleagues and be actively involved in creating solutions and action plans rather than being a passive recipient of directives.