Naomi Mertens, independent education consultant
It’s a thought-provoking resource and leads to a better understanding both of being a teacher leader and of being a learning community. The fact that Catalyst is both research- and practice-based makes it a splendid tool for many purposes, including: training new middle leaders and teacher leaders, reflecting on one’s own team facilitation practices, deepening a learning conversation, and being a critical friend to others. It’s both attractive as a conversation starter and as a way to get through the whole collective learning and design ‘loop’.
It’s quite a new idea to transform research data into a toolkit such as this one. Catalyst transfers academic knowledge into practice, and hence gets it to the intended users right away. As a team process facilitator, I’m very happy to have all of this knowledge in a box and use it whenever it’s suitable.