Book Club

            I participate in a book club every spring at the school where I work.  This is my third year participating in the book club during our morning staff meeting in the teacher’s lounge.  We sit around a large rectangular table so we are facing one another.  The books selected are Christian books related to teaching or group Bible studies.

The book club occurs three days a week.  On Tuesdays, a video is shown to support the book.  On Wednesdays the book club discusses the assigned reading.  Thursday is set aside to preview the next reading assignment.  All the teachers participate so they can use this time as professional development since it is a private Christian school.  This year we are reading Answers Academy Biblical Apologetics for Real Life, by Ken Ham and Jason Lisle. 

The atmosphere of the book club is somewhat serious since the book club is led by the school principal and the school’s history teacher when she is unavailable.  When the principal is not present the atmosphere changes drastically.  People are more willing to participate and have side conversations.  It is much more enjoyable when the principal is not present since people seem to relax and be themselves.  Occasionally, the principal will bring a breakfast pastry or snack to share.

During the discussion time the leaders use a set of questions that accompany the book.  The questions are open ended and are thought provoking.  Typically, as people engage in the discussion more questions get raised as the discussion progresses.  When the principal is present she will ask a question from the leader’s guide and wait for a response.  There is always awkward silence after she asks a question and waits on a response.  People are afraid to speak up and often look down at their laps until one of the braver teachers speak up.  This does not occur when the principal is not present.

There are three teachers who tend to steal the spotlight.  The history teacher is a part time pastor when he is not teaching, so he is more knowledgeable than most people.  He will often answer questions that the principal is unable to or provide.  The other two teachers are ladies who often are very opinionated.  I often chose not participate because I do not feel comfortable. 

In my opinion, the book club would be more successful if the principal would step back and allow a teacher to lead.  The principal also selects books that participants are not interested in reading.  Selecting a handful of books and allowing the group to vote on one would allow participants to take more ownership and they would engage in conversation more often.  It is also very hard to disagree with your boss during discussion time.