Before You Tear Down the Walls: The Intermediate Steps to Team-Based Staffing

In this episode of The Ensemble School Podcast, we are joined by educational expert Steve Barkley to tackle one of the biggest hurdles in modern education: moving away from isolated teaching without turning your school upside down. If the idea of transitioning to team-based staffing models feels like a logistical nightmare that requires tearing up master schedules and knocking down physical walls, this episode is your blueprint for a smoother path.

Drawing on decades of experience—including his early career in an experimental open-classroom model—Steve shares actionable, low-risk intermediate steps you can take today to begin your school's transformation. Discover how small tweaks, like co-scheduling classes, rethinking shared assessments, and establishing true peer coaching, can lay the essential groundwork for a highly collaborative future. Whether you are a teacher looking to break out of the solo-teaching silo or a school leader trying to build buy-in for structural change, tune in to learn how to test the waters of team-based staffing—no sledgehammers required.