Professional Development and Teachers' Construction of Coherent Instructional Practices: A Synthesis of Experiences in Five Sites
Authors: Sandy Finley, Stephen Marble, Glenda Coupland, Chris Ferguson, Karen Alderete
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Teacher learning is the cornerstone to school reform and improvement. Without paying attention to teacher learning and providing structures to support that learning, school reform efforts are not likely to be effective or enduring. This project undertook to learn what kinds of support teachers need and to develop strategies, tools, activities, and resources to support teacher growth. We created an opportunity for teachers to work with their colleagues in an examination of how children learn. They considered what they believed and understood about learning, refined that understanding by working together, reading, having new experiences, and engaging in dialogue. They used their understanding to make choices about curriculum, assessment, and instruction that focused on the learner.
As teachers "turned the corner" in their understanding of learning, they saw connections, interrelations, and a need for developing a more coherent practice. The teachers came to realize that by focusing on learning and the learner, they were better able to understand how curriculum, instruction, and assessment fit together. Their conversations reflected this understanding. We saw the teachers move from being "passive actors" to being "understanding actors" in the classroom. That is, they took action based on their more sophisticated understanding of learning.
We documented the most notable changes in classroom practice among members of study groups whose teachers developed a stance toward each of the six dimensions - authority, agency, professionalism, collaboration, knowledge, and instruction - which focused on learning and the learner. Individual teachers, as well as groups of teachers, have a position along, relationship to, or stance toward, these dimensions that influences development of coherent practice. Their stance changed over the course of the project, and teachers became better able to make choices focused on the learner and, thus, to improve the chances of creating a coherent practice.
Our initial assumptions proved to be well founded. Dialogue, inquiry, and reflection can promote teacher learning and growth. Teachers are professionals who construct their own knowledge of teaching and learning, and as such, can and should be partners in generating knowledge of teaching.
As teachers "turned the corner" in their understanding of learning, they saw connections, interrelations, and a need for developing a more coherent practice. The teachers came to realize that by focusing on learning and the learner, they were better able to understand how curriculum, instruction, and assessment fit together. Their conversations reflected this understanding. We saw the teachers move from being "passive actors" to being "understanding actors" in the classroom. That is, they took action based on their more sophisticated understanding of learning.
We documented the most notable changes in classroom practice among members of study groups whose teachers developed a stance toward each of the six dimensions - authority, agency, professionalism, collaboration, knowledge, and instruction - which focused on learning and the learner. Individual teachers, as well as groups of teachers, have a position along, relationship to, or stance toward, these dimensions that influences development of coherent practice. Their stance changed over the course of the project, and teachers became better able to make choices focused on the learner and, thus, to improve the chances of creating a coherent practice.
Our initial assumptions proved to be well founded. Dialogue, inquiry, and reflection can promote teacher learning and growth. Teachers are professionals who construct their own knowledge of teaching and learning, and as such, can and should be partners in generating knowledge of teaching.
