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.
As teachers developed a stance toward authority that involved relying on their understanding, they became sense-makers who figured out the relationships between external demands, existing structures of and assumptions about schooling, and the learning needs of their students. As they developed a stance toward agency of having the power and responsibility to impact student learning, teachers took themselves off center-stage and put learning there. As they developed a stance toward teaching as a profession, they took responsibility for their own growth and learning and became thoughtful and reflective practitioners. As they developed a stance toward collaboration as a learning experience, teachers formed a relationship of interdependence with their colleagues that provided support for making changes in the classroom. As they developed a stance toward knowledge as constructed, they saw themselves and their students as meaning-makers. And as they developed a stance toward instruction as focused on learning, they changed classroom practices to better reflect their understanding of learning.
The group's dialogue and the activities supported teachers in developing a stance or a point of view from which to make decisions based on what is good for learners. As professional developers, we learned that attending to these dimensions in our work with teacher groups can help teachers move along the dimensions. We can bring activities to the table which help teachers look at teaching and learning in different ways. We can ask questions and create situations that help them uncover and examine assumptions and beliefs that may be barriers to improvement of practice. We can take enough time to work with teachers so they get past the blaming and can accept and act on their responsibility. We can use their concerns and issues to help teachers explore connections and relationships. And, we believe, coherence is a relationship issue, not an issue of materials or policy.
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. Finally, teachers can learn to focus their decision-making on students and learning. Professional development should support them in their efforts.
