Article published in The EduLEADER
July 2019
Implementing a professional development plan at a school
requires careful planning and basing practices on grounded theories and tenets
in the field. Often, the personnel involved in professional development find
that what applies to teacher education intersects with what applies to student
learning. Here, I choose several practices and theories that have worked well
when I worked with groups of teachers.
Experiential
learning and the practice cycle
Kolb’s model of learning (Kolb & Kolb, 2005) aims at transforming
schools through reflective observation and experimentation in a four
stage-cycle of:
·
concrete experience
when lesson observation takes place to collect evidence to be used in the feedback session
·
reflective observation
which is based on the evidence collected, and feedbacking occurs here to assist
the teacher to reflect on practice
· abstract conceptualization
which includes encouraging teachers to discuss the deep structures of teaching
to establish theoretical principles that undergo the observed behaviors
· active experimentation
in which the discussion of principles is derived from the lesson to decide how
to apply them in a new situation.
This cycle goes parallel to Randall and Thornton’s (2005)
practice cycle which they perceive also as a helping cycle including the
phases: exploration, understanding (combines the abstract conceptualization and
active experimentation phases in Kolb’s model) and action.
The underlying concepts and the practices for experiential
learning and the practice cycle are evident in many other models such as
Korthagen’s ALACT model (action, looking back on the action, awareness of
essential aspects, creating alternative methods of action and trial), Cogan’s
eight-stage clinical supervision, and Wallace’s six-phase HORACE pattern (Hear,
observe, record, analyze, consider, evaluate) (Farhat, 2011) .
Collaboration and
interaction
Collaboration is empowering for teachers if it allows them
to increase their knowledge and to be actively involved in shaping the school
culture (Glazer & Hannafin, 2006) . Collaboration
allows teachers to pool their resources toward the attainment of a common goal
if it is done in a context of communication, trust and flexibility and
responsiveness to change (Mackenzie, Zakrzewski, Walker, & McCluskey, 2008) .
Collaboration allows teachers to consider themselves as
leaders, for while collaborating they are participating in leadership (Lambert, 2003) . This is empowering
for teachers. The power of collaboration is echoed by Michael Fullan (2008)
who sees that it should be positive and purposeful to achieve optimal results.
Peer coaching and
peer mentoring
In a coach-teacher relationship, the coach facilitates the
teacher’s thinking and helps him/her learn on the job (Miller, 2018) . Here the coach is
in charge of the process of having the teachers achieve a certain goal. This
form of peer supervision diminishes bureaucracy from supervision since it
allows teachers to work in teams, develop their own plans, share ideas, have
face to face feedback, and analyze results (Marshal, 2005) . Further, these practices allow
teachers to have more choice, to reflect, to network, to break down the silence
that teachers live, and to generate their own solutions, all of which are vital
to improve practices in education (Potgieter, 2019) .
“A variation of peer coaching is peer mentoring where an
experienced teacher and a less experienced one form a relationship” (Farhat, 2017, p. 57) . However, mentors
advise based on their personal experiences. Here, the teacher is the owner of
the goals and the process. Both practices, coaching and mentoring, are low cost
and are proven to be conducive to professional development of teachers (Farhat, 2017) .
Professional
learning communities
The concept of professional learning communities has been
evolving since 1989 starting with Rosenholtz, and since then several models
have emerged to depict what a professional learning community is (Hassan, Ahmad , & Boon, 2018) . Whatever model is
considered, the professional learning community is a practice that enhances
teacher collaboration and reflection which gradually facilitates the creation
of a common vision and norms among teachers. All this is for the optimal goal
which is student learning (Avalos, 2011) . Improved student outcome is observed
“in terms of achievement, social skills, emotional aspects, independence and
creativity” as a study by Owen revealed through “achievement data, student work
samples, teacher observation and self-reports” (Owen, 2015, p. 57) .
For the school to be a professional learning community,
administrators, teachers and students must be involved in responsibility and
its underlying actions (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2006) . Further, the
community and parents can take part in this community by providing their ideas
and feedback. In this way, the school vision will be embraced by all (Hassan, Ahmad , & Boon, 2018) .
A common thread passes among all the above-mentioned
practices. They all subsume interaction, collaboration, sharing, scaffolding
and support to reach a specific goal. Just as these practices have proven to be
successful in classroom practices, they are also vital when adult learning is
involved.
References
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