Professional development should be done by
teachers, not done to them. It works best when it comes from the inside
out, not from the top down. This idea is
not new, and it is well-supported in research.
However, teachers’ professional development is often provided,
rather than supported. Why is this?
There seems to be a belief that “outside
experts” have the silver bullet for improved instruction and student
achievement. Billions of dollars have
been spent on professional development in the United States, with a trend
toward less-effective, shorter-duration trainings (Blank, de las Alas, &
Smith, 2008; Wei, Darling-Hammond, & Adamson, 2010; Yoon et al., 2007). But externally-imposed professional
development is not “powerful enough, specific enough, or sustained enough” to
effect lasting change (Fullan, 2007, p. 35).
Real changes in instructional practice and
student learning come about through professional development that is focused at
the classroom level. As suggested by
Thomas Guskey (2005), “The hard lesson we have gleaned from analyzing various
waves of education reform is that it doesn’t matter what happens at the
national, state, or even district level.
Unless change takes place at the building and classroom levels,
improvement is unlikely” (p. 40). No
matter the grand imperatives and high-level planning, it is in the classroom
where changes in teaching and learning can actually occur. So it makes sense to start there.
This I why instructional coaching
matters. This is why professional
learning communities (PLCs) matter. When
PLCs are truly learning communities that
regard teachers as professionals, professional development happens.
What is professional development? Let’s take a look at each of the words making
up that phrase. Professional means being connected to a
profession. A profession requires
prolonged preparation and formal qualification. Because teachers have earned
their teaching credentials, they are licensed professionals and should be
regarded as such. This implies
acknowledgement and respect for their knowledge and expertise about
teaching. Professional development should
regard teachers as professionals.
A close look at the idea of development is
also enlightening. The root word, develop,
has meanings with differing connotations that are worth considering. Something can
develop or it can be developed. It’s
important to think about who is doing the work. Is something developing from
within or being developed from an outside source? Piaget and Vygotsky had ideas about child
development that might shed some light. Piaget saw development as a natural
unfolding. Vygotsky saw development as supported by tools and by “more
knowledgeable others.” Professional
development can occur through a blend of these ideas, a supported unfolding.
This is the role of coaching. This is
the purpose of providing structures for professional learning communities. One such structure is collaborative Lesson
Study.
In contrast to top-down reforms, Lesson
Study is professional development that empowers teachers to drive improvement
as they determine new ideas and methods to incorporate into their teaching.
This job-embedded professional learning process has the potential to improve
student achievement by looking closely at classroom practice.
Lesson Study is as straightforward as it
sounds: the study of a lesson. However, Catherine Lewis, who learned about
Lesson Study in Japan and has been instrumental in spreading its use in the
United States, points out that during Lesson Study teachers improve lessons not
as an end unto itself, “but as a way to deepen their own content knowledge,
their knowledge of student thinking, their understanding of teaching and
learning, and their commitment to improvement of their own practice and that of
colleagues” (Lewis & Hurd, 2011, p. 24).
I’ve been supporting teachers in Lesson
Study for about nine years, and I’ve seen dramatic results in teacher learning
and student achievement (Collet, 2017; 2019).
Here’s my model for Lesson Study:
Pretty simple, right? Although teachers often plan and reflect
together, they don’t often observe together a lesson they have collaboratively
planned. And I truly believe the
observation piece is key (more about that next week). As an instructional coach, you can support
the Lesson Study process and enhance its effectiveness. I hope you’ll consider doing so.
There are other places to find out about
Lesson Study, but I’d love it if you learned about the process by reading my
upcoming book, which you can find here. It won’t be in print until Sept. 5, but there’s
a 20% off promo code for pre-orders right now (the code is: TCP2019). I’ve loved making this book for teachers. I
hope you’ll love it and share it, too!
Lesson Study supports authentic, productive professional development. This week, you might want to take a look at:
This video about Lesson Study:
What do teachers really want from PD?
Respect:
This
Tedx Talk on windows and mirrors on the bookshelf:
The language of affirmation:
A book about hacking instructional design:
That’s it for this week.
Happy Coaching!
Was this helpful? Please share!
Want to know about new posts? Click
“Follow” (bottom right)
No comments:
Post a Comment