Last
week’s post described the power of individual
reflection. This week, let’s think about possibilities when coaches support
collaborative
reflection.
Building
time for collaborative reflection into team coaching cycles provides authentic opportunities for teachers to share their work
and problem-solve together. You will create
and sustain a collegial community and teaching repertoires will expand as you think
together about student learning.
Because teachers spend most of their
workweek alone, you’ll need to be intentional about collaborative reflection. The
“Five Tools for Listening” provide reminders for keeping conversations
productive. These five P’s (pausing, paraphrasing, probing, presuming positive
intentions, and paying attention to self and others) are guides for listeners
during collaborative reflection. Using these tools supports dialogue, assists
the group in hearing and understanding one another, and encourages
collaborative decision-making.
Pausing: Pause before
responding. Knowing you will pause, you can give your full attention to
listening. The pause is your thinking time to process what you have heard.
Paraphrasing: Briefly
summarize what your colleague said. This demonstrates your attention and is a
check for understanding. You can use a paraphrase starter like, “So, you’re
thinking . . . .”
Probing: Ask for clarification
or elaboration by using phrases such as, “Please say more about . . . ” or “I’m
interested in . . . ” Responses to these probing questions make thinking more
concrete.
Presuming
Positive Intentions: Assume
that others’ intentions are positive. Trust your colleagues.
Paying
attention to self and others: Stay aware of what is being said and
how others are responding.
I’ve
found it helps to review the Five P’s from time
to time or have them posted in the team meeting room.
Of course, these listening tools will only
be useful if someone is talking! Encourage teachers to balance listening with
sharing during collaborative reflection. When teachers put their own ideas on the
table, using phrases such as, “Here is one idea…” or “Another consideration
might be…” keeps the conversation open to additional suggestions. Talking about the benefits of using phrases
like these, and modeling them as coaches, helps to develop norms for productive
collaboration.
Both inquiring into the ideas of others and
advocating for one’s own ideas are important as teachers reflect together. Author
and teacher Jan Johnson suggestions, “It’s not our experiences that bring
transformation, it’s our reflection upon our experiences.” Collaborative
reflection supports a change cycle of continuous improvement.
------------------------------------------
Teacher collaboration and reflection are things I’m passionate
about! You can read more about it in my book,
Collaborative Lesson Study, which is now one week
old. J It’s available here (20% discount code is TCP2019).
If you’d like to join the Facebook book club for the book, click here. Discussion begins Sept. 27 with Chapter 1!
------------------------------------------
This week, you
might want to take a look at:
Checklists
as targets for writers’ learning:
How
do you know if students are engaged? Ask
them!
Coaching
for flexibility:
Watch
teacher learn from each other on “learning walks”:
Talks
with Teachers podcast with Sarah Donoval, who shares her story and why
vulnerability is important in the classroom:
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