In discussions with colleagues about what factors contribute to their satisfaction of the school environment they work in, chief among them is the quality of professional development the school provides. Effective teachers see themselves as lifelong learners and seek opportunities to continually grow, challenge themselves, and push their thinking. Like our students, teachers are at different places in their learning and need professional development that is differentiated to meet their needs and professional goals. At the same time, staff development affords a school an opportunity to create a professional learning community that shares common language and vision.

How can staff professional development both meet the needs of individual teachers AND create community among them? What does this look like? What experiences have you had where this kind of professional development has taken place? What resources and supports do you think a school needs to have in place for this to happen? Can a school provide this kind of professional development or should teachers look outside of their working environment for professional development that meets their needs?

posted by john: job satisfaction is difficult to achieve in schools these days. i have been teaching for twenty -some years and seeking out my own professional development for various reasons. i think key to professional development is teacher inquiry. i think it happens through the use of protocols i.e. to look at student work and then create text about the insights gained. using protocols accesses the expertise & perspectives no matter what the teaching experience- it opens up talk to new dialogues without getting hung up on repetitious opinions and complaints. additionally, i am taking steps to enagage in cognitive coaching with teachers / colleagues as well. in both, teacher inquiry via protocols and cognitive coaching, trust is a major factor...but even a reluctant teacher may shift their thinking if they see a transformation- increased student learning- that comes from these teacher to teacher encounters… but these insights must be made public. i was feeling alienated from colleagues in school three years ago- our experience level and ages were over ten years difference… however, when i initiated the teacher inquiry group ( it started with four teachers & now there are two groups of five) in my school (modeled after the one i had been participating in with chicago area writing project teachers)… i began to feel more connected to coleagues and we found common ground as teachers and as people...also, this approach- protocols- placed student work at the center and from this target we sought other resources to support instruction that our kids needed- we were not trying to make some canned program fit within the hours of our day. regarding efficacy & craftsmanship, teachers can seek resources to support their instruction...and they must!!!

MaryAnn
I noticed that elementary and primary teachers respond well to the learning community model. I really enjoy being around these teachers. The middle school level seems more hardcore. I don’t know if it is because the teachers feel confident in their material, so they are less inclined to talk about student work - or could it be they are fearful that if the student work is poor, then they must be poor teachers? I don’t know. Many are involved in after school activities with the kids, so they are very busy. I don’t think the younger grades have that many after school activities.
I do know that I have learned so much about learning communities from Chicago Area Writing Project people. I get feedback and support. It takes time to develop that kind of trust. School initiatives always seem to feel like a rush to get done, even if administration says it is a process and will take years.
It’s like revision - in CAWP I learned about revision, we practiced it. Re-visiting collaborative school wide work often sounds like an insult to teachers. I mean that the teachers seem to feel that revision of work they did last year is a waste of time. Is it because the initiatives come from the top-down?
Community happens, but more on a social level. I only find a few people who like to discuss student work. Do we just start with the people who are interested and hope others get on board?

Although it’s important to seek out our own professional development that will match our current needs, I like the idea that it could exist in your own school.  So what would it look like?  Maryann noted that it shouldn’t just be from the top down.  Even if I like the ideas, I find I resent it if someone is trying to give only their own ideas.  She also noted that it’s often rushed.  I would rather the presenter do one thing right than 8 things that are rushed. 

I’m not familiar with the learning community model.  Is it described somewhere, Maryanne, or is it jut what it sounds like?

I noticed that John took effective action by establishing a teacher-inquiry group at his school and now there are 2.  I’m curious how he got the first people involved.

I have experienced retreats and beginning of the year PD where people “talk the talk” of having shared visions and a sense of trust and how we’ll be a family...all that good stuff.  However, at the very first obstacle in the road, we’re back to an authoritarian rule.  The leaders of the school may not really be willing to “walk the walk.” So much for trust.

I like John’s idea of creating a working group among the teachers he works with. The best professional development program I ever participated in was a series of presentations by other staff members.

I taught in the Chicago suburbs with its weird split between elemenetary and high school districts. Two elementary districts and the high school we served got together for our professional development programs for one school year. All the workshops, lectures and panel discussions were designed and presented by staff members from the three districts. The material was pertinent, interesting and useful. Those are three terms that rarely come to mind when discussing most professional development presentations.

We’re trying something that sounds along the lines of what John is describing at our school this year.  I think the key factor is having a faculty that is open to professional growth.  I like what John said about the fact that the resistant teachers might be more willing once they see that student achievement improves with this model.  I’m very excited about the opportunity to have discussions about student work and to discuss my practice with my colleagues in a critical way in order to improve my practice.

“I only find a few people who like to discuss student work. Do we just start with the people who are interested and hope others get on board?”

MaryAnn asks how we get others involved in school based professional inquiry.  Sometimes all it takes is one person issuing an invitation.  A teacher who took a storytelling workshop, for example, wanted to practice what she had learned and invited two close colleagues to work with her refining her skills.  They met after school and soon became a small storytelling troup whose numbers have swelled to include other teachers and whose impact is now felt schoolwide.  Another teacher wrote letters to colleagues inviting them to consider a topic and to gather in his room for conversation about it.  Some wrote back and and ongoing professional conversation was launched.  To be effective, professional development needs to become embedded in the life of the school and that requires leadership from someone . . . why not you?