0% found this document useful (0 votes)
27 views10 pages

Lieberman 2008

The article emphasizes the importance of transforming teacher in-service learning as a means to achieve educational reform, advocating for professional development that fosters learning communities among educators. It critiques the current fragmented approach to professional development, suggesting that teachers benefit more from collaborative environments that promote shared knowledge and practices. The authors highlight successful models like the National Writing Project and call for the incoming president to support and expand such initiatives to enhance teacher learning nationwide.

Uploaded by

Phương Trinh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
27 views10 pages

Lieberman 2008

The article emphasizes the importance of transforming teacher in-service learning as a means to achieve educational reform, advocating for professional development that fosters learning communities among educators. It critiques the current fragmented approach to professional development, suggesting that teachers benefit more from collaborative environments that promote shared knowledge and practices. The authors highlight successful models like the National Writing Project and call for the incoming president to support and expand such initiatives to enhance teacher learning nationwide.

Uploaded by

Phương Trinh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 10

Journal of Teacher Education http://jte.sagepub.

com/

Teacher Learning: the Key to Educational Reform


Ann Lieberman and Désirée H. Pointer Mace
Journal of Teacher Education 2008 59: 226
DOI: 10.1177/0022487108317020

The online version of this article can be found at:


http://jte.sagepub.com/content/59/3/226

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)

Additional services and information for Journal of Teacher Education can be found at:

Email Alerts: http://jte.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts

Subscriptions: http://jte.sagepub.com/subscriptions

Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav

Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

Citations: http://jte.sagepub.com/content/59/3/226.refs.html

>> Version of Record - Apr 24, 2008

What is This?

Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014


TEACHER LEARNING: THE KEY TO
EDUCATIONAL REFORM

Ann Lieberman
Désirée H. Pointer Mace
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

This letter to the next president of the United States recommends the transformation of teacher in-
service learning as a powerful means of education reform. Too often, professional development is per-
ceived by teachers as being idiosyncratic and irrelevant. The authors recommend a reconceptualization
of professional learning for practicing teachers, in which educators are involved in learning commu-
nities, these communities evolve over time, and they revolve around norms of openness, scholarly rigor,
and collaborative construction of professional knowledge. The authors describe three such environ-
ments of professional learning—the National Writing Project, the Carnegie Academy for the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and the Quest Project for Signature Pedagogies in Teacher
Education—and recommend that the incoming chief executive should capitalize on the strengths of
such programs and extend them to many more teachers nationwide.

Keywords: teacher learning; communities of practice; professional development; online networks

Dear New President: (NCLB), its implementation has fallen short


We want to write to you about the impor- of expectations by reducing accomplished
tance of teacher learning, showing you what teachers’ opportunities to draw on the wisdom
we have now, which hasn’t been working too of their experiences to serve their students.
well, and giving you some important examples Student learning needs improvement; teacher
that we believe can show the wave of the knowledge seems to be one answer. But how to
future. This is an area of critical concern that get there is the crux of the problem.
needs your attention and support.
Teachers are on the front lines of a changing
society. Teaching as telling is no longer appro- WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
priate for a knowledge society that needs One natural solution is to teach teachers
students who are prepared in problem solving, how to improve their practice. But professional
adaptability, critical thinking, and digital litera- development, though well intentioned, is often
cies, just to name a few. These changing stakes perceived by teachers as fragmented, discon-
are accompanied by changing demographics. nected, and irrelevant to the real problems of
Public schools now serve increasingly diverse classroom practice. Less than half of National
student populations and schools and their Board–certified teachers are satisfied with the
teachers are being challenged to respond. quality and quantity of professional learning
Teachers work in isolation and only rarely have opportunities available at their school (Leadership
a chance to observe their colleagues or talk Survey; National Board for Professional Teaching
about their teaching work. Although many Standards, 2001). This finding is echoed by the
agreed on the purposes of No Child Left Behind MetLife Survey of the American Teacher
Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008 226-234
DOI: 10.1177/0022487108317020
© 2008 by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

226
Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
(Metropolitan Life/Harris Interactive, 2003): direction with more long-lasting results and a
Only 42% of teachers surveyed in their study of deeper understanding of the kinds of conditions
school leadership felt that their principals pro- needed to improve teachers’ practice (see, e.g.,
vided adequate professional development Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993; Lieberman &
opportunities. Most professional development Wood, 2003; McLaughlin & Talbert 2006;
simply misses the mark. Wenger, 1998).
We are coming to understand that learning
rather than being solely individual (as we have
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT PROFESSIONAL taken it to be) is actually also social. It happens
DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS? through experience and practice. In plain
NCLB now dominates professional develop- terms—people learn from and with others in
ment in many schools. In a typical school, all particular ways. They learn through practice
teachers go to professional development work- (learning as doing), through meaning (learning
shops where they most often learn how to follow as intentional), through community (learning
a script that presumably they will use in hopes of as participating and being with others), and
raising their students test scores. This approach through identity (learning as changing who we
ignores the different needs of the students, the are). Professional learning so constructed is
experience of the teacher, and the myriad possi- rooted in the human need to feel a sense of
bilities for engaging students in learning. In most belonging and of making a contribution to a
schools, teachers are asked to use a curriculum community where experience and knowledge
package regardless of the context that has caused function as part of community property.
demoralization in many schools, shrinking the Teachers’ professional development should
curriculum and taking away all the necessary be refocused on the building of learning
judgments of the teacher as to the appropriate- communities. It is this understanding, along
ness of the content for their particular students. with some important shifts toward studying
Instead of building a culture of professional teachers’ practice, that have helped focus
learning, teachers are faced with a “culture of teachers’ professional development on the
compliance.” Instead of learning from and with building of learning communities. It is this turn
their fellow teachers as well as learning from that we think should be a big part of your
research, teachers are being given a script that approach to supporting professional develop-
tightly binds them to a narrow curriculum that ment. We believe that districts and states can
may or may not fit the needs of the teachers or support professional learning communities by
their particular classrooms. Instead of creating providing teachers with continuous blocks of
the conditions for teachers to teach each other, time devoted to a variety of ways for teachers
support their peers, and deepen their knowl- to teach teachers the strategies that have been
edge about their students, teachers are being successful with their own students, using tech-
given a “one size fits all” set of professional nology to illustrate good teaching, and build-
development workshops that deny the variabil- ing networks of teacher communities where
ity of how teachers teach, and how they and teacher leaders can provide such professional
their students learn. But there is much that we development with their colleagues. The National
are learning that can help us frame this problem Writing Project (NWP), which you already sup-
differently and much that you can do as presi- port, is an excellent example of what we mean
dent to enable and support a different way of (Lieberman & Wood, 2003).
thinking about professional development.

GETTING INSIDE TEACHER COMMUNITIES


CREATING A SOCIAL CONTEXT There is now a great deal of evidence that
FOR LEARNING teachers learn best when they are members of a
There has been a burgeoning of both research learning community and there is some begin-
and experience teaching us to move in a different ning knowledge their students do also (see,

Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008 227


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
e.g., Grossman, Wineburg, & Woolworth, 2001; build a shared language and a way of working
Little, in press; McLaughlin & Talbert, 2001; that is consonant with their school’s local con-
Stoll & Louis, 2007; Supovitz & Christman, text and culture. But learning communities in
2003; Westheimer, 1998). schools appear to often need external resources
Looking at two different middle schools— to support internal work; to provide different
Brandeis and Mills—both with a reputation expectations for teaching and learning; and
of being professional learning committees, opportunities to practice different roles, respon-
Westheimer (1998) gathered the nuances that sibilities, and relationships. It is here that you
help explain the subtleties in teacher commu- as president can encourage and support the
nities. He described the enormous differences creation of these “learning communities.” As
in the goals, structures, processes, and beliefs president you can support the expectation that
of these communities and how these differ- teachers will participate in communities at
ences are manifested in the character of the two their school, provide money for time over the
schools. The analysis of Brandeis and Mills year to meet, and encourage the growth of
begins to add important details of practice to teacher leadership to extend and expand pro-
the theories of community. For example, they fessional development.
both had shared beliefs; however, Brandeis’s
teaching strategies were “individualized
dependent on teacher’s choice,” whereas NETWORKS AND PARTNERSHIPS SUPPORT
Mills’s are “collectivized, interdisciplinary, and TEACHER LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP
project based” (p. 121). These differences are A number of reform networks, school–
manifested in a variety of other ways as well. university partnerships, and coalitions have
At Brandeis, administrators make decisions formed in the last few decades—many creating
without input from teachers, participation in opportunities for teachers to learn from and with
public forums is limited, and professional and their colleagues (Lieberman, 1992; Lieberman &
personal commitments are often in conflict. At Grolnick, 1996; McDonald, Mohr, Dichter, &
Mills, teachers make decisions and set school McDonald, 1999). But arguably, none has lasted
policy, participation is widespread and exten- as long and produced so many graduates as the
sive, and professional work is highly social and NWP—and, most important, none has been able
engages people through personal and social to “scale up” the way the NWP has. To date,
commitments (p. 123). These differences turn there are now 200 sites.1 Recently a study docu-
out to be important as they demonstrate that mented the influences of the NWP on teachers
communities can be individual or collabora- who had been in the writing project from 1974 to
tive, highly autonomous or collective, and tra- 1994—the first 20 years of the NWP. The study
ditionally led or led by teachers. And both can found that writing project experiences influ-
be professional communities. enced their work at all levels of the educational
McLaughlin and Talbert (2006) have been system (Lemahieu, Swain, Fessehaie, & Mieles,
studying school-based learning communities 2007). In addition to these studies, Lieberman
for more than 15 years. Their seminal work has and Wood (2003) documented the summer insti-
taught us that school-based communities tute in an urban and a rural site. They then fol-
are uniquely situated between “macro-” or lowed four teachers back to their classrooms to
system-level directives and resources and the see if what they learned in the summer institute
“micro”realities of teachers’ classrooms. They ever found its way into their classrooms. They
argued that school-based communities manage found that all four teachers were using many of
“from the middle,” and in so doing they can the strategies that they learned in the summer
successfully negotiate the policy demands at institute and, of importance, that there was a set
the top and their local situation at the bottom of social practices that provided the core
(p. 4). Because these communities can be found processes that went on during the institute.
on grade-level teams, within departments, or These practices are replicated in the 200 existing
even in a whole school faculty, they can help sites to date.

228 Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
Perhaps this gives us one of the clues as to the in helping make teaching public as they devel-
importance of external networks. The NWP has oped and distributed leadership among the
shown us not only how to engage teachers pro- teachers (Earl, Katz, et al., 2006).
fessionally but also how to involve them in a These two examples show how teachers are
community that cares about them, their learn- developed in a community and learn how to
ing, and their continuous growth. In addition to facilitate learning for others. They teach us how,
these practices, after the summer institute many and in what ways, teachers taken out of their
teachers are asked to become teacher consultants– immediate school community become socialized
professional developers who facilitate learning into a collaborative culture and more attuned to
for others. In sum, the NWP provides some the complexity and ambiguity of their classroom
important understandings about how to engage work. They teach teachers to trust and learn
and motivate teachers, how to form learning from one another. Both learning communities in
communities, and how to develop leadership schools and networks across schools turn out to
among its participants. They have provided evi- be an important and viable way of thinking dif-
dence that the greater the teacher learning, the ferently about professional development.
more students learn as well. As president, you
can continue to fund such groups as the NWP as Learning and Teaching
they have already proven that they can support
not only better teaching but also increased A number of reform networks have become
student learning. increasingly self-conscious about what they are
Another important developmental effort that learning and how resources can be used to sup-
has been documented has been that of the net- port teacher learning. For example the Networked
worked communities in the United Kingdom Communities (http://www.nlcexchange.org.uk)
(Jackson, 2006; Jackson & Temperley, 2007). In has created many tools and templates for
that effort, the authors describe a 5-year project teachers. These publications range from What
sponsored by the government in which teachers Does a Network Leader Do? to Getting Started
worked in a partnership arrangement with one With Networked Research Lesson Study. As the
or more schools forming a variety of networks school networks grew, the organizing group
to enhance the quality of student learning. In so continued to put out publications that helped
doing, they changed the nature of professional to guide the various school networks in their
development in supporting school-to-school improvement efforts. In like manner, the
learning. In each of the groups of schools, joint Coalition of Essential Schools invented meet-
work groups were formed; they planned collec- ing tools that helped participants learn to talk
tively, developed problem-solving teams, and with one another, build trust, and help people
shared professional development activities. discuss teaching practice. In particular, they
The school networks helped to create practitioner introduced the power of protocols (McDonald
knowledge (from teachers’ experience), public knowl- et al., 2007) and how to focus on looking at
edge (from research and theory), and new knowl- student work (Allen & Blythe, 2004). These
edge (from what was created together). During materials are now used by networks and part-
the 5 years, not only did teacher engagement in nerships all over the country, helping teachers
communities (more than 150) involve hundreds learn a new way of being with their peers,
of teachers throughout the United Kingdom, but increasing their ability to talk publicly about
their students’ learning improved. In an evalua- their practice, and improving their teaching by
tion of the effort, three findings are significant. working with their colleagues. As a new presi-
These networks of teachers from different dent, I think you can see that by turning pro-
schools managed to raise achievement for fessional development toward the building of
students, taught the participants how to work learning communities for teachers, providing
collaboratively linked to “rigorous and chal- for variety and collaboration rather than uni-
lenging joint work,” and managed to build trust formity and conformity, and putting teacher

Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008 229


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
knowledge at the center instead of curriculum LEARNING FROM TEACHERS’ QUESTIONS:
packages, you will be supporting a culture of THE CARNEGIE ACADEMY OF THE
professionalism rather than a “culture of con- SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND
formity.” Our examples that follow show you LEARNING (CASTL), 1999–2004
how these kinds of communities can be sup- The CASTL project consisted of several
ported and developed. cohorts of K-12 faculty from around the country
who were brought together for a period
How We Have Worked to Develop Teacher between 1 and 2 years to develop the scholar-
Learning: A Tale of Three Communities ship of their teaching practice. According to
Shulman (1999), the teaching profession suffers
Experienced teachers know that teaching and from a lack of a scholarly tradition, especially
learning are complicated, layered enterprises. when compared with professional and discipli-
But too often policy discussions of teaching are nary learning in the sciences, law, and medi-
reductive rather than expansive, leading to cine. If they are to learn from the expertise in
analysis of aggregated test data instead of rich their ranks, teachers must make their inquiry
discussions about ways to move the wisdom of into their teaching practice public, invite others
practice from classroom to classroom. Over the to provide critique, and then build on their own
past decade, we have worked with several and others’ work to elevate the knowledge base
cohort communities in projects of the Carnegie of teaching professionals. In the CASTL project,
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching however, we quickly observed that because of
involved in developing K-12 teachers’ learning the relational nature of teaching practice, it was
and knowledge. Three different models of more difficult to adequately describe the multi-
teacher learning communities have developed: layered nature of teachers’ questions, contexts,
One grew out of teachers’ own questions about and evolving practice over time in only one
their practice, one deliberately engaged K-12 medium. Many of the CASTL scholars began to
teachers and professors of teacher education in work with us to create multimedia Web sites
“going public” with multimedia records of their to share their questions and reflections as well
practice, and one traced the process of teachers as videos of classroom practice, examples of
adapting what they learned from professional student work, and the teachers’ pedagogical
development into their own classroom contexts. and curriculum materials (Hatch et al., 2005;
Our work has placed more emphasis on Hatch & Pointer Mace, 2007; Pointer, 2003;
“going public” with teacher knowledge than Pointer, Hatch, & Iiyoshi, 2002).
on studying learning outcomes for students. In the CASTL project, the community was
Still to be accomplished is linking the growth formed around the exchange of the teachers’
of the use of these records of teaching practices scholarship; evolved over 1 to 2 years, combining
to student learning outcomes. These records of in-person assemblies with electronic asynchro-
teaching practices pave the way for enriched nous communication; and culminated in the pub-
conversations about the complexities of student lication of the fellows’ work, variously online (in
learning. Getting underneath the students’ test the Gallery of the Scholarship of Teaching and
scores to investigate their understandings Learning, http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org),
of content over time, in interaction with their in educational journals (e.g., Cone, 2003), or in
instructors, more closely approaches the sophis- books (e.g., Berger, 2003). Over time, allies of
tication and complexity with which accom- the CASTL project who worked in teacher edu-
plished teachers assess their students’ learning. cation settings began to experiment with using
We have every reason to believe that a “culture the Web sites as alternative texts for the prepa-
of craftsmanship” seen in high-quality profes- ration of novice teachers. Pam Grossman of
sional development, as described earlier, will Stanford University, Anna Richert of Mills
be positively connected to improved student College, and Kathy Schultz of the University of
learning. Pennsylvania began experimenting with what

230 Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
it would mean to use Web sites as “texts” in request relevant related materials, and prob-
their courses, what new literacies would be lematize any contentious sections. The whole
required to “read” practice, and how the sites group saw themselves as teachers and learners;
could connect with other “signature pedago- in fact, many of the teacher educators learned a
gies” (Shulman, 2005) of teacher education great deal from their more techno-savvy students
such as case analysis and student teaching field as they began to experiment with new tech-
placements. We realized that by bringing these nologies in their teaching. Because the commu-
two communities together—accomplished nity was organized around the creation and
teachers and innovative teacher educators— exchange of multimedia records of practice, its
we might be able to significantly transform the culminating experience was the launch of a
transmission of the “wisdom of practice” “living archive” of teaching practice (http://www
(Shulman, 2004) in learning to teach. .InsideTeaching.org), which brought together
the individual practitioner Web sites, perspec-
tives on their use for teacher learning, related
LEARNING FROM RECORDS OF PRACTICE: resources and initiatives, and tools for creating
THE QUEST PROJECT FOR SIGNATURE new multimedia Web sites of teaching practice.
PEDAGOGIES IN TEACHER EDUCATION, Prior to the public launch of InsideTeaching
2004–2006 .org, however, something interesting began to
Jointly funded by the Richard and Rhoda happen with one of the K-12 Web sites. The
Goldman Fund and the Carnegie Foundation, project team started receiving dozens of unso-
the Quest Project brought together accom- licited e-mails in response to Jennifer Myers’s
plished teachers in K-12 classrooms with a Web site about her practice of readers and writ-
national cohort of professors of teacher educa- ers workshop in her second-grade classroom.
tion to create additional multimedia Web sites The e-mails, mostly from practicing teachers
of K-12 teaching practice, mindfully integrate but a few from teacher educators or school prin-
them into a diverse array of teacher education cipals, were uniformly appreciative of Myers’s
settings, and document teacher educators’ opening up her classroom practice for others to
processes of teaching with these new “texts.” learn from and with. One teacher applauded
In this case, the Web sites not only originated her bravery in making her teaching public:
from the individual practitioners’ questions and I think it is really brave of you to put yourself out
observations but were intended to respond to there like this so that many ofthe rest of us can “peek”
particular gaps and dilemmas of teacher edu- inside your classroom. One of the worst things about
cation: teaching high school English teachers teaching is that they never give you enough time to
how to run an effective discussion of literary observe in other classrooms ONCE you become a
teacher. You get lots of time when you are a student
texts, showing elementary math teachers how teacher, but after you’ve taught for several years,
to carefully pose problems for mathematical that’s when you know what to look for and what you
understanding, and showing how to help sec- need to reinvigorate your classroom.
ondary teachers understand not only their
content matter but the developmental consid- Another wrote that she “found the website
erations involved in teaching adolescents, just extremely helpful. Currently, I am in a creden-
to name a few. tialing program and was very pleased to find
In the Quest Project, the K-12 and teacher this site. It has served to clarify confusion about
education cohorts did not convene in a large how a Reader’s Workshop is conducted.” An
group together; rather, this extended commu- international teacher from Chang Mai, Thailand
nity exchanged ideas around the development wrote that she
of the Web sites. As the K-12 and teacher edu-
stumbled across your website this afternoon while
cators documented their teaching, they made preparing for a teachers training on reading and
draft versions of their Web sites public so that writing workshops. I can’t believe that you are such
interested colleagues could ask questions, a new teacher! After only a few years you have

Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008 231


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
really got it down! Bravo! . . . I am doing a teacher Web site for multiple practitioners, centered
training when school starts. We have graduated around a visual matrix allowing audiences to
from three teachers to five this coming year and as
follow not only the teaching, materials, and
the 5th grade teacher I am hoping to get everyone
“on the same page” so that by time the kids get to reflections of individual teachers but also par-
me they have some basic skills. Until now it has ticular practices across grade levels in multiple
been every man for himself as far as teaching meth- settings. Audiences hungry for examples of
ods and strategies. Not working, believe me! Sadly, different educators’ approaches to the teaching
I had a group of 5th graders this year who read 2nd of writing can follow how four teachers (grades
grade level and can’t write a sentence let alone a
paragraph or story. They had never really written
K, 2, 2, and 5) open the writing workshop, con-
stories if you can believe it! Anyway, if you wouldn’t fer with their students, provide independent
mind I would like to show your videos to my time for students to develop their writing, and
teachers during our training. They are wonderfully celebrate the works generated at the end of the
done and so easy to follow. workshop period.
The Noyce Foundation prioritizes an impact
After responding to these e-mails (and many on local schools for ECRW, but this “Web site of
others) we learned that the teachers were com- Web sites” allows audiences far beyond the
ing upon Myers’s site after entering “writing ECRW implementation school districts access
workshop videos” into their search engines. By to these professional learning opportunities.
chance, Jennifer Myers’s site tapped into a felt Contrary to professional development models
need in the teaching community writ large—to predicated on “best practice,” this project rests
see into the practices of literacy workshop, to on the assertion that there can be multiple ways
unpack them, and to translate them to other to translate strong ideas about literacy teaching
teaching contexts. Myers herself describes on into particular classroom contexts. Teaching is
her Web site that her workshop approach to lit- inherently variable, but that does not mean that
eracy has been greatly influenced by her expe- the practices are weakened by variability. By
riences in professional development run by contrast, a recognition that professional learn-
Every Child a Reader and Writer (ECRW), a ing opportunities should adapt to particular
project funded by the Noyce Foundation. We contexts, student populations, and develop-
shared Myers’s site and the e-mail responses mental levels will give the practices themselves
with Noyce, and together we began to think more traction and momentum.
about what it might look like to capture the Already the experienced teachers charged
process of transmission of knowledge for inser- with maintaining momentum for ECRW in
vice teachers, to document the practice of pro- their local sites are thinking about ways to use
fessional development (and a professional the site for professional learning. One coach
developer) and several teachers’ work to trans- observed that the sites afford teachers the abil-
form the Noyce literacy and writing workshop ity to “look out” (analyze the walls, charts, and
practices into their local settings. instructional supports visible in the classroom)
and “look in” (analyze the interactions between
teacher and student in a writing conference).
THE NOYCE–CARNEGIE QUEST PROJECT Another mentioned that showing examples of
FOR ELEMENTARY WRITING WORKSHOP: a school’s literacy approach will greatly enhance
2006–2007 communication with parents on Back to School
In June 2007, we completed a yearlong ini- nights. A principal observed that looking
tiative to document this transmission of the across examples of teacher learning would be
“wisdom of practice” for experienced practic- strengthened even further by showing student
ing teachers in the teaching of writing. For the development over time, if a group of teachers
first time, because the teachers involved had at a school site could commit to documenting
structured their literacy instructional time in their practice and making it public. Their
parallel ways according to the Noyce model of response was strong—they see themselves as
writing workshop, we were able to create one part of a burgeoning movement in which

232 Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
teacher learning and teacher knowledge moves Cone, J. (2003, May/June). The construction of low
from margin to center in the advancement of achievement: A study of one detracked senior English
class [Online]. The Harvard Education Letter. Retrieved
the profession.
May 31, 2007, from http://www.edletter.org/past/
issues/2003-mj/teacher.shtml
How Can We Reframe Professional Earl, L., Katz, S., Elgie, S., Ben Jaafar, S., & Foster, L.
(2006). How networked communities work. Final report of
Development and Teacher Learning? the three year External Evaluation of the Networked
Learning Communities Programme. Nottingham, UK:
The teacher communities described here National College of School Leadership.
exhibit the best we know so far about effective Grossman, P., Wineburg, S., & Woolworth, S. (2001).
professional development. They focus on Toward a theory of teacher community. Teachers College
instruction; are sustained and continuous, Record, 103(6), 942-1012.
Hatch, T., Ahmed, R., Lieberman, A., Faigenbaum, D.,
rather than short term and episodic; provide Eiler White, M., & Pointer Mace, D. (2005). Going public
opportunities for teachers to learn from one with our teaching: An anthology of practice. New York:
another both inside and outside the school; Teachers College Press.
make it possible for teachers to influence how Hatch, T., & Pointer Mace, D. (2007). Making teaching
and what they learn; and engage teachers in public: A digital exhibition. Teachers’ College Record
Online. Retrieved from http://www.tcrecord.org/
thinking about what they need to know
content.asp?contentid=13462
(Hawley & Valli, 2007). Whether organized as a Hawley, W., & Valli, L. (2007). Design principles for
group of teachers, a department, team, or a learner-centered professional development. In
group of schools, the idea of teacher communi- W. Hawley with D. Rollie (Eds.), The keys to effective
ties has been embraced by educators all over the schools: Educational reform as continuous improvement
world as a way of meeting the challenges of (2nd ed., pp. 117-137). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Jackson, D. (2006, December). Networked learning commu-
improving schools in this fast-changing global nities: Setting school to school collaboration within a system
society. In addition, teachers are expanding their context (Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series
circle of like-minded colleagues by forming and Paper No. 159). Nottingham: National College for
joining online teaching communities, which School Leadership.
allow geographically dispersed members to Jackson, D., & Temperley, J. (2007, January). From profes-
sional learning community to networked learning
meet, exchange ideas, and learn from each other.
community. In L. Stoll & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Professional
Perhaps if we think of these learning communi- learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas
ties as the best professional development for (pp. 45-62). New York: Open University Press.
teachers, we can concentrate on offering sup- Lemahieu, P. G., Swain, S. S., Fessehaie, S., & Mieles, T.
ports that will encourage the communities to (2007, April). Making a difference: NWP’s inculcation of
grow and, in the process, create the conditions leadership over 30 years. Paper presented to the American
Educational Research Association meeting, Chicago.
for more open and collaborative school cultures. Lieberman, A. (1992). School–university partnerships: A
view from the inside. Kappan, 74(2), 147-156.
Lieberman, A., & Grolnick, M. (1996). Networks and
NOTES reform in American education. Teachers College Record,
98(1), 8-45.
1. A site in the NWP grows out of a university–school part-
Lieberman, A., & Wood, D. R. (2003). Inside the National
nership. The university is the “owner” of the site. Beginning sites
receive $20,000 and must document both their plans and their Writing Project: Connecting network learning to classroom
work throughout the year and keep accurate information on who teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.
they serve and the nature of the formats for work. Little, J. W. (in press). Teachers’ accounts of classroom
experience as a resource for professional learning and
instructional decision-making. In P. Moss (Ed.),
REFERENCES Evidence and decision making. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Allen, D., & Blythe, T. (2004). The facilitator’s book of ques- McDonald, J., Mohr, N., Dichter, A., & McDonald, E. C.
tions. New York: Teachers College Press. (2007). The power of protocols (2nd ed.). New York:
Berger, R. (2003). An ethic of excellence: Building a culture of Teachers College Press.
craftsmanship in schools. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. McLaughlin, M. W., & Talbert, J. (2001). Professional com-
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1993). Inside/outside: Teacher munities and the work of high school teaching. Chicago:
research and knowledge. New York: Teachers College Press. University of Chicago Press.

Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008 233


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014
McLaughlin, M. W., & Talbert, J. (2006). Building school-based Supovitz, J. A., & Christman, J. B. (2003). Developing com-
teacher learning communities: Professional strategies to improve munities of instructional practice: Lessons from Cincinnati
student achievement. New York: Teachers College Press. and Philadelphia (CPRE Policy Brief). Philadelphia:
Metropolitan Life/ Harris Interactive. (2003). Metlife Survey University of Pennsylvania.
of the American Teacher. New York: Metropolitan Life. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, mean-
National Board for ProfessionalTeaching Standards. ing & identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
(2001). Leading from the classroom: Highlights from the Press.
2001 NBPTS National Board Certified Teacher Leadership Westheimer, J. (1998). Among schoolteachers: Community,
Survey conducted by Yankclovtch Partners. Arlington, autonomy and ideology in teachers’ work. New York:
VA: NHITS. Available from www.nbpts.org Teachers College Press.
Pointer, D. (2003). What’s in it for me? Opportunities and
outcomes of using multimedia and the internet to represent Ann Lieberman is an emeritus professor from
and share practitioner research. Paper presented at the
Teachers College. Her research interests have been on
American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
Pointer, D., Hatch, T., & Iiyoshi, T. (2002). What happens
networks and on partnerships that are organized to cre-
when teachers put inquiry online? Paper presented at the ate the conditions for enhanced teacher learning and the
meeting of the American Association of Higher development of teacher knowledge. She has written or
Education, Chicago. edited more than 15 books; her best known work is a
Putnam, R., & Borko, H. (1997). What do new views of book, written with Lynne Miller, titled Teachers: Their
knowledge and thinking have to say about research on World and Their Work. She is now a senior scholar
teacher learning? Educational Researcher, 29(1), 4–15. at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Shulman, L. (1999, July/August). Taking learning seri- Teaching.
ously. Change, 31, 10-17.
Shulman, L. (2004). The wisdom of practice: Essays on teach- Désirée H. Pointer Mace is an assistant professor in
ing, learning, and learning to teach (S. M. Wilson, Ed.). the School of Education at Alverno College. Her teaching
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. and research interests include the creation and use of
Shulman, L. (2005, February). The signature pedagogies of multimedia records of teaching practice in environments
the professions of law, medicine, engineering, and the clergy:
of teacher learning. With Ann Lieberman, she previously
Potential lessons for the education of teachers. Presentation
delivered at the Teacher Education for Effective
codirected the Quest Project for Signature Pedagogies in
Teaching and Learning workshop, National Research Teacher Education at the Carnegie Foundation for the
Council’s Center for Education, Washington, DC. Advancement of Teaching. She taught for several years as
Stoll, L. & Louis, K. S. (2007). Professional learning commu- an early primary Spanish bilingual elementary school
nities divergence: Depth and dilemmas. Berkshire, UK: teacher in Oakland and San Francisco Unified School
Open University Press. Districts.

234 Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, May/June 2008


Downloaded from jte.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on September 28, 2014

You might also like