Designing Schools for Meaningful Professional Learning: A Guidebook for Educators by Janice Bradley (Corwin, 2015)
When the latest member book from Learning Forward arrived recently, two things made me pick it up.
First, the title – and the word “meaningful” – is so important to our work. We often hear educators complain about “scattered inservices” or not having enough time to really do the type of sustained, collaborative learning that we all need to improve. Meaningful implies intentionality, purpose, and—most importantly—relevance and timeliness. So I was intrigued.
The second factor that prompted me to immediately open the book was seeing the name Shirley Hord on the cover as the author of the foreword. Shirley is the Scholar Laureate of Learning Forward and the author of countless books on professional learning and change. Her name is synonymous with effective professional learning, and I knew that if she liked the book enough to write a foreword, it was worth my time to read it.
The Five-Part Plan
The author, Janice Bradley, is an educator and a consultant for SEDL and the Charles Dana Center at the University of Texas. In the book, she describes the Five-Part Plan (FPP), which offers a framework for identifying, planning, practicing, and assessing professional learning.
Bradley suggests that there are seven “unique features” to the FPP (p. xvii):
1. Creating a shared vision among school staff for effective classroom learning environments
2. Alignment to the teacher evaluation system
3. Teachers self-selection of learning designs
4. Opportunities for teachers to act as knowledge producers
5. Attention to the three dimensions of professional learning: technical, psychological/emotional, and social
6. Knowledge Showcase
7. Creation of a “Professional Knowledge Base”
Reading those features prompted me to make connections to some of the ABPC’s key work. The shared vision is critical to building a collaborative culture where all participants craft and embrace a clearly-defined vision of effective teaching and learning. The One-Page Instructional Target, advocated by Jim Knight in High Impact Instruction, is one way that many schools with which we work have created this type of shared vision.
The benefits of teacher choice
A third feature in the FPP, giving teachers the option to self-select learning designs, directly speaks to teacher choice. In the book, Janice Bradley suggests schools offer their faculty choice among nine different professional learning designs, ranging from co-teaching to lesson design.
Providing this opportunity for choice to small sets of teachers—grade-level, content-based, or vertical—empowers teachers to “have a sense of self-efficacy and human agency.” (p. 42).
Too often, Bradley contends, teachers are told what professional development to attend without anyone taking the time to inquire about their needs and their views. Instead, this partnership approach invites educational leaders and instructional partners/coaches to provide choice to teachers in ways that lead not only to improved teaching, but also to greater ownership of their roles in their classroom and their school.
Producers of knowledge
Finally, when I think of teachers as “knowledge producers,” I’m reminded of the importance of ongoing learning and building students’ ability to learn more and achieve more.
In the chapter on building this knowledge base, the author makes an important distinction between knowledge transmission and knowledge construction:
“…knowledge transmission implies the passive assimilation of given knowledge where as knowledge construction occurs when teachers begin to see their work as an active, essential effort to advance the field of education (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006)” [p. 123].
If we want students to be actively engaged in their learning, isn’t it important to encourage teachers to do the same and provide structures to facilitate knowledge construction?
The Five-Part Plan includes Nine Learning Designs
The author explains the FPP through her work with four very different schools. Included in the book are templates, reflection questions, and implementation ideas.
Each of the nine learning designs are accompanied by a planning framework, which includes a before (planning outside the classroom), during (the teaching or learning itself), and after (assessing the impact) segment. A short case study from one of the four schools also accompanies each design.
The learning designs are:
- Collaborative Planning, Teaching, and Assessing
- Peer Teaching
- Vertical Team Study
- Intentional Practicing With Student Response
- Using Technology—Link-In Lessons
- Studying Video and Application
- Lesson Design
- Shared Learning with Teachers, Principals, and Coaches
- Creative and Innovative Teaching
It’s All About Engagement
Throughout the book, Bradley draws heavily on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (1997). Flow is defined at an “optimal experience that is positive, enjoyable, and meaningful for the participant.”
To reach “flow,” participants must be exposed to the following four elements: 1) Clear goals; 2) Required skills to enable one to reach those goals; 3) Feedback on progress towards meeting the goals; and 4) Participants’ ability to control the activity (p. 112). Sadly, all too often, neither professional learning nor teaching is organized around these four vital elements.
Designing Schools for Meaningful Professional Learning: A Guidebook for Educators could serve as the antidote to uninspiring professional learning or teaching at your school. It also is a valuable tool for instructional leaders, coaches, and professional developers in search of a framework for structuring adult learning. It is a quick, accessible read (192 pp) and a resource that you will likely turn to time and time again.
► Read Chapter 1 of Meaningful Professional Learning: “Moving to Meaningful Professional Learning in Schools.”
► Listen to a podcast conversation with Janice Bradley: “It is about GROWTH not GOTCHA!”
