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Here is an interesting article on creating virtual PLCs. This is something I would like to do with my DTTP.

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One of the most effective vehicles for educators to lead change and innovation in the classroom are Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Virtual PLCs allow educators to connect with their counterparts everywhere, creating a critical mass of thoughtful educators who learn, reflect and capitalize on the wisdom of the crowd.
NEA Today spoke to Casey Reason, director of the Center for Advanced Leadership Studies of Professional Learning Communities and Virtual Collaboration and author of "Professional Learning Communities at Work™ and Virtual Collaboration: On the Tipping Point of Transformation" about PLCs and what they add to educator practice.
Why are professional learning communities so essential to improving practice?
Casey Reason: The most profound reason is that they bring about teacher-led innovation. Historically, public schools have been very top down and very bureaucratic. With professional learning communities (PLCs), however, educators are given an opportunity to contribute and to innovate without just being told what they need to try in their classrooms. Innovation and change should be in the hands of the people who serve the students. For example, when a group of third grade teachers are working together they are better able to meet the needs of the entire third grade class. If they find out students aren't performing well on a particular element of literacy or aren't reading at grade level, the members of that third grade PLC who are on the front lines are far more likely to identify strategies together that begin to work for some kids rather than having an outside expert come in to tell them what works for everyone.

At every school there's an outlier - a remarkable educator who excels in teaching particular concepts. In the old model when teaching occurred in silos, educators never learned about their colleagues' great professional practice. If you're outperforming the rest of the school in an area, a PLC allows the rest of the group to learn from and employ those practices if they're given the chance to work together. And it doesn't end there - another educator can add her own sliver to make this outstanding practice even better. It doesn't mean there's no need for professional development, but research shows that outliers exist at every school. Why not connect with them in a PLC so others can benefit?
Do most educators take advantage of them or do they find it too time consuming to establish one?
CR: It's not easy to find the time. In many schools, educators are given time by the administration to have a PLC during the school day. Other teachers make it their mission to find colleagues and work together, which can happen during planning time. But it is a challenge initially. The challenge is that teachers will say they don't have the extra time and will be concerned that a new PLC is some kind of mandate. What I say is if you can work together, you'll be more efficient and effective, which saves a lot of time. It's smart to work together. It's not smart to work alone.
What were the obstacles to creating and sustaining PLCs before technology?
CR: There's always the issue of time. Even well intended educators have families and packed scheduled with students and lunch duty. When you finally have a moment to look up, there's no time. But once educators commit to the time, they soon realize a PLC will save them even more time in the long run. A bigger obstacle than time, however, is not being faithful to the PLC process. If the members don't meet regularly, and don't agree on certain proficiency levels, or create a common form of assessment, there's no way to track the progress and create meaningful improvements. Without a way to measure how each educator is doing and how they can learn from each other, you're just getting together to meet and talk, and that's not an effective use of time.
How has technology broadened them?
CR: Technology allows people to meet and collaborate in a PLC asynchronously, without regard to time. You don't have to be in the same room at the same time, and you can have endless conversations on a topic and can share infinite resources. Technology has made collecting data easier. It's easier to sort through data and access solutions, but it also opens up the world to educators.

NEA offers a virtual PLC called EDCommunities, where teachers, parents, school support professionals, and community members share ideas, post resources and have ongoing conversations and brainstorm sessions to improve student success. It is free and open to anyone who wants to share ideas and resources and practices, not just in a school or district, but across a state, region or even around the world. It allows educators to find others who share their passion for a particular topic or subject that might not exist within the walls of their own school. And it's always at their fingertips.
What are some tips for creating virtual PLCs?
CR: Find a space that's collaborative and maintain connection so that members are interacting with the PLC regularly. Some teachers have chosen Facebook and created a group for their PLC. You need a web-based place, closed to just your group, that allows them to connect, share and be honest. I like NEA's EdCommunities space.

Also, find out and research the basic elements of what it means to be a PLC - there are several elements. One is establishing a common form of assessments to compare data on a consistent basis. If we come up with a form of assessment, we can see that both our kids did very well on a lesson, but your kids maybe missed this portion, while mine missed this portion. What are we doing differently and how can we get better? If you don't have a common form of assessment you can't identify the differences in achievement. Biggest thing establishment of common form of assessment - given and anylzed on a consistent basis. You've got a starting pount to use tech to support and enhance that PLC process. My hope is that would get them exicted to do more and dig in and do more research, and go deeper with virtual PLCs.

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Bolstering Collaboration Through Virtual Professional Learning Communities - NEA Today

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One of the most effective vehicles for educators to lead change and innovation in the classroom are Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Virtual PLCs allow educators to connect with their counterparts everywhere, creating a critical mass of thoughtful educators who learn, reflect and capitalize on the wisdom of the crowd.

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Learners’ motivations to learn are internal as well as external.

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Learners’ motivations to learn are internal as well as external.

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My DTTP training will be mandatory so it will be incumbent on me to have teachers reflect on their personal motivations for mastering the new information or skills. Right now I need to explore different ways to have teachers reflect so I am not sure what this will look like speciifically but some type of reflection will be used in every PD session. Below is an article from the NEA describing the need for this type of reflection

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The 2012 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, released in February, was a rather bleak snapshot of teacher morale across the country. But the survey also showed that educators who expressed a higher job satisfaction shared a common experience: They were more likely to have benefitted from effective professional development opportunities and collaborative time with fellow teachers.

"Effective professional development" is a phrase that may sound incongruous to many classroom teachers. Done right, professional development is indispensible. Still, the very term can trigger eye rolls, shaking heads, and heavy sighs. For many classroom teachers, the words summon bad memories: the valuable instruction time that was wasted listening to a so-called "expert" who hasn't spent a day in their classrooms, or the day-long workshop that was held in a half-empty, windowless hotel conference room filled with an endless parade of PowerPoint slides.

Those are just a few of the reasons the snarky comments fly when educators discuss professional development, calling it "Spray and Pray," "Drive By," or "Sit and Get." These experiences often end like this: "We're done. Now, go ahead and successfully replicate what you've learned in your classroom. Good luck." Follow-up training? Don't count on it. Collaborative time with colleagues? Hmmm...no. How do administrators know you're really talking about learning and instruction?

Lynne Dixon, a special education teacher in Waynesboro, Va., has experienced her fair share of those kinds of head-scratching, bewildering moments.

"I would sit listening to these experts who were brought in. They were very knowledgeable about the topic, but didn't really know anything about our schools or our students," Dixon recalls. "So it wasn't really relevant or useful. And I would walk out of the session wondering, 'Did I really just sit through that?'"

Dixon is relieved, however, that those kinds of wasted professional development opportunities mostly happened during the first half of her career. About a decade ago, professional learning in her district began to turn the corner. And it wasn't because there was more money for conferences, better experts, or the workshops became longer. What has made a difference for Dixon and her colleagues is that they have more time to share and collaborate with each other.

"The most valuable expertise we have is right inside our building and around the district," Dixon says. "The best people we can learn from and help improve our practice are colleagues."

There are plenty of worthwhile one-shot professional development programs that focus on building valuable skills and expertise. The issue is that too often these experiences represent the only opportunities for educators to improve their practice. Unless professional learning is strengthened, teachers can't be expected to develop and apply the necessary new skills and knowledge to improve student achievement, says Stephanie Hirsh, executive director of Learning Forward (learningforward.org), an international association dedicated to improving educator and student learning. Learning Forward released new professional learning standards in 2011 and assists many school systems nationwide in shaping and developing new policies and practices.

"Professional learning has to raise the performance level of educators and their students. But schools have to implement strategies that are less episodic," explains Hirsh. "Professional learning-when it's systemic, where it's being done as a sustained process inside a school, when it's ongoing, experiential, collaborative, and connected to students-is more powerful than any video, presentation, or catalogue of workshops."
Real Professional Learning: U.S. Behind the Curve
Teaching is more complex than ever. Working with students, teachers continually confront new challenges, and are expected to refine their strategies and techniques to ensure students learn. From keeping pace with the newest classroom technologies, addressing classroom discipline issues, and-perhaps most significantly- the rollout of the Common Core State Standards, the pressures to improve student achievement are immense. That's true for veteran teachers, and it's true for those who are new to the profession and need the coaching and training that can transform them into first-rate teachers.

The urgency to improve professional learning is also highlighted by the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems.

"The profession has increasingly recognized that it really needed to reassess what we were doing. There is an urgent demand," says Hirsh. "Professional learning used to be a benefit of employment. Now it's a requisite of improvement."

With an increased national emphasis on teacher quality and raising student achievement, NEA formed the National Commission on Teaching in 2010. The goal: To establish a new vision of the profession that is led by teachers and ensures teacher and teaching effectiveness. Reforming professional learning was a top priority.

"Ultimately, providing more effective professional development isn't about benefiting teachers-it's about benefiting students," explains NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. "If the United States is truly serious about helping every student succeed, we will invest in research-based professional development programs that get us there, and we'll have the patience to let them work."

Here's what the research shows: In schools where professional learning is centered around job-embedded collaboration with a focus on student results, teachers feel less isolated and experience a greater sense of confidence and job satisfaction-basically, the antithesis of the type of professional development that occurs outside the school, away from actual instruction, and away from students.

Dislodging a decades-old approach to anything, however, can be challenging. The somewhat individualistic climate of U.S. schools is a major obstacle-the so-called "egg crate" model of teaching and learning that allows teachers to go days, even a week, without a meaningful conversation with a colleague about instruction. Add to the mix a so-called reform movement that emphasizes competition between teachers, and fostering collective practice among educators becomes even more difficult to support.
"You Can't Solve These Issues By Yourself"
While progress on a national scale may be lagging, many educators across the nation have been able to form professional learning communities (PLCs) that tap into the expertise of fellow educators and the teams they can create within their own schools.

Broadly defined, a PLC is a continuous, goal-driven, student-focused, collaborative effort among educators to maximize student learning. Otherwise known as "inquiry teams" or "learning teams, " they all utilize job-coaching, peer observation, and mentoring. Teachers are organized into either grade-level or content-area teams to meet regularly to collaborate on teaching strategies and solve problems, set common instructional goals, teach lessons in their individual classrooms, and administer informal assessments to determine the level of student learning. The team then regroups to analyze student data together. Next, they identify what's working and what's not, and set goals for future teaching success.

Professional learning communities aren't a new idea, but for teachers like Kati McFadden, being part of a team of dedicated teachers who work together was a revelation. A second-grade teacher at Eisenhower Elementary in Dubuque, Iowa, McFadden's first two years in the classroom sound sadly typical of new teachers.

"I began my career at another school where I was isolated, like everyone else," McFadden recalls. "Maybe once and a while my colleagues and I would meet and discuss issues and look over student data. Somehow we would muddle through, I guess. But you can't solve these issues by yourself."

McFadden arrived at Eisenhower Elementary for her third year, in 2008, just as the PLC was being implemented throughout the district. The difference was startling, she says.

"It was awesome. All the support and expertise was formalized into learning teams that met regularly and was embedded throughout the school."

Tammy Duehr, a teacher at Eisenhower and president of the Dubuque Education Association, was a member of the district's Teacher Quality Committee, composed of administrators and teachers that brought PLCs to the district. The committee did a lot of research into the work of PLC expert Richard Dufour. They also devised belief statements and core assumptions, and created their own definition of a learning community and a rationale. All stakeholders got on board quickly, says Duehr, "and since then, we've been going strong.

"When the teams sit together, we know what the goal is; we know what the focus is; we share the work; talk abut the work and analyze the data. We then look at the student work and we make instructional choices together. It's just so much easier and effective than doing it yourself."

And sometimes there are obstacles. Frequently, the hurdle is related to the time learning community members must invest to work collegially with colleagues, participate in peer coaching, and analyze data.

To provide enough time, schools have to find blocks of time where teams of educators can meet outside the classroom-a task that requires solid administrative support. Some districts have late-start mornings, giving teachers a chance to meet with their groups before students arrive for class. Others rework the schedule so teams can have planning time. After school is also an option. Local associations and districts often work together to find the time for collaboration within the regular contract day, as they did in Dubuque.

"The time issue can be a killer," says Duehr, who is also a lead instructional coach. "We have to be creative. PLCs can be tricky because you initially want to set up all these rules and set parameters like we do for everything, yet the team is going to work as well as they can-if the members have some control over it."

Learning teams must also know what they need to accomplish. Andrew Tolksdorf,a music teacher in Green Bay, Wisc., explains that success can depend on asking the right questions and follow through: What do we want each student to learn? How will we know when each student has learned it? How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?

"You and your colleagues have to know what you're looking for as you analyze the data together. You have to know what the goals and plans are for the next month. There are a lot of skills involved in making a learning community work," Tolksdork explains. "And it takes time to see any results. Like with everything else, the devil is in the details."

For Kati McFadden, the language arts PLC at Eisenhower elementary was a milestone for her young teaching career. This year, the district begins to implement a new K-5 reading curriculum, Lead 21, which is built on the Common Core State Standards. It's a heavy lift for any teacher, and McFadden knows her collaboration with her teammates and the coaches will be critical if her students are to grasp the new curriculum.

"My teammates are a small but strong community of support," she says. "I couldn't teach without being a part of a team, and I wouldn't want to."

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No More 'Sit and Get': Rebooting Teacher Professional Development - NEA Today

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The 2012 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, released in February, was a rather bleak snapshot of teacher morale across the country. But the survey also showed that educators who expressed a higher job satisfaction shared a common experience: They were more likely to have benefitted from effective professional development opportunities and collaborative time with fellow teachers.

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Learners’ interest in learning is centered on problem solving.

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Learners’ interest in learning is centered on problem solving.

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My DTTP will be based on solving issues that face teachers in their day-to-day teaching. Follow up sessions for the training will be based on teacher feedback. Once the feedback is gathered, future PD sessions will be based on issues teachers have encountered so it can be immediately useful and problem centered. Below is a great article from the Washington Post describe this issue.

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Learners need to learn quickly—in real-life situations.

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Learners need to learn quickly—in real-life situations.

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On of my biggest frustrations with some PD sessions came when we would work with fictional data or random topics. I always wondered why we each could be using data from our schools or topics that we were going to be teaching. Luckily, in the last few years, my district moved in the direction of using our "real-life" situations on which to base our PD.  My DTTP sessions will allow teachers to work with their classrooms so they can complete the session and be better prepared to teach. Below is an interesting article on this type of "authentic learning."

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Educational Research Newsletter and Webinars

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Authentic learning is a relatively new term that describes learning through applying knowledge in real-life contexts and situations. In a recent article in the Journal of Authentic Learning, Audrey Rule of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego tries to answer the question she is most often asked: What do you mean by authentic learning?

Four components are repeatedly found in authentic learning, reports Rule, who did a content analysis of 45 journal articles that faculty members in the School of Education at SUNY-Oswego submitted as examples of authentic learning in their disciplines.

"Although the term authentic learning is broad and has not been applied to a specific instructional model, these four components are found repeatedly, suggesting that they are an integral part of authentic learning experiences," Rule writes.

The four themes supporting authentic learning are:

1. An activity that involves real-world problems and that mimics the work of professionals; the activity involves presentation of findings to audiences beyond the classroom.
2. Use of open-ended inquiry, thinking skills and metacognition.
3. Students engage in discourse and social learning in a community of learners.
4. Students direct their own learning in project work.

Real-world problems

One component of authentic learning is that it targets a real problem and that students' engagement holds the possibility of having an impact outside the classroom, Rule says. "This audience beyond the classroom changes the problem from an 'exercise' to something more important, allowing students to become emotional stakeholders in the problem," she writes.

In science, for example, this may be accomplished when students collect water quality data from local streams. Model lessons that address authentic learning in social studies could include students' analysis of primary documents related to the Pledge of Allegiance. In developing literacy, reading resources could be connected to real life with bus schedules, maps, diaries and interviews with people.

Inquiry and thinking skills

For authentic learning, students must exercise higher levels of thinking, according to this analysis. For example, science teaching should reflect the scientific process of knowledge construction. Learning in mathematics should occur through discovery, inquiry and induction. Instead of math problems that require that students merely apply a known procedure, authentic mathematical tasks require solvers to use different representations in their solutions and to work with realistic and complex mathematical data. In art education, students can use thinking skills to deconstruct visual and textual information in media ads.

Discourse in a community of learners

A community of learners can be a group of learners working together to unravel a problem or refer to the community setting in which the project is based. Science investigations should link students to scientists through data sharing, critiquing, and direct communication. Multiculturalism can be brought to the classroom by exploring numbers in other languages, symbols of ancient societies and games of skill and chance from around the world.

Student-directed learning

For authentic learning, problems must have a personal frame of reference and be open-ended, according to this article. "This cannot happen without student choice in defining the problem and selecting the path of its solution," Rule writes. In the field of health promotion and wellness, for example, educators provide information so that individuals may make informed choices.

Choice also occurs when students make their own interpretations of literature and art. "Research related to effective instructional practice emphasizes the need for greater personalization and individualization of instruction because learning is an individual experience," the article states. Instruction can be personalized by allowing the learner to choose from the rich variety of pathways.

Apprenticeships also provide important opportunities for students to interact with the wider community and reflect upon their experiences, the article states. The author invites readers to examine their reading and learning situations to identify more ways that authentic learning is implemented.

" Editorial: The Components of Authentic Learning" by Audrey Rule, Journal of Authentic Learning Volume 3, Number 1, August 2006, Pp. 1-10.
Published in ERN January 2007 Volume 20 Number 1

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The four characteristics of 'authentic learning'

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Authentic learning is a relatively new term that describes learning through applying knowledge in real-life contexts and situations. In a recent article in the Journal of Authentic Learning, Audrey Rule of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego tries to answer the question she is most often asked: What do you mean by authentic learning?

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Teachers have a vast array of experiences that they can draw on to help enhance staff development. My DTTP will draw on these experiences in two ways. First, if there is a teacher who is skilled in an area they will be asked to lead a session and share their knowledge. Second before the beginning of any session. Below is a comprehensive resource of activities to incorporate teacher experience into PD session

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Learners prefer self-direction when learning new things.

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Learners prefer self-direction when learning new things.

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Once the initial training is complete, the following trainings will be broken into modules. Teachers will be able to pick a choose which module they want to attend based on their needs and computer experience. Below is an example of a teacher's choice framework from ASCD.

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by Gabriel Diaz-Maggioli

"Let's face it: Professional development, as we have known it for years now, has yielded little or no positive effects on student learning." Thus complain the many weary professionals who flinch at the mere mention of the word "workshop." In the collective imagination, the term "professional development day" conjures only images of coffee breaks, consultants in elegant outfits, and schools barren of kids.

Of course, professional development was never intended to trigger such pessimistic reactions. Even critics of the professional development movement admit that all forms of teacher development, whether effective or not, have at their core the noble intention of improving student learning. We might disagree with the implementation processes available, but not with their purpose. Indeed, when correctly implemented, they actually yield the results intended. In this era of high-stakes testing and increased accountability, it is necessary to reposition professional development so that the collective efforts of teachers, students, and administrators result in enhanced learning for all members of the teaching community.

Current professional development practices are generally constricted by the following stumbling blocks:

1. Top-down decision making. Traditionally, professional development arrangements are made by administrators and consultants rather than teachers. By muffling the teachers' voices and placing priority on administrative needs, these programs become a burden to professionals instead of a welcome solution to classroom problems.

2. The idea that teachers need to be "fixed." Too often, professional development is guided by the erroneous idea that if students don't learn, it's because their teachers don't know how to teach. Myriad approaches to teaching have surfaced over the past fifteen years or so, all claiming to be the ultimate solution for teaching problems. However, when we listen in awe at the stories of classroom teachers-stories of passion and commitment, strife and success, dedication and love-it's easy to wonder what kind of fixing these teachers might need.

3. Lack of ownership of the professional development process and its results. Given that their voices are not generally heeded during professional development, teachers rightly question their investment in programs that were built behind their backs yet are aimed at changing the way they do things.

4. The technocratic nature of professional development content. More often than not, teachers in professional development programs are taught techniques that they are expected to replicate in the classroom. Most of these methods, however effective, are standardized for communication purposes and serve the needs of teachers and learners in specific contexts. In attempting to transfer these practices into their classrooms, teachers need to invest considerably more effort than the professional development planners originally anticipated.

5. Universal application of classroom practices regardless of subject, student age, or level of cognitive development. It is not uncommon to hear of school districts that run the same professional development programs for all grade levels. While certain teaching practices and learning principles might be suitable across the board, a one-size-fits-all approach, though economical, has been proven totally ineffective.

6. Lack of variety in the delivery modes of professional development. Once a decision is made to invest in professional development, the cheapest format is often chosen for the purpose-usually a lecture, workshop, or seminar. It is ironic that so much has been written about the importance of differentiated instruction in the classroom; when it comes to instruction for teachers, undifferentiated approaches usually prevail.

7. Inaccessibility of professional development opportunities. Professional development opportunities seldom reach teachers when they are really needed. When teachers do not help plan and deliver professional development programs, their needs can go unmet. This may help explain why only a small percentage of teachers seems able to transfer the content covered in a workshop to the classrooms.

8. Little or no support in transferring professional development ideas to the classroom. Transferring new ideas to the classroom is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks a teacher faces. A lot of effort is put into helping preservice teachers bridge the gap between theory and practice; we may wonder why the same support systems are not available to in-service teachers as well.

9. Standardized approaches to professional development that disregard the varied needs and experiences of teachers. Researchers have pointed out that teachers go through certain developmental stages as they progress in their careers, each of which triggers specific needs and crises that they must address (Fessler & Christensen, 1992; Furlong & Maynard, 1995; Huberman, 1989). The standardized nature of traditional professional development programs assumes that all teachers should perform at the same level, regardless of their particular experience and needs.

10. Lack of systematic evaluation of professional development. Given the complex nature of teacher competence, assessing development often seems impossible. As a result, many professional development programs are not evaluated, nor are their results communicated to other communities. Teachers would be right to take offense at this. A learning organization should yield knowledge that enriches not only the immediate community, but the profession as a whole. It is a disservice to the teaching community when we fail to probe the effectiveness of established programs and overlook their results.

11. Little or no acknowledgment of the learning characteristics of teachers among professional development planners. Most professional development models for teachers ignore the fact that teachers possess unique learning characteristics that must be accounted for if the programs are to be successful. Though the characteristics of adult learners have been the focus of research for over a century now (Brookfield, 1986; Vella, 1994), they are too often overlooked.

My vision of professional development is grounded in faith in teachers, the institutions they work for, and the power of the broader community of educators around the country and the globe. Effective professional development should be understood as a job-embedded commitment that teachers make in order to further the purposes of the profession while addressing their own particular needs. It should follow the principles that guide the learning practices of experienced adults, in teaching communities that foster cooperation and shared expertise. Teacher success stories are living theories of educational quality and should be shared with the wider educational community for the benefit of all involved.

Figure 1.1 summarizes my vision of professional development in contrast to more traditional practices.

Figure 1.1. Traditional vs. Visionary Professional Development

Characteristics of Traditional Professional Development

Characteristics of Visionary Professional Development

Top-down decision-making

A "fix-it" approach

Lack of program ownership among teachers

Prescriptive ideas

One-size-fits-all techniques

Fixed and untimely delivery methods

Little or no follow-up

Decontextualized programs

Lack of proper evaluation

Pedagogical (child-centered) instruction

Collaborative decision-making

A growth-driven approach

Collective construction of programs

Inquiry-based ideas

Tailor-made techniques

Varied and timely delivery methods

Adequate support systems

Context-specific programs

Proactive assessment

Andragogical (adult-centered) instruction

Acknowledging Teaching Styles

Professional development can be defined as a career-long process in which educators fine-tune their teaching to meet student needs. As such, it directly tackles teachers' teaching styles-the patterns of decisions teachers make when mediating their students' learning. Butler (1984) defines learning styles as "a set of attitudes and actions that open a formal and informal world of learning to students. It is a subtle force that influences a student's access to learning and teaching by establishing perimeters around acceptable learning procedures, processes, and products" (pp. 51-52). But just as learners learn according to a particular style, so do teachers exhibit particular teaching styles. Most researchers agree that teaching styles operate along a continuum that ranges from teacher-centered to student-centered. In characterizing these styles, researchers tend to focus on such criteria as control over time and procedures, student involvement, and materials used in class.

The issue of teaching styles is far more complex than it appears at first. First of all, it is necessary to acknowledge that the term itself refers to the way teachers perform in the classroom-that is, to teacher behavior. These behaviors are contingent on a multitude of factors that affect how teachers go about their daily chores. As Figure 1.2 shows, teaching styles are the result of interacting personal, professional, knowledge, career, institutional, and curriculum factors.

Figure 1.2. Factors Affecting Teaching Styles

Overcoming the Crises of Practice

According to Huberman (1989), teachers progress through the following five phases in their careers, each of which includes a crisis they must overcome:

Phase 1: Exploration and stabilization. Teachers develop strategies to cope with day-to-day tasks. There is little or no focus on student learning during this phase, as the teachers are primarily concerned with following rules and plans. Crisis: Learning to perceive the messages that the teaching and learning environments send.

Phase 2: Commitment. Teachers take bold steps towards focusing on student learning, developing a repertoire of coping techniques and trying out new ideas. Crisis: Learning how best to cater to all students.

Phase 3: Diversification. Teachers begin to question their effectiveness when some of their students fail to learn. Most teachers leave the profession at this stage. Crisis: Many need to solve a professional identity crisis.

Phase 4: Serenity or distancing. Teachers resolve the identity crisis in Phase 3 by either confirming their commitment to classroom teaching or by moving into administration or teacher education or by leaving the profession altogether. Crisis: If teachers are able to realize their aspirations, they tend to enter a phase of serenity; otherwise, they remain stable but stagnant.

Phase 5: Conservatism and regret. Teachers retire. Crisis: For some, regret over the past; for others, refusal to accept that there are other ways to teach besides one's own.

Curriculum Factors

Another factor affecting teaching styles is the school curriculum, which can be defined as the totality of experiences that result in student learning. There are different kinds of curriculum, some intended and some, such as the "hidden curriculum," unintended. Curriculum is built upon the following foundations:

Psychological. How students learn.

Epistemological. The nature and purpose of knowledge.

Sociological. The role of schooling in relation to students, their families, and communities.

Didactic. Practices most likely to result in desired learning outcomes.

All teachers are by definition curriculum developers in that they select, sequence, organize, plan, deliver, and evaluate their students' learning experiences. This process can either inhibit the full expression of teacher learning styles or make them more autonomous. For example, a curriculum focused strongly on high-stakes testing may prompt a teacher to teach to the test at the expense of other important "formational tasks" (Freire, 1998), inhibiting the teacher's style by turning her into a mere deliverer of contents. A curriculum that advocates a dialogic perspective, on the other hand, allows both teacher and student to enter a cycle of action and reflection in which both will grow. In this latter context, the teacher's learning style is open to interaction and the exercise of greater freedom.
School Culture and Climate

Sergiovanni and Starratt (2002) define school climate as "the enduring characteristics that describe the psychological character of a particular school, distinguish it from other schools, and influence the behavior of teachers and students, and as the psychological 'feel' that teachers and students have for that school" (p. 82). These "enduring characteristics" include goal focus, communication adequacy, optimal power equalization, resource utilization, cohesiveness, morale, innovativeness, autonomy, adaptation, and problem-solving adequacy. How these characteristics operate within a school determines whether its climate is open (supports learning) or closed (hinders learning).

According to Peterson (2002), school culture is "the set of norms, values, and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, symbols, and stories that make up the 'persona' of the school. These unwritten expectations build up over time as teachers, administrators, parents, and students work together, solve problems, deal with challenges and, at times, cope with failures." School culture is responsible for the way members of a school regard themselves, their relationships with one another, and the institution and its goals.

Hargreaves (1994) proposes the existence of four distinct cultures in educational institutions: isolationist, balkanized, contrived collegial, and collegial. He suggests that educational institutions have a long tradition of isolationism, with teachers operating alone inside their own classrooms. I believe that this isolation accounts for many of the failures we see in schools, and that the ideal school would have a collaborative or collegial culture. According to Petersen (2002), in such a milieu, "teachers, students, and administrators value learning, work to enhance curriculum and instruction, and focus on students. In schools with professional learning communities, the culture possesses:

A widely shared sense of purpose and values;

Norms of continuous learning and improvement;

A commitment to and sense of responsibility for the learning of all students;

Collaborative, collegial relationships; and

Opportunities for staff reflection, collective inquiry, and sharing personal practice."

The influence of school cultures on teaching styles cannot be overstated; as with curriculum, they can either hinder or improve teaching.

Professional Factors

Closely linked to the influences of school culture and climate on teaching style is the issue of professionalism. Barker, Kagen, Klemp, Roderick, and Takenaga-Taga (1997) define a true teaching professional as "a teacher who is engaged with a career path that encourages, fosters, and rewards constant professional growth that reflects directly and positively back on classroom practice." This engagement depends upon the teacher's professional identity: the way he or she relates to the norms and values of the profession.

Sachs (1999) claims that such a view treats professionalism as "an exclusive rather than an inclusive ideal, and is conservative rather than radical"-thus reducing professional development to the mere acquisition of traits that allow teachers to claim membership in the profession. Because teacher learning stems from reflective involvement with other learners, be they students or fellow teachers, it seems to make more sense for a concept of professionalism to reflect "cooperative action between teachers and other stakeholders" (Sachs, 1999).

Sachs suggests an even more powerful view of teacher professionalism-one that sees it as "negotiated, open, shifting, ambiguous, the result of culturally available meanings and the open-ended powerladen enactment of those meanings in everyday situations"-and identifies "five dimensions of identity:

1. Identity as negotiated experiences where we define who we are by the ways we experience our selves through participation as well as the way we and others reify our selves,

2. Identity as community membership where we define who we are by the familiar and the unfamiliar,

3. Identity as learning trajectory where we define who we are by where we have been and where are going,

4. Identity as nexus of multi membership where we define who we are by the ways we reconcile our various forms of identity into one identity, and

5. Identity as a relation between the local and the global where we define who we are by negotiating local ways of belonging to broader constellations and manifesting broader styles and discourses."

Teaching styles are greatly influenced by the teachers' own idealization of themselves as teaching professionals. Those who equate professionalism with adherence to external norms will tend toward relatively directive and ethnocentric teaching styles; on the other hand, those who perceive themselves as existing in a dialectical relationship with other professionals, working collectively to build their professional identities, will necessarily have more constructivist styles.

Learning Factors

Three learning factors greatly influence teaching styles: the teachers' learning styles, their experience as learners, and the theories about teaching and learning to which they adhere (Díaz-Maggioli, 1996).

When making decisions, teachers should ideally have the students as their main focus. Too often, however, they teach according to their own preferred learning methods, rather than according to what is best for the students. Similarly, teachers tend to emulate the teachers who helped them to learn best when they were in school-though in most cases they don't know why the model teachers taught the way they did. Teachers need to be aware of these personal influences and refocus their actions to benefit the students. To do this, they need space to develop their own theories about teaching and learning through professional development with col leagues.

The Teacher's Choice Framework

Planners of professional development programs should bear in mind the following facts:

Teachers are talented and devoted individuals who have gained enormous experience by interacting with students, and possess a wealth of knowledge that must be explored and shared.

Teachers differ from one another in terms of their theoretical and professional knowledge and the stages they are at in their careers. This diversity offers a wealth of resources and experience.

Teachers fulfill different functions in their jobs. They are not only mediators of student learning, but also administrators of student information, counselors on learning, and resources for parents and the broader community. Their professional development should be embedded in their daily schedule; they should not be expected to devote their own free time to programs that are divorced from the context in which they work.

In order for teachers to develop ownership of professional development, they need to be active participants in its construction, tailoring programs to their needs and motivations.

Professional development should not be regarded as an administrative duty, but rather as a career-long endeavor aimed at disclosing the factors that contribute to the success of all students and teachers. Mandatory professional development offered only when it is convenient to administrators has little to offer to teachers.

Professional development will only have an effect on student learning if it involves the entire school community. Knowledge about teaching and learning only makes sense when considered in the context of a teacher's own school culture and climate. The effect of professional development is not measured by the sum of the discrete actions of individual factors and stakeholders, but through an examination of how factors and stakeholders interact with one another.

In order to ensure that professional development is congruent with these facts, educators need an organizational framework based on the unique characteristics and contributions of teachers. The Teacher's Choice Framework (see Figure 1.3) helps teachers make individual and collaborative decisions by having them reflect on practice. For the framework to function effectively, learning communities should promote collaborative reflection on student learning data, which should be gathered and shared across grades and disciplines. Once the data are shared, educators should involve as many stakeholders as possible in planning a professional development program that addresses the needs of all participants.

Figure 1.3. The Four Quadrants of the Teacher's Choice Framework

Types and Levels of Awareness

As soon as everyone's needs are clear, it is time to select activities that are suited to each teacher's needs and level of awareness. There are four distinct types of awareness needs that teachers can address through professional development:

Technical awareness. Reflection on particular classroom procedures or teaching methods.

Personal awareness. Reflection on how classroom activity relates to life outside of work.

Problematic awareness. Reflection on how to solve professional problems.

Critical awareness. Reflection on established thoughts, feelings, or actions that have been called into question.

In addition, most teachers fall into one of the following four awareness-level categories:

Level 1. Teachers are aware that they possess up-to-date knowledge and can help other teachers through initiatives such as mentoring, providing on-site teacher training workshops, and expert coaching with colleagues in other levels. They can also develop field notes-narratives of classroom success stories that they share with other teachers for feedback and development.

Level 2. Teachers possess updated knowledge, but are not aware that they do. Those in this category can be involved in mirroring and collaborative coaching by having colleagues come into their classrooms and observe them in order to pinpoint areas of strength. Field notes can serve as a powerful reflection tool for these teachers as well.

Level 3: Teachers are aware of their development needs in specific knowledge areas. Pertinent techniques for this level include engaging in action research, establishing critical development teams, and maintaining dialogue journals.

Level 4: Teachers are unaware of their need to expand their knowledge in certain areas. Appropriate professional development programs for such teachers could include mandated in-house training workshops, mentoring, and expert coaching.

Types of Knowledge

In its 1985 report to the Ford Foundation, the Academy for Educational Development stated the following:

It is reasonable, if not essential, to expect that anyone who intends to teach be: first, educated broadly and well; second, fundamentally knowledgeable about the fields to be taught; third, familiar with how children or adolescents develop, behave, and learn; and fourth, knowledgeable about and skilled in the profession of education to assure quality standards, ethics, responsible conduct, and responsiveness to the educational needs of the greater society. Prospective teachers should also be made aware that continued professional growth depends upon prolonged interaction with peers and others. (p. 25)

Authors such as Shulman (1987), Grossman (1990), and Putnam and Borko (2000) have elaborated on the idea that there are different kinds of teacher knowledge. In a nutshell, teachers are motivated to enter the profession by one or more of the following:

Content knowledge. An interest in the subject matter.

General pedagogical knowledge. An interest in pedagogy.

Contextual knowledge. An interest in students and their communities.

In the course of their work, teachers develop a specific kind of knowledge that differentiates them from subject specialists, pedagogues, or social workers. Grossman (1990) characterizes this kind of knowledge as understanding the purpose for teaching the subject matter, positioning the discipline within the broader school curriculum, and using instructional strategies appropriate for the specific learners and setting. Grossman calls this kind of knowledge "pedagogical content knowledge." All teachers will have moments in their careers when they must focus on increasing their pedagogical content knowledge.
The Teacher's Choice Framework allows teachers with expertise in a certain domain to provide mediation and scaffolding to colleagues whose weaknesses lie in that same area. Teachers enter a cycle of constant development, since teachers can have different awareness levels for different types of knowledge. A teacher well versed in developing a classroom climate conducive to learning, for example, may pair up with one who has classroom management problems-and who in turn might share his or her differentiated instruction expertise with the other teacher. By capitalizing on the internal strengths of its members, the learning community is enriched.

The Teacher's Choice Framework allows teachers to feel reassured about their dual roles as both experts and novices, and "to move along a continuum ranging from inductee to master teacher where increased responsibilities, qualifications, professional development, and performance-based accountability requirements are commensurate with compensation" (Wenglinsky, 2000).

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by Gabriel Diaz-Maggioli "Let's face it: Professional development, as we have known it for years now, has yielded little or no positive effects on student learning." Thus complain the many weary professionals who flinch at the mere mention of the word "workshop."

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Learners need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.

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Learners need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.

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For this principle, my DTTP will ask teachers to help plan the PD session. After an overview of Google Classroom,  the trainer will list the different topics that need to be covered. Once this is complete, the teachers can vote on what topics they want to cover first. The TED Talk below explains how teachers can be empowered through professional development.

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Empowering the teacher technophobe: Kristin Daniels at TEDxBurnsvilleED

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Kristin Daniels, Education Technology Consultant Kristin Daniels has worked as a classroom teacher, technology integration specialist and innovation coach, and she is currently an education technology consultant for Technology and Information Educational Services (TIES) in St. Paul, Minn.