Learning Teams

Description

Staff developer, Rick DuFour, who does work helping schools form true learning communities writes:

Professional Development moves from the workshop to the workplace. Emphasis shifts from finding the right speaker to creating opportunities for staff to work together, engage in collective inquiry, and learn from one another.

“In the Right Context,” Journal of Staff Development, 2001:

There are three ways to conduct local professional development: workshops, learning teams, and individual study. Current research by Dr. Rick Stiggins, states that professional development time should rely on a combination of elements in these proportions:

• 10% in workshops: It’s hard to convey depth of understanding in workshops, but they can be used to convey information about what options are available, and to generate excitement about potential of assessment literacy;
• 65% in individual study, classroom experimentation, and reflection on “what works in my classroom;” and
• 25% in learning team meetings, sharing lesson learned in the classroom and learning from each other.

Forming a Learning Team and balancing that time with Individual Study to learn more about assessment-instruction and other critical school issues is the most dynamic professional development model teachers can use. Each team is, ideally, a group of three to seven teachers and administrators, which agrees to meet regularly to manage and promote professional development. The team’s goal is to help all members become as knowledgeable as possible about the topic being investigated, expanding and drawing upon individual study between team meetings.

Services Available Through the County Office

A video with testimonials from learning team members and other support materials can be provided to any staff or group of educators hoping to form a learning team as part of their professional development plan. For more information, please refer to the description of “Assessment FOR Learning,” Big Idea #4, in the Classroom Assessment portion of our Menu of Services.

Contact

For more information call or email Mike DeRoss at 842-8404 or Marian Murphy-Shaw at 842-8498.