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EdCan Network, EdTech & Design, Opinion, Promising Practices, Teaching

Change in the Trenches

It’s time to develop teacher PD that doesn’t waste our time

“You were great, you treated us with respect!” a colleague told me a few months after I had participated in a professional development day. I had been the last presenter in a series and had to change the mood since the previous speakers talked AT the audience and were called on it.

“Thanks so much.” I said. “Do you remember what my portion of the day was about”?

“No.” she said somewhat sheepishly. (It was about the power of formative assessment).


“You were great, you treated us with respect!” a colleague told me a few months after I had participated in a professional development day. I had been the last presenter in a series and had to change the mood since the previous speakers talked AT the audience and were called on it.

“Thanks so much.” I said. “Do you remember what my portion of the day was about”?

“No.” she said somewhat sheepishly. (It was about the power of formative assessment).

How many times do we go to PD sessions that essentially waste our time? Too many, I suspect. If the purpose of the workshop, conference, summer course or “institute” is to help us improve our teaching so that student learning improves, we have wasted a lot of money over the decades.  So I thought that if we might work to change one school, one classroom, one teacher, one small audience at a time, we work towards a tipping point when school systems are forced to catch up.

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CC Photo by US Department of Education

So if the humble workshop is a tool for improvement: a tool that is not going to go away soon, what can we do to help our audience get the most out of it?

Here are some suggestions based on an example I have used in the past: promoting quality group work in classes. We know the conditions for effective groupings and slowly we are approaching a critical mass of quality examples. If we do a better job in our sessions with teachers and other colleagues, we might promote impactful change that improves learning for this and other desired innovations. 

1. Connect with the audience. Before you even begin chatting with folks as they enter your session space. Let them know you are glad they have chosen to attend your session.

2. Have the audience participate. In the case of effective groups, have members “turn to a neighbour” to react to an idea you present such as:

  • “Think of a time when student groups worked well. Why do you think that happened?” or
  • “Think of a time when student groups did not work well. Why do you think that happened?”

3. In the case of promoting effective student groups “shrink the change” (Heath and Heath, 2010), A workshop of short duration limits you to pairs work among your audience members, but pairs are a good place to help students develop the skills and attitudes to work with others. Besides when it comes to individual accountability, it’s hard to hide in a pair.

4. In the case of promoting quality group work, model the expected behaviours: “script the critical moves” (Heath and heath, ibid) and have the audience practice.

5. Resist and severely limit the use of presentation media – “death by PowerPoint” – and the use of the cardiac method – “We believe it in our hearts so you do it” (Green and Myers p. 332). 

6. Have Q&A or at least have participants fill out an “exit slip” telling you what they liked, what they will try, what confused them, etc. If they include their emails you can respond to them and offer clarifications, tips or directions for further class work. In this light, let me suggest the following places to reach for. 

So if the humble workshop is a tool for improvement: a tool that is not going to go away soon, what can we do to help our audience get the most out of it?

For the literature on change I step outside the educational box to two sources in business and psychology. http://heathbrothers.com introduces you to two great books on the nature of change, Switch and Made to Stick. http://www.danpink.com/ introduces To Sell Is Human, his latest book on the theme of motivation. 

For two conferences that walk the talk, go to www.glacie.ca for a conference ion effective group work. All sessions are vetted to ensure they practice effective groupings that teachers can take back to their classes. For a weeklong summer institute in which teacher and administration teams bring a problem and leave with a project and a plan to implement, go to http://www.learningcentered.org/

Perhaps in future posts we can explore further adventures in meaningful change.

References:

Green J. and Myers, J. (1990). Conversations: Observations on the implantation of interactive learning.  M. Brubacher, Payne, R. and Rickett, K. Perspectives on Small Group Learning: Theory and Practice. Oakville ON: Rubicon. 328-41.

Heath C. and Heap D. (2010). Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard. New York: Broadway Books.


This blog post is part of a series of thoughtful responses to the question: What’s standing in the way of change in education? to help inform CEA’s Calgary Conference on Oct 21-22, (#CEACalgary2013) where education leaders from across Canada will be answering the same question. If you would like to answer this question, please tweet us at: @cea_ace

Meet the Expert(s)

John J C Myers

Currently a curriculum instructor in social studies and general teaching strategies, John has worked from Grades three to adult in four provinces and three countries over four decades. Current interests include exploring innovative yet practical ways to teach and assess using familiar strategies (co-operative learning) and helping busy teachers make sense of all the ideas thrown at them.

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