Dimension 4: Leading Teacher Learning and Development

-how leaders build capacity in their schools by integrating doing the work with learning how to improve the work.

Leaders participating in learning in the role of leader, learner or both.

 collective responsibility

The most powerful predictor of a student’s performance in a subject in any given year is what her or she learned in the previous years. P106

Diversity of thinking

Builds instructional programme cohesion - shared language of learning/practice

...as my capacity and sense of responsibility increase, I take more responsibility for assisting my colleagues with their teaching problems. P107

Professional norms

The most powerful way that leaders can promote collective responsibility is by providing professional learning opportunities that help students succeed with students they find most difficult. P108

Effective PD

1. Serves identified student and teacher learning needs - development of teachers must serve the identified learning needs of students.
2. Focuses on the relationship between teaching and student learning - inquiry into validity of assumptions
3. Provides worthwhile content - evidence of effectiveness
4. Integrates theory and practice
5. Uses external expertise - challenge
6. Provides multiple opportunities to learn

Open-to-learning conversations (OLCs)

Theory of action - need to understand a person’s theory of action to understand why they are not doing what leaders believe ought to be - need to understand teachers’ reasons for actions.

-Engagement Strategy - Theory engagement

• State alternative practise and why you believe preferable
• Listen to reaction
• If disagreement - inquire into reasons.  Understand theory of action driving current practice.
• Summarise your understanding of their current theory of action
• Keep listening and summarising until told by other person you have understood
• Check both agree on differences between theory in current practice and theory in proposed alternative
• Collaborate on finding way to test implications and importance of difference
• Keep testing/checking until agree that change not required or new theory of practice worth trying

First Thoughts:

Relationship between what has been taught and what students have learned? Maybe our professional conversations have a ‘teaching’ focus - and need more emphasis on relationship between what taught and what learned.  See Hattie’s Mind Frame #3 - focus should be on impact of our teaching. When observing - focus on two or three students, what are they learning and what are they responding to?  Hattie promotes to diagnose, intervene and evaluate

Engagement strategies - we need to listen and understand what is driving current theories of action. Investigate rather than dismiss reasons for current practice.

I will find out more about Open-to-learning conversations - how these might enhance our mentoring meetings.