One way to improve teaching and build teacher capacity is to focus on the process of teacher and workplace learning. Learning is a vital process of professional development because it is a, “natural activity for cultivating relational trust, in only because people typically ask for help in the learning process”[1]. The current model of “sit-and-get” or “drive-by” professional development that occurs in most schools is not meeting the needs of teachers as learners. Most professional leaning results in a what Argryis and Schön call single-loop learning, which, ultimately, “forgets to check in to see whether learners could actually use the new idea in practice” [1]. Instead of relying on single-loop learning, professional learning should employ double-loop learning, which provides a feedback loop and forces learners to reflect on how they think. According to Halverson and Kelley, “double-loop learning is designed to bring” an educator’s theory-in-use “into conflict with the espoused theory by inviting learners to articulate what they expect to happen, then to provide critical and supportive feedback on the results of trying the new ideas out in public in order to guide new practice”[1]. True learning can only take place when one’s, “theory-in-use is transformed through experimentation, feedback, and collaborative support. Double-loop learning creates relational trust to genuinely support learning in taking the risk to learn new practices”[1]. Designing for double-loop learning, “requires leaders to build cycles of reflection, design, implementation, feedback, and practice into the everyday culture of being a professional”[1].
In order to support double-loop learning, school leaders need to focus on building relational trust and supporting conditions that support professional community. One way for school leaders to achieve this is to focus on designing, “new opportunities to spark interaction, structure design opportunities into new organizational routines, and build on these new routines to reinvigorate the school professional culture” [1]. Although single-loop professional learning is efficient to design and requires little risk on the part of educators, it does not promise to spark real chances in practice as it overlooks the practices and values that teachers already hold[1]. Single-loop learning does not hold educators or administrators accountable as never checks to see if educators are actually using these ideas in practice[1].
Shifting to double-loop learning brings “theory-in-use into conflict with the espoused theory by inviting learners to articulate what they expect to happen”[1]. A key component of double-loop learning is that the learner is provided with “critical and supportive feedback on the results of trying the new ideas out in public in order to guide new practice”[1]. Providing critical, supportive feedback is essential to professional learning and, if done well, creates relational trust[1]. Ultimately, Argyris & Schön state that professional learning only takes place when “the theory-in-use is transformed through experimentation, feedback and collaborative support”[1]. Once these conditions are met, double-loop learning creates the relational trust that is needed to “support learners in taking the risk to learn new practices” [1].
In order to move beyond the traditional approach of delivering content and to shift towards developing and refining practices that focus on enhancing student learning, there needs to be a focus on creating the opportunity and structure for supporting ongoing and embedded professional learning. Professional learning that takes place in isolation is not effective and does not have a significant impact on improving student learning. However, if teachers are given the opportunity to engage in professional learning that is grounded in their context and takes place in real time, it has a deep and meaningful impact on teacher and student learning[2].
School administrators have a direct impact on student learning when they create sustained goals that are shared by the staff[2]. By ensuring that professional learning is job embedded and allowed to take place within the context of the classroom among collaborative teams, school leaders can create meaningful change that will enhance teacher learning and directly impact student learning. True professional development occurs when principal leadership creates program coherence and an atmosphere that promotes a professional community that provides teachers with the necessary technical resources to build teachers’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions [2]. School leaders need to ensure that the following design elements are in place: that teachers have time to collaborate; that teachers are not physically isolated from each other; that communication structures are established; that teachers are empowered and have have autonomy; that trust and respect exist among teachers and school leaders; that teachers are supported; and that schools have an openness to improvement[3].
In order for teachers to improve their instruction, they need to engage in a dialogue that provides them with feedback and guidance on their practice. The Instructional Rounds model is one option for creating successful professional learning opportunities that provide teachers with feedback. Instructional Rounds is a four step process where teachers identify a problem of practice, observe each other, debrief, and focus on the next level of work[4]. The Instructional Rounds model requires continuous and job embedded collaboration, dialogue, and support between teachers and administrators.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Halverson, Rich (2017). Mapping Leadership: The tasks that matter for improving teaching and learning in schools. Jossey Bass.
- ^ a b c Youngs, P (2002). "Principal Leadership for Professional Development to Build School Capacity". Educational Administration Quarterly: 643–670.
- ^ Kruse, S (1995). An Emerging Framework for Analyzing School-based Professional Community, in Louis, K. S., & Kruse, S. D. (Eds.), Professionalism and Community: Perspectives on Reforming Urban Schools. Corwin Press.
- ^ City, E (2009). Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning. Harvard Education Press.