EDU 8672
Instructional Leadership

Project Links:

2. The Professional Development Portfolio
 

Exercise #1:
THE "LEARNING TO TEACH" BIOGRAPHY:
Framing a Professional Development Program

The exercise of developing a "learning to teach" biography is grounded in the assumption that teaching is a craft―or, to borrow Sarason's (1999) evocative metaphor, "a performing art"―and that the metaphor of "learning to teach" better captures just how teachers develop professional expertise than does the more pervasive metaphor invoked for much of the 20th century, namely, the "training to teach" metaphor. This shift in research and subsequent change in metaphors marks a radical departure from how people have thought and spoken about teaching and continue to think and speak about it. New research and new metaphors have turned the frame of reference away from categories dominated by the ideology of scientism and toward a frame of reference that is influenced more by philosophical aesthetics (Sergiovanni, 1984).

After students have learned about the concept of "learning to teach," they will sketch in brief outline form what the research (e.g., Berliner, 1986; Cruickshank & Hafele, 2001; Carter, 1990; Kagan, 1992; Little, 1999) identifies as the general career trajectory of the expert teacher, that is, how one develops into an "expert" teacher. This outline will also include some of the specific attainments/achievements as well as the needs that teachers have at each age/stage of professional development as they engage in learning to teach. Although this research details no specific biography (as if there exists a "one best way" or "straightjacket" to develop expert teachers), students will use the research as a backdrop to identify a general trajectory.  Students might consider their responses to the following questions in formulating the biography:

• What does the research suggest about teacher professional development as this follows a somewhat stable trajectory?
• What generic ages/stages characterize that trajectory? What generic accomplishments/achievements identify each age/stage?
• What does research identify as preoccupying teachers’ considerations along that trajectory?
• What does research suggest teachers really need at each age/stage (especially in light of Kagan's [1992] and Cruickshank and Hafele's [2001] research focusing upon the effects of undergraduate teacher education)?
• What does research, and especially Carter (1990) as well as Kagan (1992), insinuate about the needs of teachers during and after their first few years of teaching?
• In light of all of this and, especially, Berliner's (1986) and Little's (1999) articles, what is it that experienced teachers need?
• What approaches to professional development offer the promise of providing for the learning needs of teachers at the differing ages/stages of their professional development?
• What principles should guide planning for professional development at each age/stage?
• Based upon these ideas, how might an instructional leader consider programming for professional development?

The goal of this exercise is for students to formulate an outline sketching out the normal trajectory of teacher professional development, what amounts to a "biography" of the "expert" teacher. This biography, steeped in research, is one that students can use for conversing with colleagues and various publics about the topic of teacher professional development as well as for conceiving of teacher professional development in a "short hand" sort of style so that the student, reminiscent of Don Quichote tilting after windmills, is not constantly chasing after "new trends" purported to "improve schooling" while failing to do something substantive about it. For the purpose of EDUC 8672, the biography enables students to consider how one might program for teacher professional development.

A well-crafted biography, then, provides the intellectual and practical foundation for developing a comprehensive vision about leading a program of professional development for teachers. As such, this biography provides the student with a script to respond to the following interview question (for example, as the student applies for the position of curriculum leader, lead teacher, or [assistant] principal): "What would you do to improve curriculum, teaching, and learning at XYZ school?" The biography, then, provides an overview for an instructional leader to consider how one will walk novice teachers through their first two or three years, experienced teachers through the next two to three years in order that they might achieve the stage of professional expertise, and expert teachers to develop what might be called “pedagogical wisdom.” From this biography, students will create a comprehensive, long-term professional development program beginning in Exercise #2.

In sum, Exercise #1 challenges students to understand the "learning to teach" research and to formulate a reasoned way of speaking not only about how teachers "learn to teach" but also the principles that constitute a sound, long-term professional development program as well as some concrete ideas about the content of this program.

Exercise #1 Tasks:

In light of one’s experience and having read the course-related literature (and other literature as well), the student will reflect upon one's experience of “learning to teach.” It is especially important that the student consider one’s personal and professional needs as that individual was immersed in the daily, weekly, monthly, semester-long, and annual process of educating young persons. Based on these reflections, the student will:

a.  sketch the trajectory of teaching expertise in outline form.  From one’s experience and research, identify the stages and significant learnings that lead to the development of teaching expertise. [This trajectory is best presented in a 3 X 2 matrix.]

b.  define “teacher learning.”  What has the student learned about teaching through the process of one’s research and experience?  [This definition will be no longer than two pages.]

c.  synthesize a working definition of “professional development.”  Based upon the ideas generated through the student’s experience and study, how should professional development be defined? [This working definition will be no longer than two pages.]

Ideas and concepts gleaned from the literature, etc., must be cited according to APA 5th edition.  The goal is to ensure that educational research supports the student’s ideas about teacher learning and professional development. The revision of this assignment will comprise the second division of the portfolio.  More details about this assignment can be found at: http://www83.homepage.villanova.edu/richard.jacobs/EDU%208672/ex1.html.

Each student will present Exercise #1 for in-class review, critique, and feedback. In light of the feedback received, the student will revise Exercise #1 and place it in Section #1 of the portfolio.

References

Berliner, D. C.  (1986).  In pursuit of the expert pedagogue. Educational Researcher, 15(7), 5-13.

Carter, K.  (1990).  Teachers’ knowledge and learning to teach.  In W. R. Houston (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 291-310).  New York: Macmillan.

Cruickshank, D. R., & Hafele, D.  (2001, February).  Good teachers, plural.  Educational Leadership, 58(5), 26-30.

Kagan, D. M.  (1992).  Professional growth among preservice and beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research, 62(2), 129-169.

Little, J. W.  (1999).  Organizing schools for teacher learning.  In L. Darling‑Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice (pp. 233-262).  San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Sarason, S. E.  (1999).  Teaching as a performing art.  New York: Teachers College Press.