[NIFL-AALPD:1460] Collaboration and change

From: jataylor (jataylor@utk.edu)
Date: Wed Jun 02 2004 - 22:09:53 EDT


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Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1460] Collaboration and change
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Hello everyone,
Meta, Mary, and Nickie, I notice several things about what you shared that are 
in common, and leads me to another question.  Of particular interest I note 
the ongoing support and/or sharing among colleagues through participation in 
professional development that influence change.

Meta, you write, "During this period, teachers who integrated the change did 
so because they were not acting alone. They had support from colleagues in 
face-to-face meetings or via technology, following the Vygotskian perspective, 
which theorizes that learning occurs through social interaction."  Mary, you 
shared that teachers "met together regularly to plan and implement what they 
were learning," and Nickie, you mentioned that even though course participants 
are  not taking the courses as a local group you note they are "sharing quite 
a bit of their course knowledge with colleagues in their literacy programs" 
and implementing changes.  I wonder, is there collaboration going on at the 
program level even though they are not taking the courses together?

Renee Sherman asked that I share this question with the group, which I think 
speaks similarly to what all of you describe:

QUESTION

One of the factors in the NCSALL study that was determined as "somewhat 
important" in influencing teacher change was "coparticipation" in professional 
development (with teachers from the same program). The professional 
development literature suggests that, learning is more powerful when it is a 
collaborative activity, that is, with teachers learning together as they 
struggle with the same problems. In your experiences, how have you been able 
to foster collaboration in your professional development program? What models 
have you used? How has collaboration contributed to the level of teacher 
change?

To add on to Renee's question:

Teachers, how important do you find coparticipation in professional 
development to be as a factor for supporting change?

I look forward to learning more from our experiences!


Best,
Jackie



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