How might you use these materials?

These learning materials should be used in a variety of ways and contexts. They are not meant to be read through or viewed in one sitting. Rather, it is envisaged that you and the communities of practice you work in will draw on particular sections while examining your beliefs and assumptions and while investigating specific questions or problems within the context of your own practice.

The materials should lead you to integrate theory and practice, both as you work with the materials and as you inquire into your own practice and learning. They should support your professional learning as ISTEs and assist you to explore and challenge your practice in ways that enable you to make your own contributions to the shared evidence base for effective ISTE practice and learning.

In making sense of the materials, you should approach them critically, adopting the inquiry-focused ways of thinking that they articulate, questioning what you read and view in light of your own knowledge and experience and, while recognising the complexity of ISTE learning and practice, always looking for evidence of effectiveness.

The principles of ISTE professional learning and practice emphasise the importance of collaborative relationships within ISTE learning (see page 25). Although, as an individual ISTE, you may make frequent and valuable use of these materials, the most significant learning will occur when you use them within communities of practice. The section below is intended to support those who agree to lead or co-ordinate such communities.

Leading ISTE learning

As in any learning context, working with these materials will engender a range of responses from users. The TPLD BES lists six possible responses to new information, ranging from rejection to substantive improvements in practice (Figure 2.3). The challenge for group leaders is to foster an environment in which group members trust and support one another and are open to change. Then, in working with the materials and collaboratively inquiring into their practice, the aim is that ISTEs will “actively engage with, own and apply new theory and practice and change practice substantively” (Timperley et al., 2007, page 14).

You will need to clarify with group members:

• the purpose for working with a particular case or some other section of the materials and how this work will support their learning;

• the protocols and processes the group will use – for example, how members will deprivatise their practice;

• how the group will engage with a case or other section of the materials – for example, whether it will meet for several brief sessions or for one lengthy session.

The following sections provide some ideas for getting started. They are organised under the main components of the materials and describe some of the features that will help ISTEs to make the best use of the materials.

A Proposed Theory of Improvement for ISTEs

This section provides a strong basis for group discussions and for ISTEs to explore what they believe underpins their learning and improvement. To begin, it may be helpful to elicit group members’ current understandings of the concept of a theory of improvement. They could then discuss their understandings of the proposed theory and perhaps analyse examples of learning and improvement from their own practice in relation to the theory. At a later date, they could read pages 159–172, which provide theoretical perspectives on developing a common theory of improvement. The reflective questions in that section may help them to explore some of these ideas and to begin to develop a theory of improvement that more accurately reflects their own beliefs about learning and change.

Learning Cases

The six learning cases are complex, and some of them are very full (for example, Cases 3 and 4). As a leader of learning, it’s vital that you know and understand a case that your group has decided to work through, so you will need to explore the case fully and to read the notes about it before the group meets.

Your group may find it helpful to begin with a brief overview of the case, in which you might highlight:

• the purpose of each screen and its relationship to the inquiry cycle for ISTEs;

• the role of transcripts, hyperlinks, and external perspectives;

• the distinction between the left- and right-hand sides of each screen and the two different kinds of questions they pose:

  • questions about the practice and learning of the participants in the case;

  • questions about users’ own practice and learning in relation to what they’ve read and seen in the case.

The format of the cases presents one possible approach for exploring the cases and linking their content to ISTEs’ own practice situations. Many other approaches are of course possible; you and your group should feel free to adapt what’s there or to adopt different approaches that better suit your circumstances. If you are not adapting the case content, you will get the most from the case if you work through it from start to finish – that is, in the order in which it’s presented.

The ISTEs in your group will bring a wide range of beliefs to the cases; there is no expectation that they will agree with the beliefs of case participants or hold the same beliefs; the important point is that they surface and acknowledge their beliefs, just as case participants have.

Conducting Inquiry

The inquiry and knowledge-building cycle that this chapter presents is key to these materials and provides the basic structure for the learning cases. Ensure that your group takes time to unpack the cycle. Any one of the questions on partnership, protection, or participation on page 51 will lead to rich and challenging discussion; so too will a close look at one of the inquiry approaches (pages 52–73) and its implications for the learning and practice of group members.

Areas of ISTE Knowledge and Expertise

The four core chapters – Inquiry and Evidence-based Practice, Knowledge and Theory, Communication and Relationships, and Change for Improvement – provide an overview of current thinking and research in these generic areas of ISTE knowledge and expertise. As each chapter covers a large body of knowledge, your group will probably find it most profitable to concentrate on a subsection that relates to the focus of its discussions. Within this, the group may find it valuable to:

• use the learning stories and links to the learning cases to make connections between theory and practice;

• respond to the reflective questions in the sidebars: these are intended to provide a catalyst for discussion, but those questions that emerge as group members read and discuss the text will be equally valuable;

• locate and read the key articles or book chapters that are referred to in the text or sidebars.

The “Implications for ISTE practice” that end each chapter challenge ISTEs to consider how they might apply the ideas discussed in the chapter and include a suggested activity in relation to these ideas.

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