Learning and impact – Perspective from Helen Timperley
What is particularly powerful for me in this case is the learning that is promoted and integrated at all levels: ISTE, teacher, and student. No one’s learning is independent of the others, and students’ learning forms the touchstone for the teachers’ and ISTE’s learning. All are learning together, and Delwynne, Geraldine, and Kathy are prepared to expose their beliefs and practices for critique. To me, this kind of examination is real professionalism.
I want to raise one caution, however, about an aspect of the case that has the potential to limit learning. If a teacher does not know something but understands why they need to know it, then it is important that it is taught to them. My caution arises from Delwynne’s comment that she has stopped modelling. If by modelling Delwynne means a “show and tell” performance consistent with the original facilitation style she described, then I think stopping is probably a good idea. In these situations, teachers typically pick up handy hints leading to the “tweaking” Delwynne mentioned in the introduction. Darling-Hammond and Bransford (2005) call this “over-assimilation” – when teachers think they are practising in ways consistent with new ideas but are not actually doing so.
On the other hand, modelling can promote deeper learning. In my work with the Literacy Professional Development Project, I interviewed teachers after they had received feedback from a lesson observation. Many of the teachers indicated that they could not implement the feedback until they saw it in practice (Timperley, Parr, and Hulsbosch, 2008). I think this is reasonable because teaching is about effective practice. So if modelling is preceded by the participating teachers identifying a “need to know”, if it involves joint planning of the lesson so that the reasoning behind particular decisions is understood, and if it is followed by a debrief of what happened and why it might have happened, then it can be a powerful teaching tool. Please do not give up modelling, Delwynne; just make sure it is accompanied by all the important attributes of effective facilitation you have identified in this case.
References
Darling-Hammond, L., and Bransford, J., eds. (2005). Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do. Indianapolis, IN: Jossey-Bass.
Timperley, H., Parr, J., and Hulsbosch, N. (2008). “Coaching through Feedback: A Close and Critical Analysis”. Paper presented at the American Educational Research annual meeting, New York.
