"A tool box overflowing with ideas that will help every staff developer craft a school culture hospitable to adult and student learning." —Roland S. Barth, Author, Lessons Learned "The book speaks to many audiences, including instructional coaches, PLC leaders, action researchers and group leaders, and university professors working with action researchers and PLCs." —Gail Ritchie, Coleader, Teacher Researcher Network Fairfax County Public Schools, VA "A terrific resource for connecting teacher networks and action research to create powerful professional development opportunities. This book is a joy to read." —Ellen Meyers, Senior Vice President Teachers Network Powerful tools for facilitating teachers′ professional development and optimizing school improvement efforts! Professional learning communities (PLCs) and action research are popular and proven frameworks for professional development. While both can greatly improve teaching and learning, few resources have combined the two practices into one coherent approach. The Reflective Educator′s Guide to Professional Development provides educators with strategies, activities, and tools to develop inquiry-oriented PLCs. Nationally known school reform experts Nancy Fichtman Dana and Diane Yendol-Hoppey cover the ten essential elements of a healthy PLC, provide case studies of actual inquiry-based PLCs, and present lessons learned to help good coaches become great coaches. With this step-by-step guide, readers will be able to: Organize, assess, and maintain high-functioning, inquiry-oriented PLCs Facilitate the development of study questions Establish the trust and collective commitment necessary for successful action research Enable PLC members to develop, analyze, and share research results Lead successful renewal and reform efforts By combining two powerful training practices, coaches, workshop leaders, and staff developers can ensure continuous, robust school-based professional development.

This how-to guide to teacher research and inquiry takes educators from 'Where do I Begin?' through publishing results, with detailed attention to every step in between. It covers questioning, sharing insights and processes, research methods, analysing data, developing reports, and communicating findings to the ecucational community.

Reflective Practice for Professional Development provides an accessible introduction to the theory and practice of reflection. In ten concise chapters it explores how reflecting on experiences can be used for professional development and help progress knowledge and skills. Using scenarios, questions and stories, the reader is encouraged to apply the content to their own context, demonstrating the importance of reflection in helping us to make sense as well as make the most of our professional experience. Exploring key themes such as the importance of criticality, models of reflection and connections between thought, language and actions, it considers the ways in which reflection can widen perspectives, generate deeper understanding of professional challenges and enhance creativity. Full of practical tools and approaches for enriching and recording reflections, this insightful book aims to simplify reflective practice for teachers. It is an ideal guide for anyone who needs to build reflection into their practice or their studies.

Connect inquiry to improved teaching and learning across your district! Now that federal and state initiatives require school districts to provide job-embedded professional development, the next step is making it happen. This book helps districts define, develop, and implement a systematic inquiry-based process with a laser-like focus on both adult and student learning. This book′s inquiry model challenges educators and students to: Define questions they are passionate about exploring Collect and analyze data to inform their questions Share what they have learned through the process with others Collaborate to build on their results and improve student achievement The authors′ award-winning school improvement program, featured in the text, offers a fresh look at how to improve the quality of teaching and learning across a district. Administrators, teachers, and students will find an invaluable road map for tackling real-world challenges and taking control of their own learning.

"This guide provides a comprehensive toolkit for the complex work of field instruction, including mentoring approaches; conversation stems; conferencing techniques; lesson debriefing questions; understandings of programmatic goals; observation, assessment, and feedback methods; and more. Chapters are accessibly written and filled with concrete examples, tips, worksheets, and activities"--

The connections between reflective practice and professional development are the focus for this book, which offers guidance to support lasting change and provides strategies to enable self-initiated professional development. The book includes: - traditional approaches to reflective practice - how to enhance the effectiveness of reflective practice - putting reflective practice in context - how reflective practice can improve attainment for students and staff - an Appendix of useful resources. With case studies and examples of relective practice from trainee teachers and from students studying across a range of Education courses, this book equips the reader to develop their own reflective practice framework. Relevant also to practitioners working across the children′s workforce, it encourages personal and professional development for the whole range of professionals working in education and care. Peter Tarrant is a Teaching Fellow at the Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh.

This book provides specific strategies for facilitating reflective practice and is the first to provide a practical guide to professional development and school reform from this standpoint. The authors show how reflective practice provides powerful strategies to help professionals learn from their experiences, improve themselves, and thus improve schools and education. Applications in every area of professional development and school reform are presented.