RSA #2: STEM Teachers in Professional Learning Communities: From Good Teachers to Great Teaching

http://nctaf.org/wp-content/uploads/NCTAFreportSTEMTeachersinPLCsFromGoodTeacherstoGreatTeaching.pdf

This week I used the ERIC database to find an article and it worked out extremely well.  I found a great summary by Kathleen Fulton and Ted Britton called STEM Teachers in Professional Learning Communities:  From Good Teachers to Great Teaching.  It is very much in line with what the authors of Learning By Doing preach about the effectiveness of PLCs.  In this case, it is focused on STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, math).  This is the summary of a report that used 2 years worth of research to examine the effects of PLC’s. 

There were many things that struck a chord with me in this summary.  It talked about how the US has fallen behind the rest of the world in technology and math.  And it also discussed how education has to adjust to the changes in our economy.   

“Learning is no longer preparation for the job.  It is the job.  Today’s students are preparing for a future in which they will invent and reinvent their work, team up to solve problems, develop new knowledge, and continuously acquire new skills.”  (Fulton and Britton,  2011 pg.4)

            According to the authors, teachers should no longer work in isolation and they have the research to back it up.  Better collaboration leads to better learning.  This is exactly the same stance that Dufour and company take in Learning by Doing. 

It is not surprising that these educators would have the same ideas as DuFour.  But what is significant is that there is more data to back it up.  Someone could criticize the Dufour’s claims and say they are just interested in selling their books.  However, here is an outside group who researched these same ideals and came to the same conclusions.

            I highly recommend this reading, especially for STEM teachers. 

DuFour, R., Dufour, R., Eaker R., Many, T.  (2006)  Learning By Doing:  A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work.   Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Fulton, K. and Britton, T.  (June 2011) STEM Teachers in Professional Learning Communities:  From Good Teachers to Great Teaching.  National Committee on Teaching and America’s Future.  Retrieved May 27, 2012 from   http://nctaf.org/wp-content/uploads/NCTAFreportSTEMTeachersinPLCsFromGoodTeacherstoGreatTeaching.pdf

RSA #1—The Missing Link in School Reform    

http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_missing_link_in_school_reform/

I read quite a few articles online regarding student achievement and the role of teachers in preparation for this blog entry.  I came across an article called The Missing Link in School Reform.  In it the author, Carrie R. Lena, discusses research that was done in New York City public schools to examine what factors make a difference in student achievement. A lot of emphasis is placed on teacher performance but she discovered in her research what many teachers already know, and what DuFour advocates.  Teachers working alone are not only inefficient but also wasteful. (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker & Many, 2006)

                 

                  Lena states that, “In the context of schools, human capital is a teacher’s cumulative abilities, knowledge, and skills developed through formal education and on-the-job experience.”  (Lena, 2011)  Lena argues that there is another factor at work; social capital.  Social capital refers to the relationships built between teachers that lead to more collaboration, sharing and higher student achievement.  When teachers need assistance, they are more likely to ask a colleague rather than an outside “expert” or the principal. 

            Another interesting argument she makes that I wholeheartedly agree with is  for stability.  She argues that teachers become more confident and experienced if they continue to teach the same grade and subject area.  Some would argue that teachers become stagnant and “set in their ways” if they teach the same thing year after year.  I wholeheartedly disagree.   This is my third year teaching 6^th grade Geography and I am still coming up with new activities and figuring out better ways to teach it.  If I switched to 7^th or 8^th grade, I would feel like I had to reinvent the wheel.  I would hope that my colleagues that teach those grades would be happy to share.  But I still would not be ask prepared as I am now. 

On another note which may be best left for another blog post-- how many of our students at the middle school level are taught social studies or science by math teachers that just happen to have one or two SS classes in their schedule?  They are “highly qualified” because they have the university credits but they do not want to be teaching it and so they are not motivated to collaborate.  This is an issue at my school and yet again, it is because we have grade level based teams and very few teachers work with multiple grades which mean that the teachers have classes outside their comfort zone.  I will save my complaints about that for when I have a little more job security. 

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2006). Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Lena, C. R. (Fall 2011). The Missing Link in School Reform, Stanford Social Innovation Review.  Retrieved May 19, 2012 from http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_missing_link_in_school_reform/

Welcome!  I started this blog for a master's class.  Using Technology to Build Learning Communities.  It should be very interesting.  I am hoping to catch up on the latest tech and bring it into my teaching.  I'm also hoping it will lead to more collaboration between the teachers in my district.