Demonstration collaborative learning sites: transforming teacher practice

The Simcoe County District School Board, in Ontario, Canada, recognises that teacher capacity, expertise and commitment are critical factors for ensuring effective teaching practices to raise student achievement. Research tells us that in-school job-embedded professional learning is essential to sustaining changes in instructional practices to ensure improved student achievement. Therefore, providing teachers with the opportunity to network with their peers throughout the school district, by using the demonstration collaborative learning sites as a catalyst for change, has ensured a collective focus on student achievement strategies.

Demonstration collaborative learning sites are located throughout the board, which is a large geographic area in the central Ontario region. These sites are classrooms where the teachers have been selected for their expertise in either the teaching of numeracy and/or literacy. The school district’s team of resource teachers coordinates details prior to the visit and facilitates the visiting school teams during the day-long visit. The resource teacher meets with the school team and the principal prior to their visit to the site to determine a specific focus for the visit that would be aligned with their school improvement plan, for example, a view of guided reading, a discussion of assessment practices, and so on.

The day of the visit is divided into four components. These are as follows;

Orientation. The teachers meet to complete their pre-visit surveys and discuss any further specific needs based on their school improvement plan and review their specific literacy or numeracy goal for the visit (approximately 30 minutes).

Observation. The teachers observe the literacy or numeracy lesson (approximately 80 minutes).

Debrief. The teachers have an opportunity to debrief with the demonstration class teacher and to ask questions (approximately 100 minutes).

Planning. The teachers develop a plan of action based on their school improvement plan and reflect on items that were observed during the demonstration lesson. This plan includes clear time lines. Next steps are given to the observing school’s administrator (approximately 120 minutes).

During the planning phase, the observing teachers work with the district resource teacher to examine their own student data and school improvement plan. Using the district resource teachers’ expertise in literacy or numeracy, the teachers reflect on the practices they have observed at the site and assess their level of need for change, based on their current practice and student achievement data. In having the planning session immediately follow the observation, the dialogue is rich and authentic.

Further support at the observing school is provided one and two months after the visit from the school district resource teacher. This visit allows for the school team to have ongoing support for the implementation of the changes in practice initiated from the visit to the demonstration collaborative learning site.

Various ways to ensure ongoing support are in place for these teams to continue their work on changing classroom practice. Web conferencing opportunities are available for the visiting teams to again connect with the demonstration collaborative learning site teacher to continue the dialogue. There are numerous recorded presentations on specific strategies and practices on the school district website that teachers can access on demand to use at team meetings. Also, there are web conferences on specific topics pre-scheduled, where teachers can hear a live presentation and interact with the presenter to clarify concepts as needed.

The demonstration collaborative learning site visit becomes part of the continuum for change that is possible through teachers forming professional learning teams and networking with their peers. The visit provides a view of authentic effective practice that can transform student needs into improved student achievement. Teachers see what good practice looks like, and talk about how it can be done. The power of teachers learning from teachers in networks, through discussion about their students’ needs, is transformational.

Feedback from the demonstration collaboration site teachers includes the following:

• ‘What an amazing opportunity to engage in reflective practice between resource teachers and demo class teachers. It was immensely beneficial.’
• ‘Opportunity to interface with other teachers. . . ’
• ‘Having to explain about your own program provides an offer to clarify your own thoughts about your practice.’
• ‘Appreciate the incentive to keep my game up.’
• ‘Although I have always reflected and use this to drive my lessons, this experience has made me look deeper into my teaching to deliver even a better more solid program.’
• ‘Best PD I have ever done.’
• ‘This has been a positive catalyst to move my teaching forward.’
• I have to now articulate the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ that forces me to think even more pragmatically and sequentially, really, about my practice.’
• ‘It is an excellent forum for teachers to see and do activities with students, rather than simply watching another PowerPoint presentation about what they could do.’

Feedback from teachers and principals observing demonstration classrooms included the following:

• ‘This validates what I am doing and I've gained some new ideas, as well.’
• ‘It was such a terrific day. All four of us were so energised by what we saw and heard and can't wait to get started on implementing some change to our math program. It was so great spending the day with the resource teacher, as well - not only did he validate what we were already doing in our own classrooms, but he gave us some new ideas and new resources that we can implement into our math program. It was one of the best professional development opportunities that I've had recently.’
• (From a principal): ‘I wanted to share with you both the comments made by my primary and junior teachers who went to the demo classes last week. Both groups said that it was valuable, outstanding, some of the best PD that they have experienced, highly worthwhile, and on and on . . .’
• ‘This was beneficial . . . I look forward to implementing the Post-it note concept with reading, as well as the graphic organisers and power-writing…’
• ‘This form of PD is the most useful because seeing strategies applied is more relevant/convincing . . . and the cross-panel observation leads to better understanding across the panels.’
• ‘I highly recommend others share in this experience! Provided a great and rare opportunity for professional dialogue.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ms Anita Townsend is Principal of Curriculum K-12, Simcoe County District School Board, in Midhurst, Ontario, Canada.

 

Go to top of page     Go to online discussion