Study Groups for Voluntary Professional Development
In Chapter 4 of Becoming a Literacy Leader, Jennifer Allen describes how she facilitates professional learning beyond the schoolwide initiative. She refers to these opportunities as "study groups". They are typically designed around a specific educational resource. Jennifer reflects on the importance of having voice and choice in her professional learning.
As a teacher, I often found that my needs and interests were not met within the allotted in-service days designated for professional development during the school year. I was thirsty for professional development opportunities involving new instructional practices. Instead, I found that most of our in-service days were planned months in advance to address state assessment requirements. (pg. 59)
In the past, I had tried to facilitate study groups but encountered several problems.
First, I was selecting the text. Teachers didn't have voice and choice in what to read.
Second, I did not have regularly scheduled dates communicated ahead of time. I would ask teachers when they would want to meet, a few would get back to me, and then we tried to make it fit.
Third, I saw this as a way to teach instead of an opportunity to learn from the resource and with each other. As Jennifer notes in Becoming a Literacy Leader, "I participate as an equal member of each group. I think the reason study groups work is that the teachers are directing their own learning." (pg. 65)
By learning from my experiences plus this resource, we have prepared a more responsive approach to personalize professional learning for faculty.
Research Relevant Resources to Offer
In the spring, I thought about what our school's needs and interests were as we prepared for next year. Some of these topics would need to be beyond our schoolwide initiative of authentic literacy. For example, personalized learning and Responsive Classroom were two areas I knew teachers were interested in learning more about. I made a list of all relevant resources available, discovered through researching publisher websites, professional reading resources, and book search tools such as Amazon and Goodreads.
Select Resources as a Leadership Team
Before the school year begins, our school's leadership team reviewed the titles collected for consideration. Teachers on the team provided their input, knowing what their colleagues might and might not be interested in.
Offer Study Group Opportunities to Faculty
I typed up a list of titles with descriptions along with dates the study groups would meet (image on left). Teachers can click on a link to a Google Form and enroll in one or more study groups (image on right).
[gallery ids="29197,29199" type="rectangular"]
After teachers have signed up, we will need to assign co-facilitators for the groups. One facilitator would likely be a member of the leadership team. The other facilitator would be a participating teacher. These facilitators would cover for each other in case one of them could not make it.
Jennifer also has a routine agenda for the study groups to ensure a successful study group experience (pg. 74):
Discussion/Sharing (10 minutes)
Reading Excerpt
Video Clip
Toolbox (15 minutes)
Putting Ideas into Practice (5 minutes)
Next Month
Just as important to providing teachers with voice and choice in their professional learning, I believe it is equally powerful to have teachers model lifelong, voluntary learning for our students and school community. I look forward to seeing how the concept of study groups will have a positive impact on teacher autonomy and student learning.