Teachers as Learners #2

 Profesores que aprenden- 2ª parte

Wednesday:

Faculty meeting. No. Faculty learning—what BFIS teachers do formally to stay active, vital, and aware as practitioners. Today, elementary teachers are studying an article on mainstreaming and varied instructional approaches to integrating second language learners. There is dynamism in the air—movement of learners doing, talking, and collaborating—similar to the energy that exists in classrooms where knowledge is  actively pursued.

On the other side of campus in the computer lab, middle and high school teachers are viewing a new web-based tool that digitally maps curriculum. There is a palpable sense of wonder and excitement about the tool’s possibilities. There is also some anxiety about how they will find the time to embark on this new process of discovery.

Later in the week, Saturday:

Colleagues from the American School of Barcelona, BFIS principals, subject area leaders, and teachers are spending a day with a visiting Canadian educator, practicing the art of how to conduct purposeful meetings, and group facilitation.

This is a snapshot of professional development at BFIS. It is coherent and centered around student learning. It reinforces university research that has found that students learn when adults learn. But we can organize professional development even better. If we want teachers to be actively learning and inquiring, then they need the optimal conditions in which to do so.

How then do we provide sustained, in-depth adult learning? Teachers need to be in the classroom with their students. This is what we expect. But conversely, they also need to be learning with and from one another. The social dimensions of knowledge acquisition require extensive opportunities for collaboration and group problem solving. Fifty minutes at the end of the day, once per week, does not suffice. When a school organizes educators to participate in ongoing inquiry, the learning of everyone, including students, will increase.

This year our instructional priorities include: technology integration, guided reading, examining student work, and mapping curriculum. For that learning to be fully integrated in the classroom, we must implement a more robust professional development model. Of the possible alternatives to the current model is a series of half or full professional development days for the 2008-2009 academic year. This would require support from and adjustments by our entire community.

In extraordinary schools, everyone is a learner. As BFIS’s instructional leader, I want to provide the necessary conditions and time to support teachers’ development. If we want our children to become passionate learners, than they need to be surrounded by teachers who are engaged with learning themselves.

Dr. David Penberg
BFIS Director