In a prior blog, titled, “The Workshop,” I describe why district half-day workshops fail to achieve their announced purpose: to enhance teaching practices. Putting aside the obvious obstacles to effective professional development listed in the blog—purpose, content, time—the underlying problem is an organizational configuration that treats the complex process of learning new theories and practices as merely a managerial problem of implementation—distribution of materials of materials, training, documentation. None of these managerial problems addresses how adults learn to practice methodologies that are foreign to how they believe their students learn.
School districts that take professional development seriously formulate the learning process around two organizational components: a professional development infrastructure and a training regime. Much of the literature on professional development concentrates on the elements of an effective training regime. While the actual training of staff is a necessary component of adult learning, it is not sufficient to operationalize and sustain new classroom methodologies.
The foundation of an effective of staff development program lies with three organizational components that often overlooked in the implementation of an effective training regime. The table below describes the three organization components that must be present for a staff development program to realize its educational goals. Each of the organizational components—instructional system, administrative commitment, organizational commitment—work in unison to provide teachers with the talent, the support, and the resources—to fully realize the goals, theories, and practices of new classroom methodologies.
| INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS (Induction-Mentoring-Curriculum-Teacher Evaluation-Staff Development) | FIVE INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS: District/school administrations have adopted an organizational configuration that fully enacts the five instructional systems that compose a quality instructional program. The goals and content of each system reflect a coherent response to the fundamental questions of schooling and possess the resources (personnel, time, space, materials, expertise) to advance the school’s instructional worldview. REFLECTION-ON-PRACTICE: Embedded in each instructional system are conceptual frameworks & venues (e.g. cognitive coaching, curriculum guides) for interpreting and applying instructional theories, ideas, and practices. |
| ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITMENT (Framing-Educating-Coaching-Structuring) | VALUED RESPONSIBILITIES: Administrators are evaluated on their ability to assist teachers with resolving instructional problems and advancing the school’s instructional worldview. TRAINING & PARTICIPATION: All school administrators are expected to participate in the enactment of the school’s instructional worldview and possess the necessary educational background and training to assist teachers with further advancing the teaching of their subject areas. CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF INSTRUCTIONAL WORLDVIEW: Administrators in private and public venues regularly communicate a clear understanding of the theories, ideas, and practices that govern the school’s instructional worldview. INSTRUCTIONAL CONVERSATIONS: Administrators are adept at conducting instructional conversations (ListeningàQuestioningàInterpretingàAuthoring) that aim at assisting teachers with making classroom sense out of the theories, ideas, and practices associated with the school’s instructional worldview. PROBLEM SOLVING: Administrative responses to school wide problems reflect a purposeful approach to problem solving: What is the problemàwhat do we know about the problemà What theories, ideas, practices govern the problemàwhat strategies could our school employ to resolve the problemàWhat plan of action will we pursue to resolve the problemàHow will we know if we have resolved the problem. Plans of action continually reference theories, ideas, values, and practices embedded in the school’s instructional worldview. ADMINISTRATIVE TIME: Administrators devote a majority of their time to participating in one or more of the school’s instructional systems, assisting teachers with resolving instructional problems, and further elaboration of subject matter pedagogies. PROTECTION OF FACULTY: Administrators employ various administrative strategies (buffering/bridge) to protect faculty from foreign instructional worldviews. |
| ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT | RATIONALE FOR NEW PROGRAMS: District/school administrators regularly provide teachers with reasons for new instructional initiatives. The reasons agree with the school’s instructional worldview and the organizational capacity of school. ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY: Before new instructional programs are implemented, district/school administrators have acquired the space, time, materials, and expertise to fully educate and train teachers. WORKLOAD: Before new instructional programs are implemented district/school administrators have determined that teachers will be able to accommodate the additional workload required for educating and training. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: As the implementation of a new instructional initiative progresses, administrators regularly review the allocation of resources /workload and make necessary ADJUSTMENTS to support teacher learning. GOAL OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION: As the implementation of new instructional initiative progresses district/school administrators situate themselves in teacher workspaces and classrooms to assist teachers with bridging the theory/practice divide of new pedagogies and adjusting the time, materials, and work assignments for teachers to effectively implement a new instructional initiative. INSTRUCTIONAL TIME: School administrators protect instructional time by eliminating classroom interruptions (intercom announcements, telephone calls, messages from administrative offices, non-academic events, fundraisers). REFORM CLUTTER: District/school administrators are highly selective about the number and types (sophistication level) of new pedagogies they adopt during a school year. The initiation of new pedagogies adheres to the school’s instructional worldview and provides appropriate levels of resources (time, materials, space, expertise) to educate and train faculty. CHANGE IN INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES: District/school administrators adopt new pedagogies that conform to the instructional routines embedded in the school’s instructional worldview. |
Alan C. Jones 