High School Professional Communities: Implications for Educational Practice

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High School Professional Communities
Implications for Educational Practice

• Joan Talbert
• Stanford University

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching
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CRCs research on high schools and reform
initiatives 1987-2003

• Sixteen school study (OERI)
• Math department research (NSF)
• Students at the Center evaluation (Wallace-RD)
• Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (Hewlett)
• Bay Area High School Study (Johnson)
• The Learning Partnership (MacArthur)

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching
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Themes for discussion

• How high school departments (and, for us middle
  school departments elementary grade levels)
  differ.
• The ways in which those differences matter for
  students.

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching
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Types of Professional Communities

• Strength and Character of the Teacher Community
• Weak
• Strong
• 2. Culture of Practice
• a. Traditional
• b. Innovative

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School
Weak Teacher Communities
Strong Teacher Communities
Culture of practice
Individual values beliefs
Traditional Practices
Learning Community
Innovate Alone
Enact Traditions
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Types of Professional Communities
STRENGTH CHARACTER of
TEACHER COMMUNITY Weak
Community Strong Community CULTURE OF
PRACICE Traditional Rancho
Onyx Ridge Valley Rancho Math
Dept Washington Academy Monroe
Highlander Dover La
Salle Esperanza Scholastic Innovativ
e Ibsen
Greenfield Prospect
Esperanz Math Dept.
Oak Valley Eng. Dept.
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The Strength of Department Communities Differs
Widely within Comprehensive High Schools A Case
Illustration
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The Strength of Department Communities Differs
Widely within Comprehensive High Schools A Case
Illustration
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Department Community Cultures Differ in Ways
Fundamental to Teaching

• Technical culture conceptions of students,
  content,
• pedagogy and assessment
• Professional norms collegial relationships and
  views
• on teaching expertise
• Organizational policies norms for course
  assignment
• and resource allocation

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching
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Department Communities Differ in Technical Culture
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Department Communities Differ in Professional
Norms
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Department Communities Differ in Organizational
Policies
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Teacher Learning Community Matters for High
School Students

• Effort in particular classes/ subjects
• Experience of teacher-student respect
• Role in the classroom
• Class self-efficacy

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching
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Students School Experiences Reflect their
Teachers Professional Community
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High Schools with Strong Teacher Learning
Communities Show Greater Gains on SAT-9
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Educational Outcomes

• Traditional Communities
• Success with traditional students limited
  success with all students.

• Learning Communities
• Success with traditional students increased
  success with nontraditional students

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Through Inquiry and Collaboration, Teacher
Learning Communities Develop Local Knowledge
About

• Ways in which particular students prior
  knowledge, skills, and culture frame their
  learning and teaching opportunities
• How to address diversity in a particular school/
  classroom
• What instructional strategies and materials
  actively engage students in constructing new
  knowledge and skills
• Ways of organizing teachers work for
  professional learning and improvement

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching
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Leadership for Learning Community

• Enforces beliefs that all students and all
  teachers can learn
• Creates place and times for gathering
• Models and nurtures an inquiry stance for
  teaching
• Develops structures for collaborative work around
  teaching and student learning

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching
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Next Steps..
Center for Research on the Context of Teaching