Download or read book Professional Learning as Relational Practice written by Jenny Reeves and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-04-07 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the emphasis on transforming professional work through the adoption of enquiry-based and trans-disciplinary approaches to service development, there is an urgent need for those involved in professional education to develop a robust understanding of how changes in practice occur. A more inclusive approach to the analysis of the processes involved across the varied and interrelated contexts in which they occur is thus very timely. In this book, Jenny Reeves sets out to explore the gap between the experience of professional learning as an interactive, dynamic and socially contextualised process, and descriptions that are often individualistic, overly linear and largely context-free. She makes the claim that this disjuncture is the outcome of modes of enquiry that concentrate on limited selections of the available data. Adopting a relational approach to describing practice-based professional development, including graphical means for exploring the spaces produced by the activity, provides a very different picture. It creates a basis for representing the complex movements, relationships and interactions between people and things that occur during professional learning. It also provides a productive approach to describing the exchange and creation of professional knowledge across different contexts over time. By building a picture of the ephemeral spaces and connections that educating activities produce, mapping relational space allows those engaged in professional education to think rather differently about how professional learning and changes in knowledge and practice may be understood, supported and developed.
Download or read book Beyond the Tyranny of Testing written by Kenneth J. Gergen and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing detailed illustrations using cases from pioneering schools around the globe at both the primary and secondary level, this book demonstrates how a relational orientation to evaluation in education can enhance learning processes, foster students' engagement and vitality relationships, and elevate the evaluation of teaching and the school as a whole.
Download or read book Exploring Relational Professionalism in Schools written by Anneli Frelin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-13 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How is it that some teachers have just “got it”? They walk into a room and the atmosphere changes. They get through to students in a way that no-one else can. The author has sought answers to this question by observing and interviewing teachers from preschool to upper secondary school levels. Having intensively studied the highly influential but underestimated relational dimension of teaching, her contention is that these teachers successfully use relational practices to build educational relationships with their students and educational communities among them. Moreover, she finds that what may come across as a teacher’s personal traits is actually a sensible professional approach. These teachers haven’t “got it” - they “get it”. This book explains how teachers carry out their relational practices, and contains an abundance of everyday examples from all stages of education. The deep theoretical reasoning departs from these examples to create a compelling argument for a teacher’s relational professionality that is possible to learn and teach. New relational perspectives and concepts are introduced for the purpose of facilitating professional conversations about the profound dimension of relationships in education.
Download or read book Professional Development in Relational Learning Communities written by Miriam B. Raider-Roth and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Raider-Roth offers an innovative approach to teacher professional development that builds on the intellectual strength and practical wisdom of practitioners. Focusing on nurturing relationships between and among participants, facilitators, subject matter, texts, and the school environment, this book helps educators create a repertoire of teaching approaches founded on sustained, deep, democratic, local, and active learning. The author demonstrates that, within the context of trustworthy relationships, teachers can better connect with all that they know about teaching, learning, and their own identities. This, in turn, enables them to act on what they know in the best interest of their students and leads to the kinds of lasting change and commitment that can move the teaching profession beyond training for a particular skill set. Book Features: Examples showing how the work of relational learning communities can improve teachers’ practice.A focus on the cultural dimension in professional development for teachers.A view of teaching and learning as deeply relational and transformative. Strategies to help facilitators and participants create processes to best support a fertile learning environment. “An effective and powerful antidote to the usual models of PD, Professional Development in Relational Learning Communities is a thoughtful and engaging text that takes seriously the intellectual work of teachers and the importance of relationships in teacher learning.” —Curt Dudley-Marling, professor emeritus, Boston College
Download or read book Different Ways of Being an Educator written by Ann Morgan Ph.D. and published by Balboa Press. This book was released on 2018-02-08 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Different Ways of Being an Educator series highlights the shifts and movements educators make in a flexi school context. Flexi schools offer programs that are responsive to the needs of young people who face complexities in their lives that have created barriers to learning in conventional schools. Not all flexi schools are the same, but they have some common features and practice frameworks. In Relational Practicethe first in a three-book seriesthe author explores an educational model for those who seek to give disenfranchised young people access to safe and dynamic learning communities. Drawing on stories from experienced practitioners working with young people in flexi schools, the author shares insights about re-engaging young people and effective ways of working with colleagues in multidisciplinary teams. The concepts are presented in easy-to-access, clearly themed vignettes from educators. Each element is accompanied by questions that guide staff to engage in critical reflection individually, within teams, and with mentors and supervisors. For educators in any context, the series offers practical strategies and relational ways for educators to support young people to remain connected and engaged in learning at school.
Download or read book Trust in Schools written by Anthony Bryk and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2002-09-05 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most Americans agree on the necessity of education reform, but there is little consensus about how this goal might be achieved. The rhetoric of standards and vouchers has occupied center stage, polarizing public opinion and affording little room for reflection on the intangible conditions that make for good schools. Trust in Schools engages this debate with a compelling examination of the importance of social relationships in the successful implementation of school reform. Over the course of three years, Bryk and Schneider, together with a diverse team of other researchers and school practitioners, studied reform in twelve Chicago elementary schools. Each school was undergoing extensive reorganization in response to the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which called for greater involvement of parents and local community leaders in their neighborhood schools. Drawing on years longitudinal survey and achievement data, as well as in-depth interviews with principals, teachers, parents, and local community leaders, the authors develop a thorough account of how effective social relationships—which they term relational trust—can serve as a prime resource for school improvement. Using case studies of the network of relationships that make up the school community, Bryk and Schneider examine how the myriad social exchanges that make up daily life in a school community generate, or fail to generate, a successful educational environment. The personal dynamics among teachers, students, and their parents, for example, influence whether students regularly attend school and sustain their efforts in the difficult task of learning. In schools characterized by high relational trust, educators were more likely to experiment with new practices and work together with parents to advance improvements. As a result, these schools were also more likely to demonstrate marked gains in student learning. In contrast, schools with weak trust relations saw virtually no improvement in their reading or mathematics scores. Trust in Schools demonstrates convincingly that the quality of social relationships operating in and around schools is central to their functioning, and strongly predicts positive student outcomes. This book offer insights into how trust can be built and sustained in school communities, and identifies some features of public school systems that can impede such development. Bryk and Schneider show how a broad base of trust across a school community can provide a critical resource as education professional and parents embark on major school reforms. A Volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology
Download or read book Dimensions of Professional Learning written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors to this volume explore challenges and dilemmas around professional learning that confront educators in Australia. The book is organised around three dimensions of professional learning: professionalism, identity formation and communal sites of professional learning. It addresses important questions. In what ways do policies and practices mediate the construction of ‘a professional’ among current and future educators? How do communal spaces shape the professional learning of educators? What are the tensions that emerge in the construction of professional identity through professional learning? As a whole, all chapters provide insight into the dynamic nature of ‘professional becoming’.
Download or read book Being an Expert Professional Practitioner written by Anne Edwards and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professionals deal with complex problems which require working with the expertise of others, but being able to collaborate resourcefully with others is an additional form of expertise. This book draws on a series of research studies to explain what is involved in the new concept of working relationally across practices. It demonstrates how spending time building common knowledge between different professions aids collaboration. The core concept is relational agency, which can arise between practitioners who work together on a complex task: whether reconfiguring the trajectory of a vulnerable child or developing a piece of computer software. Common knowledge, which captures the motives and values of each profession, is essential for the exercise of relational agency and contributing to and working with the common knowledge of what matters for each profession is a new form of relational expertise. The book is based on a wide body of field research including the author’s own. It tackles how to research expert practices using Vygotskian perspectives, and demonstrates how Cultural Historical and Activity Theory approaches contribute to how we understand learning, practices and organisations.
Download or read book Relational Leadership in Education written by David L. Giles and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-03 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When is leadership not relational? When is education not relational? When is life not relational? Relationships always matter to our living, educating and leading. Relational Leadership in Education considers this ‘Relational Leadership’ within the context of education, critiquing the current ideological ‘context’ and contemporary understandings of its influence. Employing a phenomenological approach, this book explores the relational nature of education, Relational Leadership, and the organizational culture to provide a more sophisticated exploration of practice-based wisdom. It offers an extensive range of activities for further thinking on the experiential nature of Relational Leadership, grouped around a number of themes: Relational Leadership and sensibilities; organizational culture; professional development; curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; and the reconstruction of a postgraduate Educational Leadership and Management programme for experienced, emergent and aspiring leaders. ‘Relational Leadership’ is not about describing yet another style of leadership but rather about a relational way of being in leadership that utilizes refined relational sensibilities. ‘Relational Leadership’ is also a reminder of what is critical in a leader’s practice — leadership is always relational, and relationships are the essence of leadership.
Download or read book Guiding Professional Learning Communities written by Shirley M. Hord and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2009-11-24 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "To improve teaching quality and student learning outcomes, someone has to take the reins and lead the effort with intelligence, skill, sensitivity, and a clear sense of purpose. This book offers the ′why′ and ′how′ to those willing to take on the challenge to accomplish that goal." —Thomas R. Guskey, Professor of Educational Psychology University of Kentucky "This book places ′learning in community′ at the forefront of PLC work. The authors provide a treasure trove of cognitively engaging learning opportunities that build a communal knowledge base." —Diane Zimmerman, Superintendent Old Adobe Union School District, Petaluma, CA "Too often PLCs are treated as events. The authors of this fine book make clear that an authentic PLC is about embracing a form of leadership and learning in schools that requires fearless examination of teaching practices, faculty interactions, and student learning toward the goal of increased successful student learning. The book is rich with information, resources, and learning activities revealing how this can be accomplished." —Robert J. Garmston, Cofounder, Institute for Intelligent Behavior Professor Emeritus, California State University, Sacramento The how-to guide for developing, implementing, and sustaining a PLC! Shirley M. Hord and William A. Sommers′ best-selling book Leading Professional Learning Communities introduced educators to the research-based components of an effective professional learning community (PLC). Now this implementation handbook offers more than 30 structured "learning opportunities" to help busy educators put the components into practice. Ideal as a companion to the original book but also valuable as a standalone resource, this sequel guides educators in developing a new PLC or sustaining an existing one. Members of PLCs can use the engaging learning opportunities to facilitate individual and team development by exploring: Beliefs, values, and vision Shared leadership Structural conditions Relational conditions Intentional learning Sharing personal practice Guiding Professional Learning Communities is a rich field guide for increasing and enhancing teaching quality through the power of educators learning together.
Download or read book Relationship Rich Education written by Peter Felten and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mentor, advisor, or even a friend? Making connections in college makes all the difference. What single factor makes for an excellent college education? As it turns out, it's pretty simple: human relationships. Decades of research demonstrate the transformative potential and the lasting legacies of a relationship-rich college experience. Critics suggest that to build connections with peers, faculty, staff, and other mentors is expensive and only an option at elite institutions where instructors have the luxury of time with students. But in this revelatory book brimming with the voices of students, faculty, and staff from across the country, Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert argue that relationship-rich environments can and should exist for all students at all types of institutions. In Relationship-Rich Education, Felten and Lambert demonstrate that for relationships to be central in undergraduate education, colleges and universities do not require immense resources, privileged students, or specially qualified faculty and staff. All students learn best in an environment characterized by high expectation and high support, and all faculty and staff can learn to teach and work in ways that enable relationship-based education. Emphasizing the centrality of the classroom experience to fostering quality relationships, Felten and Lambert focus on students' influence in shaping the learning environment for their peers, as well as the key difference a single, well-timed conversation can make in a student's life. They also stress that relationship-rich education is particularly important for first-generation college students, who bring significant capacities to college but often face long-standing inequities and barriers to attaining their educational aspirations. Drawing on nearly 400 interviews with students, faculty, and staff at 29 higher education institutions across the country, Relationship-Rich Education provides readers with practical advice on how they can develop and sustain powerful relationship-based learning in their own contexts. Ultimately, the book is an invitation—and a challenge—for faculty, administrators, and student life staff to move relationships from the periphery to the center of undergraduate education.
Download or read book How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms written by Carol Ann Tomlinson and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2017-03-22 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1995 as How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, this new edition reflects evolving best practices, practitioners' experience, and Tomlinson's ongoing thinking about how to help all students access high-quality curriculum; engage in meaningful learning experiences; and feel safe and valued in their school. Written as a practical guide for teachers, this expanded 3rd edition of Carol Ann Tomlinson's groundbreaking work covers the fundamentals of differentiation and provides additional guidelines and new strategies for how to go about it. You'll learn What differentiation is and why it's essential How to set up the flexible and supportive learning environment that promotes success How to manage a differentiated classroom How to plan lessons differentiated by readiness, interest, and learning profile How to differentiate content, process, and products How to prepare students, parents, and yourself for the challenge of differentiation We differentiate instruction to honor the reality of the students we teach. They are energetic and outgoing. They are quiet and curious. They are confident and self-doubting. They are interested in a thousand things and deeply immersed in a particular topic. They are academically advanced and "kids in the middle" and struggling due to cognitive, emotional, economic, or sociological challenges. More of them than ever speak a different language at home. They learn at different rates and in different ways. And they all come together in our academically diverse classrooms.
Download or read book Professional Learning Networks written by Leyton Schnellert and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book illustrates key attributes of professional learning networks that build educators’ ownership, practice, and expertise and highlights the potential of PLNs to address questions of equity, both for educators working in rural communities who have limited access to professional development and diverse learners and equity-seeking communities.
Download or read book Authentic Professional Learning written by Ann Webster-Wright and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is considerable and growing interest in professionals learning across their working lives. The growth in this interest is likely premised upon the increasing percentage of those who are being employed under the designation as professi- als or para-professional workers in advanced industrial economies. Part of being designated in this way is a requirement to be able to work autonomously and in a relatively self-regulated manner. Of course, many other kinds of employment also demand such behaviours. However, there is particular attention being given to the ongoing development of workers who are seen to make crucial decisions and take actions about health, legal and ?nancial matters. Part of this attention derives from expectations within the community that those who are granted relative autonomy and are often paid handsomely should be current and informed in their decisi- making. Then, like all other workers, professionals are required to maintain their competence in the face of changing requirements for work. Consequently, a volume that seeks to inform how best this ongoing learning can be understood, supported and assisted is most timely and welcomed. This volume seeks to elaborate professional learning through a consideration of the concept of authentic professional learning. What is proposed here is that, in contrast to programmatic approaches towards professional development, the process of continuing professional learning is a personal, complex and diverse process that does not lend itself to easy prescription or the realisation of others’ intents.
Download or read book Fostering a Relational Pedagogy written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through critical, qualitative, creative, and arts-integrated approaches, this collection seeks to advance teacher self-study and, through it, transformative praxis.
Download or read book Thankful Learning written by Harriet L. Schwartz and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master's education in the social sciences provides a unique opportunity for students and teachers. Students often bring extensive professional and life experience to the classroom, as well as clarity regarding their academic goals. Professors who teach on the master's level are distinctly committed to the teaching mission and see their students' experience as valuable to their own growth as teachers and to the ongoing development and vitality of their academic programs. The purpose of this study is to explore what goes on in relational practice between master's students and professors. Ten matched pairs of recent alumni and professors (from six different schools) were interviewed. Participants reflected on their relationships while the student was enrolled in the master's program, and the evolution of their relationships in the alumni context. Grounded theory dimensional analysis was employed to analyze the interview data. Six dimensions each emerged from the professor and student data respectively. The professor dimensions are: "Orienting," "Self-organizing," "Valuing," "Advancing," "Bounding," and "Regenerating". The student dimensions are: "Engaging," "Navigating," "Developing," "Connecting," "Reconstructing," and "Collaborating". The professors' "Regenerating" and the students' "Reconstructing" are the core dimensions. A combined exploration of the professor and student dimensional analyses surfaced six theoretical propositions: energizing the relationship, teaching and learning are bidirectional, difference is potential, asymmetrical primacy, working close to the boundaries, and the connection paradox. This study draws from literature in the following domains: relational cultural theory, positive psychology, positive work relationships, mentoring, adult development, and adult learning. The wisdom of these literatures combined with the findings of this study, provide a deep consideration of the relational space and experience of master's students and professors, exploring elements such as mutuality, boundaries, friendship, professional development, positionality, humor, connection and collaboration. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink etd Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest llc. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.].
Download or read book Different Ways of Being an Educator written by Ann Morgan and published by Balboa Press Au. This book was released on 2018-02-08 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Different Ways of Being an Educator series highlights the shifts and movements educators make in a flexi school context. Flexi schools offer programs that are responsive to the needs of young people who face complexities in their lives that have created barriers to learning in conventional schools. Not all flexi schools are the same, but they have some common features and practice frameworks. In Relational Practicethe first in a three-book seriesthe author explores an educational model for those who seek to give disenfranchised young people access to safe and dynamic learning communities. Drawing on stories from experienced practitioners working with young people in flexi schools, the author shares insights about re-engaging young people and effective ways of working with colleagues in multidisciplinary teams. The concepts are presented in easy-to-access, clearly themed vignettes from educators. Each element is accompanied by questions that guide staff to engage in critical reflection individually, within teams, and with mentors and supervisors. For educators in any context, the series offers practical strategies and relational ways for educators to support young people to remain connected and engaged in learning at school.
