Lethbridge School District teacher, April 2011
This holy grail of comments about professional learning was written last spring in recognition of the success teachers in Lethbridge School District have experienced in redefining their professional learning to become more personal, ongoing, collaborative and purposeful.
The catalyst for this radical change, however, has been two major shifts at the district level. For AISI Cycle 4, the district entered new territory by moving to a single district-wide project, having had individual school-based projects for the first three cycles; 15 project in Cycle 3. Coupled with this change in project structure, the district calendar was redesigned to have common professional learning days for all schools. How can such significant change “from the top” result in the positive personal change expressed by the teacher quoted above and by so many others in Lethbridge School District? Fullan has noted that there is a very real challenge for teachers and districts in “balancing top-down and bottom-up forces.”(Fullan, 2001) We believe we have found that balance in Lethbridge School District.
In Year 1, the district changes were met with some skepticism and a degree of tension between schools and the district’s Education Centre. Some teachers argued that the project felt top down. Richard Dufour has written about this response to district based approaches: “The term top-down is uttered with disdain, a pejorative phrase…and they expect me to be appalled at this affront to the autonomy of educators.” (Dufour, 2007) However, as the project progressed, teachers increasingly identified the alignment of purpose in teaching and professional learning that was developing because of the district-wide approach. They were able to benefit from the time provided for collaboration and guidance to improve their teaching practice. Coming together was allowing them to deconstruct jargon and to develop common language. By establishing collaboration as a norm, teachers could more readily focus on talking to each other about their teaching and about improving students’ learning
Results of our research study (Gunn & Hollingsworth) on the effect of the district-wide project showed “significant changes” occurring in teacher practice regarding the implementation of 21st century learning methods and approaches. As well, results from Year 1 showed that student learning was positively impacted as teachers pursued their personal learning within the district-wide project.
Concurrently with the AISI project, Lethbridge School District was part of the CASS project Moving and Improving. The opportunity this participation gave us to pose specific questions about the AISI project to Leithwood, Levin and Fullan brought the research literature to life and helped us guide the project.
The involvement in Moving and Improving validated for us the directional change we had made to a systemic project, but it also reinforced the importance of teachers being the “locus of change”. While a directional change at the district level has made our move forward possible, it is teachers who are the actual agents of change. The realization is growing in Lethbridge School Division that professional learning is not something that happens to teachers, but is something that teachers own. It is increasingly seen that professional learning is not limited just to district learning days or school based learning days, but is an ongoing part of our professional life together. Trust has grown in district leaders and principals that teachers are continually learning and improving their practice. Never ones to have been afraid of working hard and of learning, teachers are increasingly recognizing the power of professional learning that is collaborative, focused, purposeful and meaningful.
The necessity described by Fullan and Levin of a district being part of teachers’ professional learning has becoming evident [1] Our model of a district guided project and common professional learning days has shown tangible results. We have discovered together that increased autonomy of professional learning can occur in a district guided project. It has provided the opportunity for teachers in Lethbridge School District to radically change their professional learning.
As we move into the third year of the project, we anticipate continued growth in teachers’ ownership of their professional learning, a continued improvement in teaching practice and, consequently, a continued improvement in student learning.
Works Cited
Dufour, R. (2007, November). In Praise of Top-Down Leadership. The School Administrator, p. 38.
Fullan, M. (2001). The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York: Teachers College.
Gunn, T., & Hollingsworth, M. (2011). The Implementation and Assessment of a Shared 21st Century Learning Vision: A District Based Approach.
[1]
[1] Fullan and Leven eloquently detail effective strategies of professional learning that include the district, the school and the teacher.
[1] Fullan and Leven eloquently detail effective strategies of professional learning that include the district, the school and the teacher.
