In successful small schools teachers have time to engage in regular, meaningful discussions about their teaching practice. This collaborative time—which is built into the school schedule and is the foundation of all school professional development—is spent in a variety of ways:
- planning for team teaching
- determining the best ways to meet the needs of individual students
- observing one another’s classes
- studying their own and others’ best practices
- analyzing student work together
- refining assessment practices
- bringing what they know about student learning to bear on curriculum decisions
- reflecting on their own teaching practice
- conducting action research on promising classroom strategies
- working together on leadership teams to craft school policies
 |
|
| In successful small schools teachers have time to engage in regular, meaningful discussions about their teaching practice. |
|
By increasing time for professional interaction, teachers enhance their skills and report greater job satisfaction and a sense of appreciation. Some argue that by increasing time for collaboration small schools are reducing the amount of time teachers spend in the classroom. However, without expert teachers who are continually learning and growing as professionals, much of the work they do in the classroom will not be successful. Besides being a powerful staff development approach that improves student learning, teacher collaboration helps eliminate the job dissatisfaction and professional isolation experienced by many teachers.
While most schools support this approach, few schools create daily and weekly schedules to facilitate ongoing teacher collaboration. Below are some considerations for creating effective collaboration:
- Longer blocks of time. Small schools have the autonomy to define a schedule with longer, varied blocks of time in the day and week. Such schedules create opportunities for students to spend time learning off campus (for example, taking classes at local colleges, doing internships or service learning projects in the community). When students are learning off-site, teachers have regular opportunities to work together.
- Varied blocks of time. Another approach to scheduling is to vary the length of days. For example, some schools start late or release students early one day a week. Students’ hours can be adjusted over the course of the week to make up for any time lost by these changes to the daily schedule. The schedule can be similarly shifted so that teachers meet on a designated day after school.
- Effective strategies. Adequate time is the first essential element of teacher collaboration. Equally important is ensuring that teachers have training in the strategies and protocols necessary to be effective once they gather to tackle issues of instructional practices. Study groups, action research teams and critical friends networks are opportunities for learning, problem solving, professional growth and collegial support. However, teachers need professional development to learn how to apply such processes of inquiry.
Review this element on the Oregon Small Schools Initiative School Change Rubric Self-Assessment Tool.
|
