A fascinating ongoing professional development system is being used in Swartz Creek Schools outside of Flint MI. Recognizing that meaningful educational experts reside within the school itself allows this forward thinking district to provide high quality learning opportunities for staff during the school day. Introduced by
+Michele Corbat,
+Adam Hartley and
Sandy Cook with guidance from
+Lisa Madden who had instituted this model previously in another district, the program has just finished its first year of operation.
The Model
A group of visitor teachers observe host teachers during a period of time when students are actively engaged within the classroom. These host teachers are identified as using successful strategies to support literacy in Swartz Creek, although this model could focus on other learning attributes or strategies as well. One aspect of this program that I found so interesting was how structured it is. There are pre-observation meetings where the visiting teachers objectively detail what they will be looking for during the classroom visit. There are guidelines set in place for classroom norms which set an incredible tone for a constructive environment focused on learning from the host teacher. Specific forms and agendas guide the process which summarizes with a robust reflection and debriefing session concentrating on particular takeaways for application.
The Future
I was fortunate to be able to have Michele as my guest on
Learning Lab Radio recently, you can hear our conversation
here. It was compelling to learn from her, I think that once districts hear about this model it will be adopted more widely. The ongoing nature of this model also lends itself to sustained development and supports ongoing maturation of both programs and techniques. This leads to a more organic and teacher led sharing of expertise which ultimately benefits both staff and students.
