Last year I was awarded a technology grant in Washington State, it is called Enhanced Education Through Technology or EETT. One of benefits of the grant is money to be spent on technology for my classroom. I love that part. The main point of the grant flows from its use of the Peer Coaching Program sponsored by Microsoft and its Innovative Teachers Network. The idea is that we learn most of what we do in our classrooms by our peers anyway, so why not intentionally train our fellow teachers in a structured environment about something we have learned ourselves. This makes a lot of sense. How many times have we all gone to an amazing conference with all these ideas that we were ready to implement in the classroom, only to have only done little of what we wanted or none at all. Why? There is no follow up from someone who cares to ask how are you doing? What can I do to help? When there is true collaboration, things get done. The coach and peer teachers have personal investments in what is going on. Not only do they see the benefits in their own classroom but also they know it is going to help the entire school community. “Professional development that includes peer coaching, study teams, or peer visits to provide opportunities for collaboration, feedback, and reflection, has a clear impact on classroom practice” (Innovative Teaches Network). The table bellow demonstrates the success of peer coaching compared to other types of training.
| Type of Training | Knowledge Mastery | Skill Acquisition | Classroom Application |
| Theory + | 85% | 15% | 5 – 10% |
| Practice + | 85% | 80% | 10-15% |
| Coaching, Study Teams, Peer Visits | 90% | 90% | 80 – 90% |
This table was adapted from research on the impact of professional development (Joyce & Showers, 1994; Showers, Murphy & Joyce, 1996).
0 comments:
Post a Comment