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Teachers Bringing Out the Best in Teachers

A Guide to Peer Consultation for Administrators and Teachers

By: Jo Blase, Joseph Blase

Foreword by Edith Rusch

Boost teacher-to-teacher collaboration and learning as a means of informal, but powerful professional development!

Based on a unique investigative study of nearly 300 teachers, this excellent resource provides perspectives and examples on informal, naturally occurring, teacher-to-teacher professional growth moments. School leaders will learn what teacher peer "consultants" actually do that leads to improved teacher confidence and motivation, enhanced trust and mutual respect, and reflective instructional behavior. You'll learn how to promote a culture that encourages this organic professional development. The authors identify five teacher behaviors that can positively influence morale and teaching skills:

Building healthy relationships by communicating and developing trust
Using the five guiding principles for structuring learning experiences
Planning and organizing for learning
Showing and sharing
Guiding for classroom management

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412925969
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2006
Page Count: 168
Publication date: July 20, 2006

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Description

Boost teacher-to-teacher collaboration and learning as a means of informal, but powerful professional development!

Most teachers have experienced some kind of formal mentoring or induction program. What these programs can miss is the meaningful daily interaction with peers that builds mutual trust and instructional collaboration-the organic, coachable moments that boost professional learning. Based on a unique investigative study of nearly 300 teachers, this powerful new resource provides informative teacher perspectives of informal, naturally occurring, teacher-to-teacher professional development. Jo and Joseph Blase use this research to identify the following five teacher behaviors that can positively influence other teachers' morale, teaching skills, and professional growth:

Building healthy relationships by communicating, caring, and developing trust
Using five guiding principles for structuring learning experiences
Planning and organizing for learning
Showing and sharing
Guiding for classroom management

This excellent resource helps school leaders promote a culture that encourages lasting professional development. Each chapter presents practical concepts and strategies that can occur in and out of the classroom. Educators share specific experiences and examples, showing each skill in action.

School leaders will learn what strong teacher peer "consultants" actually do that leads to improved teacher confidence and motivation, enhanced trust and mutual respect, and reflective instructional behavior among their colleagues. These cost-effective, authentic strategies will build camaraderie and leadership in your school, engaging colleagues as a team in the vital mission of all schools-educating our youth.

Key features

- Six research-based and practical skills to improve teaching and to model as an instructional leader

- Numerous teacher voices and real examples of the six skills in action

- A cost-effective and meaningful approach to complement formal mentoring and induction programs already in place

- Useful graphic organizers

Author(s)

Jo Blase

Jo Blase is a professor of educational administration at the University of Georgia, and a former public school teacher, high school and middle school principal, and director of staff development. She received a Ph.D. in educational administration, curriculum, and supervision in 1983 from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her research has focused on instructional and transformational leadership, school reform, staff development, and principal-teacher relationships. Through work with the Beginning Principal Study National Research Team, the Georgia League of Professional Schools, and public and private school educators with whom she consults throughout the United States and abroad, she has pursued her interest in preparation for and entry to educational and instructional leadership as it relates to supervisory discourse.

Winner of the W. G. Walker 2000 Award for Excellence for her coauthored article published in the Journal of Educational Administration, the University of Georgia College of Education Teacher Educator Award, the University of Colorado School of Education Researcher/Teacher of the Year, and the American Association of School Administrators Outstanding Research Award, Blase has published in international handbooks and journals such as The Journal of Staff Development, The Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, Educational Administration Quarterly, and The Alberta Journal of Educational Research; her eight book editions include Empowering Teachers (1994, 2000), Democratic Principals in Action (1995), The Fire Is Back (1997), Handbook of Instructional Leadership (1998, 2004), Breaking the Silence (2003), and Teachers Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (2006).

Blase has authored chapters on becoming a principal, school renewal, supervision, and organizational development; her recent research examines the problem of teacher mistreatment. She has published over 90 academic articles, chapters, and books, and she also conducts research on supervisory discourse among physicians as medical educators and consults with physicians in US hospitals and medical centers.

Joseph Blase

Joseph Blase is a professor of educational administration at the University of Georgia. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1980 from Syracuse University, his research has focused on school reform, transformational leadership, the micropolitics of education, principal-teacher relationships, and the work lives of teachers. His work concentrating on school-level micropolitics received the 1988 Davis Memorial Award given by the University Council for Educational Administration, and his coauthored article published in the Journal of Educational Administration won the W. G. Walker 2000 Award for Excellence. In 1999 he was recognized as an elite scholar, one of the 50 Most Productive and Influential Scholars of Educational Administration in the world. Blase’s books include The Politics of Life in Schools: Power, Conflict, and Cooperation (winner of the 1994 Critic’s Choice Award sponsored by the American Education Studies Association), Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (1994, 2000, 2008); The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership (1995), Empowering Teachers (1994, 2000), Democratic Principals in Action (1995), The Fire Is Back (1997), Handbook of Instructional Leadership (1998, 2004), Breaking the Silence (2003), and Teachers Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (2006). His recent research (coauthored with Jo Blase and Du Fengning, 2008), a national study of principal mistreatment of teachers, appeared in The Journal of Educational Administration. Professor Blase has published over 120 academic articles, chapters, and books.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Edith Rusch

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Preface

1. Teachers Helping Teachers: The Case for Peer Consultation

Introduction

How Teachers Learn to Teach

The First Source of Teacher Help: Principals as Instructional Supervisors

The Second Source of Teacher Help: Lead Teachers and the Move Away From Top-Down Administrative Control

The Third Source of Teacher Help: Naturally-Occurring Informal Peer Consultation

Our Study of Peer Consultation Among Teachers

A Portrait of Peer Consultation

Questions to Consider

Suggested Reading for Further Learning

2. Peer Consultation Skill #1: Building Healthy Relationships by Communicating, Caring, and Developing Trust

Communication as the Key

Four Types of Peer Consultation

Peer Consultants’ Communication Style

Peer Consultants’ Caring

Peer Consultants’ Building Trust

Summary

Activities for Teachers and Administrators

Suggested Reading for Further Learning

3. Peer Consultation Skill #2: Using the Five Guiding Principles for Structuring Learning

Experiences

Teachers’ Knowledge Base

The Educational Productivity Research and the School Effects Research

From Knowledge to the Development of a Professional Learning Community

Peer Consultants’ Guiding Principles for Structuring Learning Experiences

Summary

Implications for Practice

Suggested Reading for Further Learning

4. Peer Consultation Skill #3: Planning and Organizing for Learning

Teachers’ Professional Development

Meta-Themes of Planning

Getting Organized for Instruction

Elements of Lesson Planning

Teacher Tips

The Dark Side of Planning and Organizing for Learning

Summary

Reminders and Questions

Suggested Reading for Further Learning

6. Peer Consultation Skill #5: Guiding for Classroom Management

Nine Guiding Principles of Classroom Management

Setting Up and Maintaining Classroom Routines

Summary

Questions for Discussion Among Faculty and Administrators

Suggested Reading for Further Learning

7. Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Peer Consultation

Introduction

Capitalizing on the Power of Peer Consultation

An Element of Academic Leadership Revealed

Teachers Teaching Teachers: Peer Consultants at Their Best

How Peer Consultation Supports the Development of a Professional Learning Community

Semi-Formal Collaboration Among Teachers and Its Effects

Conclusion: The Challenge for Teachers, Administrators, and Professional Learning

Coordinators to Unleash and Sustain Peer Consultation

Resource: Research Methods and Procedures

References

Index

Reviews

"A great contribution to the field. Excellent examples of communication styles. The scenarios and short vignettes that demonstrate concepts are interesting and on point."

Gwen Gross, Superintendent of Schools
Manhattan Beach Unified School District, CA

"This book definitely represents a new niche in instructional improvement, offering the integration of prior research, key literature, and strategies for implementation and action."

Edith Rusch, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership
University of Nevada Las Vegas

"School leaders can use this book as a tool to promote a culture that encourages professional growth and development."

PsycCRITIQUES, August 2007, Vol. 52(33)

Other Titles in: Teacher Leadership | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

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