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Hands-on, Practical Guidance for Educators

From math, literacy, equity, multilingual learners, and SEL, to assessment, school counseling, and education leadership, our books are research-based and authored by experts on topics most relevant to what educators are facing today.

 

The Power of Teacher Networks

By: Ellen Meyers, Peter A. Paul, David E. Kirkland, Nancy Fichtman Dana

Foreword by Stephanie Hirsh, Executive Director, National Staff Development Council

Foster high-quality teaching and leadership through teacher networks!

This step-by-step guide illustrates how to create, manage, and sustain a teacher network or grow an existing one, and provides a model developed by The Teachers Network. The book includes teacher vignettes, information about managing a network, and a wealth of worksheets, tools, and resources to get you started. Practical guidelines demonstrate how networks can:

  • Support new teachers, reduce teacher isolation, and increase retention rates
  • Share the benefits of collaborative group work, including action research
  • Enhance professional practice and nurture teacher leaders
  • Connect teachers to the ideals that drew them into education

Full description


Product Details
  • Grade Level: K-12
  • ISBN: 9781412967174
  • Published By: Corwin
  • Year: 2009
  • Page Count: 144
  • Publication date: December 05, 2012

Price: $31.95

Price: $31.95
Volume Discounts applied in Shopping Cart

Review Copies

Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.

Description

Description

"The Teachers Network, one of the most effective professional development organizations in education, has much to teach us. Ellen Meyers and her colleagues explain how supporting, connecting, and investing in teachers provides the best hope for our nation's public schools. Their invaluable work, distilled to its essence in these pages, creates opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively with colleagues, to learn from one another about how to teach better, and through that professional growth to remain committed to education. The authors show us how to do it."
—Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education
Stanford University

"The Power of Teacher Networks provides a ringing clarion call for teacher collaboration and for grounding educational policy in the real world of the classroom and the school. Part how-to manual for building teacher networks and part chronicle of the authors' successful work, this book sets forth a vision for the transformation of our nation's schools through the development of teacher voices."
—Randi Weingarten, President
American Federation of Teachers

"Essential for anyone interested in the future of public education in America. Embedded in the notion that teachers are the solution, not the problem, this book explores how teachers can create a vision, find a voice, manage a growing network, and make a difference. Surely there is nothing more important as we grapple with how best to move forward."
—Bill Cirone, Superintendent
Santa Barbara County Education Office, CA

"When teachers network, they become a social force for the good of society and each child in their classrooms. This book is a must-read for anyone who cares about teaching and teacher development."
—Mary M. Brabeck, Dean and Professor of Applied Psychology
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University

Foster high-quality teaching and leadership through teacher networks!

When connected through inter-school networks, teachers can communicate with each other and share invaluable information and ideas across district and state boundaries, ultimately enhancing both their own effectiveness and student learning. This step-by-step guide shows you how to create, manage, and sustain a teacher network or grow an existing one, and provides an easily adaptable model developed by The Teachers Network.

The book includes teacher vignettes and director and advisors' experiences in managing a network, plus a wealth of worksheets, tools, and resources to get you started. Practical guidelines illustrate how networks can:

  • Support new teachers, reduce teacher isolation, and increase retention rates
  • Share the benefits of collaborative group work, including action research
  • Enhance professional practice and nurture teacher leaders
  • Connect teachers to the goals and ideals that drew them into education

Teachers working together can not only make a significant impact on their school communities, but also strengthen the influence that teacher leaders can have in the wider arena of educational policy.


Key features

The step-by-step chapters take readers through the process of creating, managing, and sustaining a network:

  • Engaging in network activities
  • Using technology to connect
  • Disseminating research
  • Partnering with other organizations
  • Developing relationships with policymakers, and more

The book showcases voices from the Teachers Network Leadership Insitute, including:

  • Teachers' vignettes about joining a network and how it has made a difference in their work inside and outside the classroom
  • Directors and advisors' pivotal experiences around the process of managing a network

 

Author(s)

Author(s)

Ellen Meyers photo

Ellen Meyers

Ellen Meyers is a founder and senior vice president of Teachers Network and director of the Teachers Network Leadership Institute (TNLI). Meyers has had a long, distinguished career in education with an extensive list of accomplishments, among them: editor-in-chief of the by teachers, for teachers series of handbooks, including the New Teachers Handbook and How to Use the Internet in the Classroom; co-editor of Taking Action with Teacher Research (2003); producer of the television series "Successful Teaching Practices in Action"; innovator of the award-winning Web site teachersnetwork.org; and developer of Teachers Network’s online courses. Her passion is bridging the gap between schoolhouses and statehouses by empowering teachers to provide a voice in education policymaking. Meyers has a master's in education from Cambridge College and was recently awarded a certificate in English language teaching from Long Island University. For five years, she was adjunct professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and she has been an instructor of English at Long Island University.
Peter A. Paul photo

Peter A. Paul

Peter A. Paul is vice president of Teachers Network and also serves as national coordinator of the Teachers Network Leadership Institute (TNLI). Additionally, he directs Teachers Network’s New Teacher Resource Program, which helps support thousands of new teachers each year across the U.S. Paul has a concentration in educational policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he was inducted as a permanent member into its chapter of Kappa Delta Pi (International Honor Society in Education) and has also received numerous other recognitions, such as citations in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Asia—First Edition, and Outstanding People of the 20th Century (Cambridge, England). As a licensed elementary and middle school teacher, he has taught at all levels and in mixed environments—including urban, rural, and suburban classrooms—throughout the US and Japan. The son of two teachers and education professors, Paul is the founding president of NCA Schools International—a Northern Japan-based chain of English-language schools. Prior to returning to the US in 1997, Paul did extensive public speaking and educational consulting abroad.
David E. Kirkland photo

David E. Kirkland

David E. Kirkland is assistant professor of English education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development in the Department of Teaching and Learning. His research focuses on urban youth popular culture, language and literacy, teacher research, and urban teacher education. For five years, Kirkland taught secondary reading and English language arts in Detroit and Lansing, Michigan. He received his master's in philosophy from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in language, literacy, and urban education from Michigan State. His professional memberships include American Educational Research Association (AERA), Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Detroit Branch, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and Michigan Council of Teachers of English (MCTE)-NCTE Affiliate Organization.
Nancy Fichtman Dana photo

Nancy Fichtman Dana

Nancy Fichtman Dana is currently professor of education in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida, Gainesville. She began her career in education as an elementary school teacher in Hannibal Central Schools, New York. Since earning her PhD from Florida State University in 1991, she has been a passionate advocate for teacher inquiry and has worked >extensively in supporting schools, districts and universities in implementing powerful programs of job-embedded professional development through inquiry across the United States and in several countries, including China, South Korea, Belgium, Portugal, The Netherlands, Slovenia, and Estonia. She has published ten books and over 100 articles in professional journals and edited books focused on her research exploring teacher and principal professional development and practitioner inquiry. Dana has received many honors, including the Association of Teacher Educator’s Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award and the National Staff Development Council (now Learning Forward) Book of the Year Award, both honoring Dana and Yendol-Hoppey’s work related to practitioner inquiry.


Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Stephanie Hirsh


Preface


Acknowledgments


About the Authors


Introduction


1. The Case for Networks

What Joining TNLI Did for Our Work

Why Form a Network?

Concluding Thoughts

2. Creating a Vision

Naming the Problem

Envisioning the Future

Speaking With One Voice

What You Can Do--The Future Is Now

3. Finding a Voice

The Journey Begins

Seeing Teachers as the Solution, Not the Problem

Charting the Course

Managing a Network

4. Raising Your Voice

The Journey Continues

Managing a Growing Network

5. Making a Difference

A Menu of Activities

Why Teachers Like to Do Action Research

Feedback: How Do You Know You Are Making a Difference?

6. Where Do We Go From Here?

A Need for Change

The Future of Teaching

Appendices


TNLI Recommended Reading List


References


Index


Reviews

Reviews

Price: $31.95
Volume Discounts applied in Shopping Cart

Review Copies

Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.