A Learning Community Model for Professional Development & Transformational Teacher Education: Linking Teacher Preparation with In-service Teacher Learning and School Improvement Paper Presented at the Idea of Education Conference, mansfiel College, Oxford University, U.K. (July 2002). Seth A. Agbo, Ph.D. Pacific University Forest Grove, Oregon USA

Sequence of Topics  Background  Teacher Education Myths  Culture of the University and Status of Teacher Education  Professional Development Schools (PDSs)  Learning Community (LC)-Driven PDS Model  Transformational Learning Model  Conclusions and Implications

Background “For many years some critics have argued that the average teacher in America is hopeless. Those who choose to teach are portrayed as representing the bottom of the academic barrel. In addition, colleges of education are considered to be at best mediocre and at worst hopelessly inadequate institutions. As we shall see, the truth is far more complex and flattering to education than the myth would have it.” (Berliner and Biddle, 1997, p. 103)

Background (contd.): Some Facts About U.S. Teachers F U.S. now educates 51 million children, projected to 54 million in 2006 (U.S. Dept. of Education). F U.S. will need 2.2 million teachers over the next 10 years to replace teachers who are retiring or leaving the profession (Public Ed. Network, 2002). F percent of beginning teachers quit teaching each year (California) F percent drop out of teaching within the first seven years (nationwide)

Background (cont.) University as an elite institution that places emphasis on theory and despises practice Teacher education set up against a backdrop of an academic culture that disregards practice in favor of theory and loves detachment from outside community Teacher education skeptical towards practice and detaches itself from public schools

Teacher Education Myths Acquisition of teaching skills is based on rigorous grounding in content area Conception of practice-oriented learning as non- academic Deification of theory in university classrooms as the ultimate source of rationality Teacher education is less rigorous than other fields purported of being more value theoretically The relationship between teacher education and public schools is a casual one

Culture of the University A polymorphous capacity to change its form and purpose to suit its ephemeral and sociopolitical environment while preserving its culture By tradition: Remains protected from external interference Resists change in spite of external pressures and internal transformations An elite institution with a strong element in pursuit of theoretical knowledge Anything practical is not an embodiment of worthy knowledge and rationality Aggrandizes theory as the ultimate source of the best knowledge

Status of Teacher Education Skeptical attitude towards practice Concentration on professional and pedagogical studies is perceived as low academic achievement Perception that low academic achievements are embodied in practical field experiences Continuous detachment from public schools “Training” in favor of “education” model 

The Learning Community (LC) Model Integration of two or more courses to enable students to develop cross-disciplinary approaches to learning and teaching Courses are linked together so that students have opportunities for deeper understanding and integration of material they are learning, and more interaction with peers and teachers as fellow participants in the learning process

The Learning Community (LC) as Type 2 Field Experience: Enables elementary teacher education students to spend part of their semester in real classrooms to reflect on classroom behavior Implements cross-disciplinary approaches for two or more university courses

The Learning Community-Driven Professional Development School (PDS) Model Pre-service students enroll in a cluster of two or more courses Part of teacher education is taken away from a university classroom-centered and theory-based context to real life situation in public schools Pre-service teachers participate in field-based study at the school site over extended periods of time in ways that are sequential and purposeful Participants engage in systematic reflective inquiry that informs alternative pedagogy (best practices) based on sound theoretical framework and reliable research

LC Model as Vertical and Horizontal Complementary Linkage of Issues F Vertical—across levels, relating the state and local perspectives to teaching in the university and public schools, university and public school administrators and staff, university students and public school students. F Horizontal—University and public schools provide a learning network across institutional boundaries, cultures and ideologies that leads to a PDS (Fig. 1)

PDS Transformational Learning Teacher education faculty LC-Driven Professional Development School (PDS): Vertical and Horizontal Complementary Linkage Teacher education students Education theories Learning Community field experience Public school teachers Public school students

The Professional Development School (PDS) The PDS is a collaborative school-university partnership that will: contribute to the improvement of pre-service teachers and enhance the on-going professional growth of veteran teachers. blend school and university cultures and allow PDS Site staff and university faculty to jointly develop policies & procedures for teacher education.

Goals of a PDS To improve the preparation of pre-service teachers To enhance on-going professional growth of veteran teachers To raise standards and academic achievement of public school students To alert university faculty of the cultural details of how public schools operate

Transformational Learning: Provides symbiotic learning opportunities for university faculty, pre-service teachers, veteran teachers and public school students Provides new frames of teacher learning—A Seamless Web of Learning from “Otherness” Provides opportunities for Collaborative Planning & Reflectivity Learning by teaching Learning by doing Learning by collaborating Learning by action research

Transformational Learning: A “Seamless Web” of Learning Links teacher preparation, in- service teacher learning, university faculty development and school improvement Veteran teachers and university faculty learn about knowledge and its application University students learn both theory and practice of teaching Public school students gain from new methods of teaching

Transformational Learning— Learning from “Otherness” Model

Implications for Pre-service Teacher Education An all-inclusive learning process that will guarantee impressionable and intellectually flexible and adaptable future teachers Learning that is simultaneously determining and being determined by a variety of approaches to teaching

Implications for Student Achievement and In-service/Pre-service Teacher Development F Transformational Learning:  Invokes a seamless web of learning that prepares teachers to develop a kaleidoscopic view of teaching  Enables teachers to retain a full grasp of content and professional elements of teaching  Empowers participants towards a collective vision of teacher development and school improvement  Creates opportunities to acquire and pass on learning

University Faculty Educational Theories & Pedagogical Methods University Students Mentor Teachers Classroom Teaching & Interactions w/students School Administration Pre-service Teacher Education In-service Professional Development Increased Elementary School Student Achievement Fig. 2- University-Public School Transformational Learning Model THEUNIVESITYTHEUNIVESITY PUBLICSCHOOLPUBLICSCHOOL TRANSFORMATIONALTRANSFORMATIONAL LEARNINGLEARNING

CONCLUSION  Need for fundamental change in attitudes of universities towards the deification of theoretical rationality as the ultimate source of knowledge and the downplay of practical knowledge  Preparation of teachers through a learning process that would guarantee impressionable and intellectually flexible and adaptable future teachers   Connection between universities and public schools should provide strategic leadership for lifelong learning.  Universities and public schools should mobilize resources for concurrent effective teacher education and school improvement.

Implications for Further Study A research agenda that focuses on the need for universities in urban as well as rural centers to collaborate with public schools Need to investigate the attrition rate in the early years of teaching and to understand the processes that will facilitate change in teacher preparation. Develop an agenda that emphasizes clinical inquiry providing opportunities for university-public school partnerships for teacher education and school improvement