The History of the National Writing Project

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Elrod Whitney ◽  
Yamil Sarraga-Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
National Writing Project ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Writing Project ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Professional Development Model

The National Writing Project (NWP) is a network of professional development sites focusing on the improvement of writing across schools and communities. Its origins as the Bay Area Writing Project led to a professional development model of teachers teaching teachers, a concept that hinges upon recognition of teachers’ knowledge and their capacity to become leaders within their professional community. In the ensuing years, with early financial support from the US government in the form of an initial grant and an eventual direct federal line item, the NWP expanded from one location to over 200 local sites across the USA’s 50 states and territories as well as international sites. These US and international sites, created in partnership with local universities or colleges, offer localized support to teachers of writing. The project’s model involves an intensive summer institute in which teachers spend their time writing, reading, and sharing their knowledge about writing practices and teaching. While its focus is on the teaching of writing across all levels and disciplines, the project has become a model example of a professional learning and development network. As such, the NWP has created a legacy in teacher learning and development that many within the field of teacher professional development wish to emulate. An examination of this history, highlighting the project’s beginnings within the Bay Area Writing Project and its eventual expansion, speaks to the vision that has driven its success.

Communities of Practice

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Andrew
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Original Description ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Practice Environment ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Forthcoming Article ◽  
Approach To Learning

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Please check back later for the full article. A Community of Practice (CoP) is an approach to professional learning and development based on collaboration among peers. In a CoP, individuals come together virtually or physically and coalesce around a common purpose. CoPs are defined by knowledge rather than task and provide a safe space for novices and experienced practitioners to collaborate, construct, and embed sustainable outputs that impact on both theory and practice development. CoPs provide a framework for constructing authentic and collaborative learning. Jeanne Lave and Etienne Wenger are credited with the original description of a CoP as an approach to learning that encompasses elements of identity, situation, and active participation. CoPs blend a constructivist view of learning, where meaningful experience is set in the context of “self” and the relationship of “self” with the wider professional community. The result is an integrated approach to learning and development achieved through a combination of social engagement and collaborative working in an authentic practice environment. In health and education, CoPs blend theory and practice to create a portal for practitioners to generate, shape, test, and evaluate new ideas and innovations. CoPs learn through the act of social participation; active group learning, and collaboration in an authentic practice environment. Membership of a CoP supports the development of professional identity within a wider vocational sphere.

School-Based Professional Development Programs for Beginning Teachers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Madalińska-Michalak
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
High Quality ◽  
School Based

School-based professional development for beginning teachers must be seen as a dynamic identity and decision-making process. Teachers as lifelong learners from the beginning of their career should be able to engage in different forms of teacher education that enable them to progress their learning and development in ways that are relevant to their own individual needs and the needs of their schools and pupils. Teacher individual professional learning is necessary but not sufficient for sustainable change within groups in school and within school as an organization. It is helpful to consider three elements. First, note the importance to schools of recruiting and developing high-quality teachers. Teachers are among the most significant factors in children’s learning and the quality school education, and the questions why and how teachers matter and how teacher quality and quality teacher education should be perceived require serious considerations from academics, policymakers, and practitioners. Second, understand teacher education as career-long education, and problematize the issue of teachers and coherent professional development within schools, asking key questions including the following: “how do schools create effective opportunities for teachers to learn and develop?” Third, focus on the particular journey and the needs of beginning teachers because their early career learning and development will have an impact on retention of high-quality teachers. It is important that coherent lifelong professional education for teachers is planned and implemented at the level of education systems, individual schools, teaching teams, and individual teachers.

scholarly journals Making the most of mobility: virtual mentoring and education practitioner professional development

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel D. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Virtual Mentoring ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Knowledge Cultures

Learning provision, including professional learning, needs to embrace mobility (of knowledge, cultures and contexts – physical and cerebral) to enable education practitioners to interact locally and globally, engage with new literacies, access rich contexts, and to question, co-construct and collaborate. Virtual mentoring, also known as distance, remote, tele-, cyber- and eMentoring, offers a level of flexibility that enables mentors and mentees to maximise these concepts of mobility. There are Professional Learning and Development (PLD) initiatives that offer contextualised, individualised learning experiences via mentoring partnerships and Communities of Practice (CoPs), but not so many that have focussed on virtual mentoring and online CoPs. This article describes a Virtual PLD programme that has been offered in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to date and discusses findings from the associated research study, including benefits that can be specifically equated to the virtual nature of the mentoring and access to the online CoP. Also reported are shifts in mentees’ self-efficacy and perceptions of changes in professional practice.Keywords: online communities; professional development; coaching(Published: 16 September 2015)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2015, 23: 25566 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.25566

scholarly journals Unscripted Possibilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-67
Author(s):  
Tom Fox ◽  
Rachel Bear
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
Teacher Practice ◽  
National Writing Project ◽  
School Environments ◽  
Writing Project ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
College Career ◽  
The World

  Abstract “Unscripted Possibilities” examines the potential for change that emerges in rural environments that are affected by poverty and educational reforms that ignore the specific contexts of rural schools. Using a National Writing Project program, the College, Career, and Community Writers Program as case, we argue that professional learning relationships that are characterized by mutuality and indeterminacy create changes in teacher practice and school culture. Our analysis adapts concepts from Anna Tsing’s (2015)The Mushroom at the End of the World to uncover hopeful possibilities in damaged school environments.

The Implications of Learning and Development for Teacher Professionalism

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
Deisi C. Yunga
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Narrative Literature ◽  
Narrative Literature Review

This paper elaborates on the different concepts of professional learning and professional development in an effort to illustrate their importance in the improvement of the teaching profession and attainment of teacher professionalism. This study uses a narrative literature review approach on an array of available sources from available literature, which comprises scholarly materials, published and peer-reviewed articles, books, and reports from education institutions. The study shows that remaining informed about the changes in the teaching profession is core in attaining professionalism in teaching, proving the need for professional development programs to ensure the update of teachers’ skills and knowledge. Furthermore, the study advocates for a clearer academic distinction between professional learning and professional development, with professional learning facilitated by professional learning communities and workplace learning programs. Lastly, we discuss elements of effective professional learning and development and examine their importance.

scholarly journals From Experience to Expertise: Professional Development through Collaborative Inquiry

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Cherubini ◽  
Annie Gojmerac
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Personal Service ◽  
Grounded Theory Research ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Professional Development Model ◽  
Theory Research

This research paper presents the outcomes of a professional learning community (PLC) of teachers involved in a personal service approach to professional development. The PLC was conceptualized as an inquiry-based professional development intervention based on teachers’ specific needs. Participants represented 4 regions that encompassed a large Ontario school board district. Through a qualitative grounded theory research approach, two key outcomes emerged from the data, including, ‘Intrinsic motivation to improve teaching and learning’ and ‘Critical reflections in teaching.’ By critically reflecting on their teaching within the PLC model, the teacher-participants guided their own professional development in the context of self-affirming practice. Since the research project was contextualized in the literature, the paper further discusses how this professional development model is ideally suited to meet the needs of teachers and students of the 21st Century. Lastly, it is suggested that this PLC model can be replicated in similar contexts by schools and school boards across the Golden Horseshoe.

Learning to Teach to Argue: Case Studies in Professional Learning in Evidence-Based Science Writing

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Naa Ammah-Tagoe ◽  
Kyra Caspary ◽  
Matthew A. Cannady ◽  
Eric Greenwald
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Change ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Science Writing ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Student Work ◽  
Writing Project

Background/Context The emphasis on scientific practices articulated by the National Research Council framework and the Next Generation Science Standards requires significant pedagogical shifts for U.S. science teachers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study provides a rare window into the challenges and opportunities teachers encounter as they introduce argument writing into their science classrooms with support from the National Writing Project's Inquiry into Science Writing project. The purpose of this study is to better understand the teacher-change process so as to inform the development of future professional development efforts. Population/Participants/Subjects Case studies were drawn from a professional development network led by the National Writing Project to support teachers in studying and improving their practice while sharing knowledge and benefiting from the expertise of others. The network included 28 middle school teachers at five writing project sites around the United States; the case studies presented in this article are based on the experiences of three of these teachers. Intervention/Program/Practice The Inquiry into Science Writing Project was a 2-year practitioner-driven professional learning experience seeking to better understand and support student practice around evidence-based science writing. During the duration of the project, teachers taught at least one lesson series culminating in written arguments by students each semester, and participated in two summer institutes, an ongoing national professional learning community, and monthly meetings of their local teacher research group. Research Design The study uses a qualitative comparative case study approach. Data Collection and Analysis The case studies draw on interviews, lesson artifacts, written teacher reflections, and samples of student work. Conclusions/Recommendations The study findings reinforce the complexity of the change process: The relationship between teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes and their practice was not linear and unidirectional (i.e., change in attitude leads to change in practice) but rather iterative and mediated by both student work and the external supports they received. These findings confirm the need for sustained learning environments with features that promote enactment and reflection on student work to support teacher change. Further, they suggest that professional development providers should think about how to build habits of reflection into their own design processes, allowing space for feedback and learning from practitioners.

Preparing Educators to Collaborate With Professionals Who Work With Learners With Complex Conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Tait
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Language Assessments ◽  
Communication Impairments

The manner in which special educators and allied health personnel communicate and coordinate their combined services for children with complex conditions (such as autism and severe communication impairments) is considered to be an important factor in educational outcomes. For example, speech-language pathologists play a crucial role in supporting teachers by assessing a child’s communication potential, designing and then implementing collaborative communication intervention programs. However, clinicians trained to administer standardized expressive language assessments may be somewhat unsure where to start when asked to assess a child who presents with nonsymbolic communication skills. These highly specialized workplace situations are likely to evoke circumstances where professionals may need additional one-to-one guidance. The need for continuing professional development has long been recognized by the education sector when developing effective educational provision for children with special needs. To that end, tertiary institutions have a commitment to support the continuing education of their graduates once they begin their careers. Unfortunately, not everyone can invest the years that full-time or part-time postgraduate courses of study demand. Due to a reduction in postgraduate completion rates, universities have recently accepted that offering micro-credentialing (i.e., continuing professional development in small, intensive chunks) is now a part of their mandate. Blended learning is a viable model for such professional development because this approach provides access to an online community where collegial sharing and discussion can occur. It can also offer face-to-face sessions that may strengthen community building and instant access to a network of professionals for training and development, in an anytime and anywhere professional learning environment, resulting in the fostering of a collaborative professional community.

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