Some Reflections on Teacher Development & Learning

Excellence in teaching is what most educators pursue. In order to become a better teacher, training is needed so as to deepen our knowledge and refine our skills, and to be considered professionals of education. A professional can account for their decisions theoretically and improve their practices after reflection. According to Timperley (2008), there are four important issues regarding our role as teachers which need to be accounted for:

a)      What our students learn is directly related to what and how we teach,

b)      Teachers decisions are crucial in this complex activity of teaching,

c)       Teachers are responsible for setting the appropriate conditions for students to learn, conditions in which we engage our students’ background knowledge to be associated to the new knowledge in organized frameworks which can be retrieved and used.

d)      Teachers and students context shape reality, their understandings of it and their experiences.

For me, the most relevant issue that teachers need to consider is related to the integration of knowledge and skills, i.e.: the link among particular teaching activities, students’ responses to those activities and what they actually learn. Teachers need to have acquired knowledge of the curriculum, how to teach it and how to assess it. Besides, the ability to identify what exactly students know and can do is a prerequisite for teaching that is responsive to students’ needs. When teachers are aware of how the decisions they take in the lessons may affect their students’ performance either positively or negatively, they can start improving those practices in order to guarantee an effective learning environment. Teachers should take greater responsibility for the learning of all students. Additionally, teachers need a variety of ways to assess the students’ outcomes and progress, ways that include but go beyond standardised testing such as interviews, analysis of students’ written work, classroom observations, among others. Thus, a theoretical understanding of teaching is the basis for making ongoing principled decisions about practice.

However, the aforementioned issues can be reached if certain conditions are assured. Teachers need to have the possibility of belonging to professional learning communities with other colleagues in order to acquire new knowledge and skills to become more effective educators. External experts (within the school or from outside) may offer new possibilities to challenge the assumptions and the social norms in which the group operates. Yet, there is a need to promote sustainability in education in order to develop skills, knowledge and values that promote behaviour in support of professional teaching. Schools need to have an organizational infrastructure which supports professional self-regulatory inquiry skills and teacher learning. Furthermore, all learning activities require trust and challenge. Change involves risk taking, and before teachers take risks they need to trust that their efforts will be supported, not belittled.

Timperley H. (2008). Teacher professional learning and development. ImprImerie Nouvelle Gonnet. France: Belley.