Unwrapping the Shrink Wrap: Teacher Led Improvement in Writing Instruction
Sarah Vander Zanden, Lois Berger, Katie Simpson, Kristen Schrock, Erin Becker, Jenifer Dise, Katie Taylor Clausen
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-6500-1.ch010
Abstract
This chapter describes a team of teachers and university instructors' investigation of teacher-led instructional improvements in elementary classroom writing instruction through peer observation and collective dialogue examining everyday teaching practices. Established tools and processes in place such as district curriculum, the Units of Study, and tools of observation and collaboration, specifically Learning Labs (www.pebc.org) protocol and professional learning communities, supported a naturalistic inquiry of practice. Teacher leadership, like writing instruction, is a process, and these educators identified co-constructed observation as a tool for sustaining joy, an under researched element of teacher leadership and professional development. Additionally, collaborative debriefing fostered professional growth, and collective inquiry provided inroads to autonomy in curricular decision making. The team sought to lead from within to develop understanding of and improvements in writing instruction.
TopBackground
Informal teacher leadership is a method of leading without a formally label role. Informal teacher leadership is a concept discussed at length in Darling-Hammond and colleagues’ early work with and about Professional Development Schools (Darling-Hammond, 1994; Darling-Hammond, Bullmaster, & Cobb, 1995). It serves as a foundation to more recent focus on peer collaboration and mentorship of teachers by teachers. The fit with the focus on peer observation and process writing were essential aspects of this study and respective background is provided below.
Peer Observation and Teacher Leadership
Observation cycles are frequently linked to instructional improvement and evaluation by classroom outsiders, such as coaches and administrators. In this project, leading from within, the teachers observed one another without an evaluative shadow. Peer observation is an economical tool to foster expertise in schools from the inside-up in a more grass roots orientation, rather than to pay outside-down with one time consultants (Blase & Blase, 2006). Peer observation allows more educators to lead by casting light over shadow (Parker, 2000), for example by identifying positive instructional decisions, peers strengthen their understanding of practice and support each other. Teacher led professional development like peer coaching (Bowman & McCormick, 2000), walk-throughs (Bushman, 2006) and Learning Labs (Brancard & Quinnwilliams, 2012) offer contextualized, ongoing support of peers by peers. Instructional coaching in many states is embedded in state-wide mentoring networks and feature cycles of coaching to improve interdisciplinary practices (Huston & Weaver, 2008; Darling-Hammond & Richardson, 2009; Calkins & Ehrenworth, 2016). Diaz-Maggioli (2004) argues that teacher led and teacher centered professional development, like peer observation, supports teacher advocacy and autonomy. Peer observation processes were in development at Little Elementary School (pseudonym) where this project took place, and two of the teacher participants had previously been involved in an observation cycle. The administration supported the project in part because documentation of current practices rather than intervening practices was a central focus. Additionally, initiatives at the state level around writing assessment had sparked renewed interest in effective writing instruction.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Informal Teacher Leadership: A leadership label for teachers in the field who are not designated formally by the school or district with a separate role outside of classroom teacher. Teacher leadership can be formal or informal and the teachers in this chapter highlight informal teacher leadership practices.
Units of Study (UoS): The Units of Study is a K-8 writing curriculum developed by Dr. Lucy Calkins and supporting colleagues at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. It includes planning tools, pacing guides, and assessment processes to support narrative, informational, and persuasive writing units.
Naturalistic Inquiry: A study that aims to document a phenomenon or experience in its natural form. Tools used in this inquiry include observation and prolonged engagement in the form or state under study.
Process Writing: An approach to writing instruction discussed in this chapter as the foundation for the writing workshop conducted in the school. The process writing approach allows students to produce high quality writing in stages or over time. Teachers demonstrate techniques and strategies for writing, then students write in a series of sessions. Teachers confer with students throughout the production phases.