Teaching and Learning in Public

This is the inspiring story of a group of teachers who used new technologies to document, analyze, and share an inquiry learning process. This exciting new professional development model brings together the strengths and benefits of several existing approaches: participant-directed inquiry, school/university partnerships, and the shared pedagogical improvement model of lesson study. Based on the work of urban public school teachers over the course of 3 years, it was developed to assist teachers in the daunting task of “learning in public.” How can an inquiry into teaching practice help teachers to support inquiry learning with their students? Essential reading for professional developers, teacher leaders, and school administrators, this book:

• Documents the lessons learned from a schoolwide professional learning initiative.
• Examines how professional development impacts teachers, school culture, and learning outcomes.
• Showcases innovative new technology for use in professional development, such as streaming, videotaping, time-stamped assessment, and sophisticated analytics.
• Offers guidance for implementing this professional development model in your school.

Stephanie Sisk-Hilton is an assistant professor of elementary education at San Francisco State University. She has worked extensively as a teacher professional developer dealing with schoolwide curriculum reform and with science curriculum and pedagogy.

“An extremely important book for our times.”
—Kathleen Metz, University of California Berkeley

“This is a compelling first-hand account of what it means to be a change agent of a different sort.”
—From the Foreword by Catherine Lewis, senior research scientist, Mills College, Oakland, California